Name That Spin-off Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

'The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition' defines a sequel as "Something that follows; a continuation. A literary, dramatic, or cinematic work whose narrative continues that of a preexisting work." An example would be each movie in the 'Rocky' series.

The original should be complete or finished before the sequel picks up and continues the story. From the same source we find that a spin-off is defined as "Something derived from an earlier work, such as a television show starring a character who had a popular minor role in another show." An example would be 'Maude' which was a spin-off of 'All in the Family'.

A spin-off usually starts airing while the original show is still being run, though not always. It also is usually a show centered around a minor character first seen in another series.

Answer: Love American Style

'Happy Days' was a spin-off of a February, 1972 episode of 'Love American Style'. The title of the episode was 'Love and the Happy Days'.

Answer: Out of the Blue

'Out of the Blue' was a one-season show that was a spin-off/crossover of 'Happy Days'. Its creation was an attempt to create a program about an angel loosely modeled after 'Mork and Mindy'. The show starred Jason Richards as Random, the angel.

Answer: Fish

The show, 'Fish' was spun-off of 'Barney Miller' in 1977 and lasted two season. The main character of Police Detective Phil Fish was played by Abe Vigoda, who originated the role on 'Barney Miller'.

Answer: two

'Cheers' was the parent show for the 'Tortellis' in 1987 and 'Frasier' in 1993. 'The Tortellis' was based on the life Carla's ex-husband and family. 'Frasier' was centered around the life of Dr. Frasier Crane, his brother Dr. Niles Crane, their father and his nurse.

Answer: five

'Happy Days' spawned five other situation comedies. They were: 'Laverne and Shirley' in 1976, 'Blansky's Beauties' in 1977, 'Mork and Mindy' in 1978, 'Out of the Blue' in 1979 and 'Joanie Loves Chachi' in 1982. It also spun-off 4 cartoon series.

Answer: All in the Family

'All in the Family' directly spun-off five situation comedies and two second generation spin-offs, shows spun-off of the spin-offs. These shows were: 'Maude' in 1972, 'The Jeffersons' in 1975, 'Archie Bunker's Place' in 1979, 'Gloria' in 1982 and '704 Hauser' in 1994. 'Good Times was a spin-off of 'Maude' and 'Checking In' was a spin-off of 'The Jeffersons'. 'All in the Family' was the American version of a British show titled 'Till Death Us Do Part'.

Answer: True

'Quincy M.E.' was a coroner or medical examiner and starred Jack Klugman. It aired from 1976 through 1983. It can be considered the forerunner of the crime scene investigator/forensic investigator genre of shows, but it had no spin-offs.

Answer: False

It's actually the reverse, 'Flo' was a spin-off of 'Alice'. The series 'Alice' ran from 1976 through 1985. One of the characters was Florence Jean 'Flo' Castleberry who was famous for saying, "Kiss my grits!" The spin-off, 'Flo' aired from 1980 through 1981 with Polly Holliday starring as Flo.

Answer: Benson

The Show 'Benson' was created around the character of Benson DuBois, the sharp witted butler on 'Soap'. 'Benson' aired from 1979 through 1986 and starred Robert Guillaume. In this spin-off, Benson had left the employment of the Tate family and was now the head butler for a widowed state governor somewhere in the eastern USA. Even though he moved, his wit and tongue were as sharp as ever.