Tough TV Spinoffs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Barney Miller

"All In the Family" (which itself was based on a British show called "Till Death Us Do Part") directly or indirectly spawned seven spinoffs. "The Jeffersons", "Archie Bunker's Place", "Gloria", and "Maude" are the best-known spinoffs. "Checking In" (starring Marla Gibbs) was about the Jeffersons' former maid, Florence, and her employment at a hotel. "Good Times" (starring Esther Rolle) is traced through "Maude". "704 Hauser" (starring John Amos) was set in the same house as "All In the Family", only 20 years later.

Answer: the simpsons

Yes, "The Simpsons" is a spinoff, the most successful one of all time, beating out "The Jeffersons" and "Frasier" handily. The show originated as short animated vignettes between sketches of "The Tracey Ullman Show" (1987-1990), one of the charter shows on FOX. "The Simpsons", launched in 1989, is scheduled to run through the 2005 season; that's 16 years.

Answer: False

Actually, they were produced independently, even though both shows were done by Jack Webb's Mark VII Productions. About a month after "Emergency!" premiered, an episode of "Adam-12" was partially set at Rampart General Hospital. There, Officers Reed and Malloy bumped into Paramedics Gage and DeSoto.

Answer: Star Trek: Phase II

When Paramount cancelled plans to launch the new network, the "Phase II" project evolved into "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". Then, in 1995, Paramount finally did succeed in creating its own network, UPN, with "Star Trek: Voyager" as the anchor. So, in a way, Paramount's initial plans in the 1970s did come to fruition.

Answer: 2

The first spinoff was "After MASH" (starring Harry Morgan, Jamie Farr and William Christopher), in 1983. And in 1984, Gary Burghoff returned to the tube as Officer "Radar" O'Reilly, in "W*A*L*T*E*R".
Right about now, you are probably saying "Wait a minute! What about 'Trapper John, MD'?" Well, a court ruling (Preminger v. 20th Century Fox) stated that "Trapper John" is not a spinoff of the TV show "M*A*S*H" (1972-83), but of the movie "MASH" (1970). As a result, this makes "MASH" (the movie) the first motion picture to directly launch two television shows.

Answer: 8

Most people are familiar with "Laverne & Shirley", "Mork and Mindy", and "Joanie Loves Chachi", But, the animated shows that spun from "Happy Days" more than doubled the total: "Laverne & Shirley In the Army", "Laverne & Shirley with The Fonz", "Fonz and the Happy Days Gang", and "The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour". And in 1977, a (very) short-lived mid-season show called "Blansky's Beauties", starring Karen Allen, featured Pat Morita as Arnold, and Scott Baio (but not as Chachi). This brings the total to eight shows in all, the most ever spawned from a series.

Answer: Rene Auberjonois and Ethan Phillips

In 1993, Rene Auberjonois began his seven-year run as Odo, on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". Two years later, Ethan Phillips followed a similar path, as Neelix on "Star Trek: Voyager".

Answer: Law & Order: Homicide Investigations

The reality show "Crime & Punishment" (2002) was a short-lived attempt to bring "Law & Order" into the real world by documenting events surrounding actual police case files (and their trials). Its title sequence, by the way, was strikingly similar to that of the original "Law & Order".

Answer: False

No, but "Full House" cast member Candace Cameron, who is the sister of "Growing Pains" cast member Kirk Cameron, had a poster of Kirk on her character's bedroom wall!

Answer: Gloria

"Phyllis" was set in San Francisco; "Rhoda" was set in New York City. Both title characters were friends of Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) who had moved off on their own. "Lou Grant" was an hour-long drama about Mary Richards' former boss, who became chief editor of a city newspaper. "Gloria" was a spinoff of "All In the Family".