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Media spin off is the process of deriving new radio or television programs from existing ones (see list of television spin-offs). Spin-offs work with varying degrees of success. Some become very popular and last for a number of seasons, others exceed the popularity of the forebearing show and others are poorly received and have considerably shorter life spans. This phenomenon was already established in radio before the advent of commercial broadcast television, for example The Great Gildersleeve was a spin-off from Fibber McGee and Molly. The Great Guildersleeve might even have been the very first spin-off, when the popular character from Fibber McGee and Molly was given his own show. Jack Benny's popular radio program spawned at least two spin-offs when blustery bandleader Phil Harris and naif Dennis Day launched their own programs after their success on Benny's show. In genre fiction, the term parallels the usage in television; it is usually meant to indicate a substantial change in narrative viewpoint and activity from that (previous) storyline based around the activities of the series' principal protagonist(s) and so is a shift to that action and overall narrative thread of some other protagonist(s), which now becomes the central or main thread (storyline) of the new sub-series. The new protagonist generally appears first as a minor or supporting character in the main story line within a given milieu, and it is very common for the previous protagonist to have a supporting or cameo role, at the least as a historical mention, in the new sub-series. Variants of spin-offs Television spin-offs come in several variations, including: Name changes/retoolings Support character getting own show (during run) Support character getting own show (after original series ended) Shows from segments/episodes of anthology series Franchises In film In video games Remakes Main article: Remake One notable case which is not a spin-off is when the same series is later remade. Examples include Battlestar Galactica, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983, 2002), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987, 2003)). Cross-overs Main article: Fictional crossovers Sometimes even where a show is not a spin-off from the other, there will nevertheless be cross-overs, where a character from one show makes an appearance on another. A notable example of this are Ursula and Phoebe Buffay, twin sisters played by Lisa Kudrow who normally are on different shows, Mad About You and Friends respectively, but sometimes meet. This is also done by Ray Romano and Kevin James with Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens. Steve Urkel from Family Matters was also shown to be the cousin of one of D.J.'s friends on Full House. The title character from Ally McBeal appeared on episodes of The Practice, both David E. Kelley shows. Sometimes crossovers are created in an attempt to provide closure to fans of another failed series. For example, ''Millennium''’s characters Frank & Jordan Black (played by Lance Henriksen and Brittany Tiplady) appeared alongside Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in the X-Files 1999 episode "Millennium" (episode See also | |||||||
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