Ed Asner RIP

[ronmac]

All true but I was speaking about the star and cast members. The cast members all went on to do other shows. Yes, I did forget about Phyllis. I can’t think of one show that spawned so many other shows. I count Lou Grant as one of these because it became his own show.

All in the Family spawned a lot of shows, too.

(with the help of Wikipedia, of course)

Maude
Good Times (a spinoff of Maude)
The Jeffersons
Checking in (a spinoff of The Jeffersons)
Archie Bunker's Place
Gloria
704 Hauser

[BarryLI]

Actually, "Lou Grant" starring Ed Asner in that continuing role from the MTM show, was not a comedy but a drama with bits of humor peppered into the dialog for comedy relief purposes. Similar to shows like "Blue Bloods" and "Blacklist" that rely on character interaction to infuse humorous dialog into the affair and lighten things up in between the hard hitting action.

It was an outstanding, award winning show but as it went along the humor gave way to overt political overtones that were emblematic of Ed Asner's real life persona. The last couple of years stretched that aspect too far, in my view, which spoiled some of the realism that showed the audience the challenges underlying the publication of a big city newspaper. The behind the scenes newsroom gags and gaffes were quite good in the first two years or so. I always regretted their decision not to have the characters from Lou's old TV newsroom appear on "Lou Grant", but I understand their effort to avoid comingling an outragously humorous sit com with a drama about journalism.

Loved Lou Grant, never missed an episode, that being said thinking that Mrs Pynchon turned into Livia Soprano doth boggle the mind.

[Staun]

All in the Family spawned a lot of shows, too.

(with the help of Wikipedia, of course)

Maude
Good Times (a spinoff of Maude)
The Jeffersons
Checking in (a spinoff of The Jeffersons)
Archie Bunker's Place
Gloria
704 Hauser

interesting. I don’t get the relationship between GT and Maude.

[Mister Triscuits]

interesting. I don’t get the relationship between GT and Maude.

Florida, the mom on Good Times, was Maude's housekeeper.

[GuitarGeek]

Florida, the mom on Good Times, was Maude's housekeeper.

Well, Esther Rolle certainly played a character named Florida on both shows, but really there's no other connection. Maude lived in upstate NY, but the Evans family lived in the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago (Cabrini-Green is never actually mentioned on the show, but the opening and closing credits sequences were shot there, so its' sort of implied).

The thing I find interesting that in the mid 90's, Norman Lear tried to do a new sitcom called 704 Hauser, which was about an African American family moving into the Bunkers' old house. I think it only ran for a few episodes, but you know who played the father? John Amos! You know, the guy who got killed off from Good Times because he kept complaining about the shoddy writing and how the show was focusing too much on Jimmie Walker's character. I remember reading on line where someone suggested that he felt like maybe James Evans faked his death, left his family, and assumed a new identity, marrying a new wife and moving to Queens.

[GuitarGeek]

All in the Family spawned a lot of shows, too.

(with the help of Wikipedia, of course)

Maude
Good Times (a spinoff of Maude)
The Jeffersons
Checking in (a spinoff of The Jeffersons)
Archie Bunker's Place
Gloria
704 Hauser

Good Times, The Jeffersons and Archie Bunker's Place were the only ones who lasted longer than half a season.

[ronmac]

Good Times, The Jeffersons and Archie Bunker's Place were the only ones who lasted longer than half a season.

Luckily.

[ronmac]

Well, Esther Rolle certainly played a character named Florida on both shows, but really there's no other connection.

Actually, I'm pretty sure John Amos showed up as her husband on Maude.

[mozo-pg]

Good Times, The Jeffersons and Archie Bunker's Place were the only ones who lasted longer than half a season.

Maude was on for several seasons - never liked it as a kid.

[Mister Triscuits]

Maude was on for several seasons - never liked it as a kid.

God'll getcha for that.

[Vic2012]

I used to watch all those sitcoms in the 70s (Good Times, Jeffersons, Maude). Can't watch 'em today. Awful, cornball, stupid stereotypes. I can barely watch Barney Miller now.

[Dave (in MA)]

Well, Esther Rolle certainly played a character named Florida on both shows, but really there's no other connection. Maude lived in upstate NY, but the Evans family lived in the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago (Cabrini-Green is never actually mentioned on the show, but the opening and closing credits sequences were shot there, so its' sort of implied).

Maybe it was the same character in an alternate universe, something to do with Spock altering the timeline, not sure.

[Dave (in MA)]

I used to watch all those sitcoms in the 70s (Good Times, Jeffersons, Maude). Can't watch 'em today. Awful, cornball, stupid stereotypes. I can barely watch Barney Miller now.

People walking in and out of rooms making wisecracks and yelling catch-phrases didn't even appeal to me when I was a kid.

[3LockBox]

Good Times has as always been, to my understanding, considered a spinoff of Maude. It's been mentioned in articles as one of very few strings of a spinoff of a spinoff which were hits. One of the other strings was Danny Thomas->Andy Griffith Show->Gomer Pyle. I can't remember what the other one was.

[SunRunner2]

Good Times has as always been, to my understanding, considered a spinoff of Maude. It's been mentioned in articles as one of very few strings of a spinoff of a spinoff which were hits. One of the other strings was Danny Thomas->Andy Griffith Show->Gomer Pyle. I can't remember what the other one was.

Perhaps you are thinking of the Grandaddy of all spinoff creations, as noted below. Believe it or not, even "Happy Days" was a spinoff from none other than "Love, American Style", as explained here:
https://www.sitcomsonline.com/loveamstyle.html

Happy Days->Laverne & Shirley->Mork & Mindy->Joanie Loves Chachi->Blansky's Beauties-> Out of the Blue->The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang->Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour