10 Tired Sitcom Clichés That Really Need To Die
3. Spin-Offs
As far as TV executives are concerned, spin-offs are absolute gold, since you already have a template to work from, and an audience left over from the original show. It’s why that abandoned Only Fools And Horses spin-off Hot Rod would have been literally the same show but without David Jason.
Years ago, spin-offs worked because they were deliberately doing something different. Frasier Crane may have started off on Cheers, but Frasier did just about everything to make the character and the show stand for themselves. Which is a tactic that The Big Bang Theory spin-off young Sheldon is trying to use as much as possible, to the point of changing the entire production style. While other modern spin-offs like The Cleveland Show tend to be too similar to the parent show.
There’s also the less common problem of spin-offs that start while the original show is still going, upsetting the character balance. If Young & Hungry's spin-off Young & Sofia had gone to series, it would have meant writing out one of the show's five main characters to fit filming schedules.
A spin-off can work and, on very rare occasions, even do better than the original, but the networks need to hold fire, and think these things through, rather than just assuming that a familiar character or a gender-flipped premise will automatically be a huge hit. Seriously, Fox, stop trying to make How I Met Your Dad happen, because I don't need to be from the year 2030 to know that doing this a third time won't work.
Bonus Points If: The spin-off is named after its main character.