10 TV Spin-Offs Better Than The Original

2. Frasier

Original Show: Cheers

It's no easy task following up a beloved, decade-spanning ensemble sitcom with a spin-off the focuses on just one character and moves them to a new city. Just ask Joey. Frasier, however, defied just about all expectations to not only match the high bar set by Cheers, but leap over it.

Cheers was essentially Friends before Friends was Friends; it's a perfect example of a hangout sitcom, with a wide array of wonderful characters, a lot of heart, and very accessible humour. Frasier, on the other hand, is focused on a smaller cast, and attempts to take a more sophisticated look at things, which is exactly where the humour comes in.

The series is a high farce, and perfectly pitched as such: the masterstroke isn't just the casting of David Hyde Pierce as Frasier's younger brother Niles, with the two going toe to toe in a battle of pretentiousness, but John Mahoney as their father, who gives the series its warmth and cuts right through the bulls**t. The show's mix of high and low humour meant it was as funny as any of its peers, but it was just how clever it was that really set it apart.