> 9. Spin Offs (Jerome Graber)
> **************************************************
I think the answer to what was the first spinoff depends on your definition of
"spinoff". See Mr. Mulik's explanation below.
A. I've been reading the discussion lately about whether or not TAGS was the
first TV spinoff. In mid-1996, when I wrote an article about TAGS for Classic
TV magazine (no longer in print), I mentioned the 'fact' that TAGS was the
first spinoff (1960), but someone wrote in to correct me, pointing out some
earlier shows -- Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958, spun off from {Trackdown);} Law
of the Plainsman (1959, spun off from The Rifleman) and Pete and Gladys (1960,
spun off from December Bride.) In my book (that's a figure of speech) a series
is not a spinoff unless it's pilot episode aired as an episode of an
established series. To the best of my knowledge, the three above example do NOT
fit this definition, which means that TAGS truly was the first real TV
spin-off. --Paul Mulik
HistoryBuff
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