Best TV Spinoffs: ‘Young Sheldon’ ‘NCIS’ ‘Family Matters’ and More

It’s disappointing when a spinoff doesn’t live up to the original.

Remember, for example, The Golden Palace, the Golden Girls offshoot featuring most of the core cast that somehow lacked the charm and wit of the OG show? (Check out our full list of the worst TV spinoffs here.)

But when a show can expand on an established universe in exciting and refreshing ways, it’s great. Take the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff Angel, which adopted a darker tone than its predecessor as the brooding vamp grappled with finding redemption in the fight against evil. The show offered a different perspective on the titular hero, and reinvented peripheral Buffy characters like Cordelia Chase and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce — solidifying them as fan favorites in the process.

There are plenty more examples, like the Perfect Strangers spinoff Family Matters, a beloved sitcom that has outlived its parent show, and the JAG offshoot NCIS, which is now a wildly successful franchise that spawned multiple spinoffs.

There isn’t enough time in the day to list every good spinoff in existence, so we’ve whittled it down to the cream of the crop.

See below for our list of the 30 Best TV Spinoffs of All Time. Did your favorite make the cut? Sound off in the comments!

Angel

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When Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s brooding vampire ex-boyfriend left Sunnydale to help the helpless in Los Angeles, he set in motion a series that featured heartbreak and humor in equal doses, delivered by one of the best genre ensembles ever.
Benson

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Soap‘s Powers That Be chose wisely in centering an offshoot series on the grounded yet wickedly funny Benson DuBois, whose post in Governor Gatling’s chaotic household — which often involved sparring with the gov’s snooty chief of staff, Clayton Endicott III — was a comedic landslide.
Better Call Saul

Image Credit: Courtesy of AMC

Who could’ve predicted, while watching Saul Goodman commit any manner of ethical infractions for Breaking Bad‘s Walt and Jesse, that we’d be even more engrossed by the shady lawyer’s origin story?
The Bionic Woman

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We’ll always hype up this extraordinary Six Million Dollar Man offshoot, which starred Lindsay Wagner as a pro tennis player who gains superhuman bionic powers following a horrible accident.
Chicago P.D.

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Ten seasons in, the Chicago Fire spinoff about Voight and his stellar Intelligence Unit continues to impress with compelling ‘ships and topical storylines that explore what it means to police in an ever-changing social climate.
Daria

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Few TV characters have embodied teenage ennui as well as Daria Morgendorffer. Originally a classmate of Beavis and Butt-Head’s titular duo, Daria was intelligent, self-assured and delightfully cynical. (In other words, everything we could want from a female character.)
Degrassi: The Next Generation

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Arguably the most popular iteration in the Degrassi franchise, The Next Generation made its indelible mark with bold storylines — including a controversial episode on Manny’s (played by Cassie Steele) abortion that didn’t air in America for another two years — and a dynamic cast that had us tuning in for the explosive drama each week.
A Different World

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Devised as a vehicle for Cosby Show daughter Denise, the historically-Black-college-set comedy didn’t truly find its groove until Lisa Bonet left the series. Then, a focus on Dwayne and Whitley’s budding romance, as well as frank discussions of race, made for the most entertaining type of higher learning.
Elena of Avalor

Image Credit: Courtesy of Disney Junior

Freed from a magical amulet worn by Sophia the First, the whip-smart Latina princess rules over the kingdom of Avalor, rides a mystical beast that’s half jaguar/half macaw, wears pants (!) when the situation calls for it and still has time to help her little sister with her science homework. What’s not to love? (Plus, her dark-even-for-Disney backstory is very intriguing.)
The Facts of Life

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Mrs. Garrett left Diff’rent Strokes to become housemother to a gaggle of teenage girls at an all-female boarding school — and it’s testament to the warmth of those relationships that we didn’t even mind when the action moved to a gourmet eatery (Edna’s Edibles) and then a pop-culture gift shop (Over Our Heads).
Family Matters

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After appearing on Perfect Strangers, the Winslow family scored its own sitcom, which deftly balanced heart, humor and social commentary throughout its nine-season run. It also introduced us to the geeky, bespectacled, flood pants-wearing Steve Urkel, and pop culture was never the same.
The Flash

Image Credit: Courtesy of The CW

With a joyful spirit and tug-on-your-heartstrings emotion, Arrow‘s speedster pal quickly proved to be a worthy addition to The CW’s superhero team.
Frasier

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The psychiatrist gave up his seat at Cheers‘ bar to start a radio advice show in Seattle, and the result — multiple Emmys over a creatively strong, consistently funny 11-year-run — was what any mental health expert would deem a “good life choice.” Can Paramount+’s upcoming revival possibly uphold the high standard set?
The Good Fight

Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+

Sad as we were to see The Good Wife end, watching Diane Lockhart swear, lead and just generally rule the Paramount+ offshoot took the sting out of it a little bit. (OK, a lot bit.)
Good Trouble

Image Credit: Courtesy of Freeform

Four seasons into its run, the Fosters spinoff has made its mark by taking what made the original series so great — topical storylines tackled with heart — and putting a more adult, of-the-moment spin on them.
House of the Dragon

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With just one season under its belt, this well-acted (but poorly lit) spinoff dispelled any talk of Game of Thrones fatigue.
The Jeffersons

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We’ve got a confession: We’ve always loved George and Weezy’s saga more than All in the Family, aka the show where we first met the upwardly mobile dry cleaner and his family. Can you blame us? A whole lot of good stuff — including bitingly hilarious takes on race and class — unfolded in that “deee-luxe apartment in the sky-high-high.”
Knots Landing

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Recovering alcoholic Gary Ewing and his wife Valene fled Dallas to start anew in an affluent Southern California suburb, and television have never been the same. Rich people being messy? What more could you ask for?
Laverne & Shirley

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It’s always a good time to raise a bottle of Shotz to the Happy Days offshoot, which featured Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as roommates, factory workers and galpals hilariously making their dreams come true in working-class Milwaukee.
Law & Order: SVU

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With crackling chemistry, chilling cases and courtroom scenes that are every bit as gripping as the original Law & Order’s, the elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit — led by Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson — remains a comforting presence in homes across the country.
Maude

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From her first appearance on All in the Family, Bea Arthur’s Maude was too big, too exciting, too engrossing a personality to be contained in someone else’s show. Her eponymous 1970s sitcom championed women’s lib and civil rights — and carved itself a polarizing perch in TV history when Maude decided to have an abortion at the end of a 1972 episode.
Melrose Place

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Two years after Beverly Hills, 90210 premiered, this California-set spinoff made its debut, introducing us to a new group of young adults with highly dramatic personal lives. The best soap operas are the ones that embrace their crazy plot twists — and Melrose Place welcomed the insanity with open arms.
NCIS

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Taking a cue from its protagonist, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, this JAG offshoot followed all the rules of successful spinoff creation. Still narratively compelling (and well-rated) after 20 seasons, NCIS has mastered the art of the network procedural, even spawning three spinoffs of its own.
The Originals

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This Vampire Diaries spinoff traded soapy love triangles for familial conflict, mining hundreds of years of drama for five satisfying seasons — not to mention birthing a spinoff of its own, Legacies, which ran for four seasons on The CW.
The Parkers

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The uproarious comedy following Moesha’s ditzy friend Kim and her mom Nikki consistently brought the laughs — and even some social commentary — as they pursued higher education together and figured out what they wanted in life.
Private Practice

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In the first Grey’s Anatomy spinoff, Addison Montgomery checked out of a messy love triangle in Seattle only to stumble into more relationship mayhem, financial woes and gut-wrenching medical cases at a Los Angeles clinic, and we devoured every second of it.
The Simpsons

Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox

No one could have predicted that this off-color family — which was first introduced via a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show — would live on for more than 740 episodes (and counting). Needless to say, creator Matt Groening is rolling in the “D’oh!”
Star Trek: The Next Generation

Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount

Only a space drama this well-written (Trek creator Gene Roddenberry himself, Battlestar Galactica‘s Ronald D. Moore and Outlander‘s Ira Steven Behr were among the scribes) and this well-acted (whoever cast Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard deserves a week of R&R on the holodeck) could’ve lived up to the warp drive-sized legacy of the original.
Xena: Warrior Princess

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Outlast its parent show, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys? Make a household name of Lucy Lawless? Rock a leather-studded skirt? Dance the line between affecting drama and good ol’ fantasy fun? Continue to have fan conventions more than two decades after the last episode aired? Your fave could never.
Young Sheldon

Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS

The Big Bang Theory‘s prickliest Ph.D. didn’t spring, fully formed, from the pocket protector of Stephen Hawking, as proven by this warm, funny prequel, which allows us to witness Sheldon navigating the vagaries of growing up a child genius in suburban Texas.