The TV thread

The Simpsons is technically a spinoff. Several Law & Order and CSI spinoffs lasted a long time. There's also NCIS, Xena: Warrior Princess, Angel, Daria, Melrose Place, The Jeffersons, Knots Landing, Rhoda, The Facts of Life, Family Matters, Boston Legal, A Different World, among others.

 

I've heard of many of those shows, but never watched them. I wasn't aware there were so many spinoffs.

I just don't understand the love of procedurals and their spinoffs. They all look alike to me. Same stock characters, same tired plots, lots of no-charisma TV actors.

 

Anyone else watch Longmire on A&E? The lead is played by Brett Favre.

Not a horrible summer TV show. Season premier is Monday night.

 

I'm not necessarily arguing for the quality of those shows, just noting there are a lot of long-running spinoffs. Laverne and Shirley, Mork and Mindy, Maude, Good Times and Gomer Pyle, USMC are others.

Some of them are only technically spinoffs with out much real connection to the original show. Laverne and Shirley for instance, was its own separate idea for a show, but Garry Marshall stuck the characters in an episode of Happy Days to introduce them to a larger audience.

 

Jeffersons, Maude, Facts of Life...

Hell, NCIS is technically a spinoff of JAG.

 

That's known as the poorly disguised pilot: http://bit.ly/12MWKJq

 

The Critics' Choice Awards don't merit their own thread, but here is the full list of nominees: http://avc.lu/12N0muX

And the key categories (bolded are my picks):

Best comedy series
The Big Bang Theory – CBS
Louie – FX
The Middle – ABC
New Girl – FOX
Parks And Recreation – NBC
Veep – HBO

Best actor in a comedy series
Don Cheadle (House Of Lies) – Showtime
Louis C.K. (Louie) – FX
Jake Johnson (New Girl) – FOX
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) – CBS
Adam Scott (Parks And Recreation) – NBC
Jeremy Sisto (Suburgatory) – ABC

Best actress in a comedy series
Laura Dern (Enlightened) – HBO
Zooey Deschanel (New Girl) – FOX
Lena Dunham (Girls) – HBO
Sutton Foster (Bunheads) – ABC Family
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) – HBO
Amy Poehler (Parks And Recreation) – NBC

Best drama series
The Americans – FX
Breaking Bad – AMC
Downton Abbey – PBS
Game Of Thrones – HBO
The Good Wife – CBS
Homeland – Showtime

Best actor in a drama series
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) – AMC
Damian Lewis (Homeland) – Showtime
Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead) – AMC
Timothy Olyphant (Justified) – FX
Matthew Rhys (The Americans) – FX
Kevin Spacey (House Of Cards) – Netflix

Best actress in a drama series
Claire Danes (Homeland) – Showtime
Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel) – A&E
Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) – CBS
Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) – BBC America
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) – AMC
Keri Russell (The Americans) – FX

There are a few shows, of course, that I don't watch on the list. But I've at least given a chance to most. It's interesting Elisabeth Moss is no longer a supporting actress, and I'm glad The Americans got plenty of love for one of the best first seasons in recent memory. (Noah Emmerich also received a best supporting actor nomination.)

I'm not sure why Mad Men was left off the drama list, but I am happy that they reacted to a boring Modern Family season by snubbing it from the comedy list. I'd have given Ty Burrell an actor nod, though.

 

That they shut out Modern Family in all comedy categories you list is all the proof we need to know it clearly doesn't deserve its own thread.

 

Sarah Hyland received a supporting nod. At first that seemed weird to me, but Haley may be the only character on Modern Family who has had a strong season.

 

I'd go with....

Veep (close over Louie)
Louis CK
JLD
Breaking Bad (close over Good Wife)
Spacey
Margulies

 

The Americans is that good?

 

I was disappointed they didn't nominate Tony Hale for Veep. I didn't mind swapping out Nick Offerman for Chris Pratt, who probably had a stronger season, as Parks and Recreation's supporting actor.