Frasier is certainly Cheers' best-known spinoff, but The Tortellis got there first. When Cheers was coming to an end, the show's producers signed a deal with co-star Kelsey Grammer to make a new sitcom. However, the earliest concept wasn't a Frasier spinoff at all. The first idea was that Grammer would play a rich, paraplegic publisher who worked from his apartment, but while the star liked the idea, the network insisted on making a Frasier Crane spinoff instead.
Fraiser debuted in 1993 and followed the titular psychiatrist as he embarked on a new chapter in his life. This included starting his own radio show and reconnecting with brother Niles and father Marty - who Frasier once claimed was dead on Cheers. The sitcom was a huge success for NBC, receiving both critical raves and running for eleven seasons. Frasier ended in 2004, but Grammer is currently in development on a reboot.
Cheers and Frasier are two of the best sitcoms in TV history, with the latter arguably even more popular than the series that spawned it. Cheers itself began in 1983, and from an early point in the show's history, there was network pressure to create a spinoff. An early concept would have been a prequel following the early days of Coach Ernie Pantusso, but it was later decided that Cheers' first spinoff would be The Tortellis. This followed Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedaya), the sleazy, womanizing ex-husband of Carla (Rhea Perlman, who cameoed on Frasier) as he moved to Las Vegas to start a TV repair business while reconciling with his new wife Loretta (Jean Kasem). However, it was soon clear The Tortellis wasn't going to repeat Cheers' success.
The Tortellis was conceptually flawed from the beginning because while Nick and Loretta were funny in small, recurring doses, an entire series based around them was bound to stretch their appeal a little thin. Nick Tortelli is making an earnest effort to be less of a slimeball on the spinoff, but he's still not terribly likable at his core. The Tortellis also lacked the cast chemistry of Cheers, and the sitcom drew protests of its stereotypical portrayal of Italian-Americans.
The Tortellis' may have improved had it survived past its first season and the writers refined what worked - with even great shows like Parks & Rec suffering from a bad first season - but it received terrible ratings and was quickly canceled in 1987. Nick and Loretta later returned for Cheers guest appearances, but over time, The Tortellis' spinoff sank in obscurity. The Tortellis may have been Cheers' first spinoff, but there's a good reason audiences only seem to remember Frasier now.