Whether it was Happy Days giving rise to a successful sister show in Mork and Mindy, or Walter White's shady lawyer earning his own acclaimed Vince Gilligan treatment - the extension of characters' arcs past their original show's run has long proven to draw extensive interest.
RELATED: 5 Characters We Prefer In Better Call Saul (& 5 That Are Better In Breaking Bad)
However, many times the very attempt backfires to the point where fans choose to disregard a show they like to pretend never existed altogether. The following are ten examples of forgotten shows that either failed to live up to the high standard set by its predecessor or died trying.
Friends (Joey)
After the co-dependent Central Perk Six turned their backs on the coffee shop they played work hookie at for a decade, the cameras continued to follow one of its members.
NBC's Joey (2004-2006) took Joey Tribiani (Matthew Le Blanc) across the coast to Los Angeles for his work as a noted TV actor. Despite earning two seasons, the spinoff failed to draw the same ratings it's cultural phenomenon counterpart had year-in and year-out.
Saved By The Bell (Saved By The Bell: The Next Class)
Though its re-billing as Saved By The Bell: The College Years shortly after the conclusion of its initial run did not elude the Bayside High faithful, its simultaneous reboot sure did.
Garnering a whopping 3.8 IMDb rating, it is a marvel that Saved By The Bell: The Next Class (1993-2000) - which featured a whole new generation of Bayside students - outlasted its uniformly-more revered original iteration in season total. Perhaps not surprising, is that Screech (Dustin Diamond) hung around those halls as well. For better or worse, Saved by the Bell was not Saved by the Bell without freakin' Screech.
The X-Files (The Lone Gunmen)
Known most for their recurring appearance as Agent Mulder's occasional conspiracy research crack team, The Lone Gunmen did not fair as lovable when given the entirety of the spotlight - if their short-lived spinoff is any indication.
The X-Files reboots seem to roll around every ten years or so serve as quasi-spinoffs in and of themselves. Yet The Lone Gunmen entertained in ways Mulder and Scully have not since before they became romantically involved, spoilers.
That '70s Show (That '80s Show)
The one-and-done, 2002 spinoff of FOX's juggernaut comedy set in the teenage wasteland of the 1970s swapped the fictional Point Place, Wisconsin for San Diego. And iconic characters for not as memorable ones.
Though not as low in quality as the reviews made it out to be, That '80s Show paled in comparison to the Forman crew. Years later, ABC's The Goldbergs would fare better in adapting the decade to the half-hour sitcom format.
Blues Clues (Blue's Room)
Subbing Blue in for a typically human host, Blue's Room (2004-2007) followed the titular dog's interactions with her wide array of friends including Sprinkles (her shy little brother), Roar E. Saurus (an orange dinosaur), and various inanimate toys.
The show provided its young audiences with a chance to ease the pain of saying "Goodbye," as they earned one more year of Blue beyond the end of Blue's Clues in 2006.
How I Met Your Mother (How I Met Your Dad)
Off the backs of concluding its highly-successful run, How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014) nearly welcomed in a similarly-named spinoff set to debut the very next TV season.
However, How I Met Your Dad - which gender-swapped the same basic presence - failed to get picked up to series. Thus solidifying its fate as a pilot floating out there somewhere in the ether. As for the fate of its intended star, Greta Gerwig, it is safe to say her career turned out just fine.
Criminal Minds (Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior & Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders)
The hit CBS show that's best episodes are ranked here is most noted for introducing each episode's teaser with the killer-of-the-week in action. Due to its success, the series spawned not one, but two spinoffs that failed to catch on: Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (2011) and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (2016-2017).
Each had their principal castmembers introduced within episodes of their parent show in what is known as a "backdoor pilot."
CSI (CSI: Cyber)
The franchise's least successful spinoff failed to cash in on the then-recent Oscar win of its lead (Patricia Arquette). Nor could it be salvaged by the arrival of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation alum Ted Danson - who shared this Good Place quote to encourage social distancing, according to CBR - in its second and final season.
Ultimately, CSI: Cyber relied too much on the star power of yesteryear that also included James Van Der Beek and Shad Moss (formerly Lil Bow Wow) to attract new generations to the franchise.
Growing Pains (Just The Ten Of Us)
Though a successful show in its own right, a few shifts in creative focus to Just The Ten Of Us (1987-1990) caused fans to forever have trouble recalling that original main character Coach Graham T. Lubbock was first introduced in Growing Pains (1985-1992).
RELATED: Growing Pains: 10 Best Shows About Puberty On Netflix
Having uprooted his family from Long Island to California for the purpose of the show, The Lubbocks managed to last three seasons on network television despite never matching the legacy of its technical predecessor.
Dawson's Creek (Young Americans)
Who could forget Rodney Scott's three-episode turn as former Capeside native Will Krudski in Dawson's Creek's third season? Apparently everyone who also forgot the gang's childhood friend earned his own spinoff outing.
More accurately, the network utilized an opportunity to introduce a character whom they knew was slated to front the elite boarding school-set Young Americans that debuted shortly thereafter. A show that never materialized beyond its 8-episode run, while Will never returned to the Creek - which the rest of the gang rarely did anyway after it was time to go to college!