It's rare, but it does happen.

For instance:

Angel was, overall, a much better series than Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not as funny, mind, and didn't have the overwhelming volume of hot women on a weekly basis, but overall? Better story arcs, better writing, better acting.

Good Times >>> Maude

Frasier was better than Cheers overall.

After MASH was better than MASH.

















....what?

Parker Lewis Can't Lose was a whole lot better than Ferris Bueller's Day Off (the TV series, not the movie)

Where did you hear that?

Good Times was a spinoff from Maude (which itself was a spinoff from All In The Family). Good Times was WAY better than Maude. (But AItF was better than Maude and all other AitF spinoffs. Top 5 sitcom for me)

Melrose Place was better than Beverly Hills 90210.

But the best of all?

The Honeymooners was a spinoff from The Jackie Gleason Show. It's not just better, it's one of the greatest shows of all time.

The Simpsons is better than the Tracey Ullman Show. And I love me some Tracey Ullman.

I think that Family Matters had better ratings than Perfect Strangers.

Not sure if Facts of Life did better than Different Strokes, but I probably sat through a few FOL episodes and passed on DS.

Danny Thomas invented the stealth pilot, where he'd use the production budget and air time of an existing series to launch a new series. So I don't know if the Andy Griffith Show was technically a spin-off, but it originated on Make Room for Daddy.

Then there's the entire mish-mash of interlocking hillbilly CBS programs from the 60's... The Beverly Hillbillies begat Petticoat Junction which begat Green Acres.. Green Acres was better than Petticoat Junction (the surreal aspects brought in a broader audience) but wasn't as good as the Beverly Hillbillies.

Happy Days was better than Love American Style.

Age of Apocalypse was better than the mainstream X-Men universe.

DAMN good call

IMHO, The Jeffersons was better than AItF. Even as a little kid, I found Archie's bigotry uncomfortable to watch, while George's seemed justified.

Cleveland will be better than Family Guy.

Clumsy Me, I posted that in the wrong thread,so it's a moot point!

Archie's bigotry is supposed to be uncomfortable, though. It was the crux of the show.

(Not that you don't know this, and not that it changes how you felt. Just sayin'.)

What bothered me about All in the Family is that the audience liked Archie because of his racism, not in spite of it. They were laughing with him, not at him.

Not so sure I agree with that.

Hmm, even as a kid I laughed AT Archie and his idiocy. The rest of the family were the ones I rooted for.

Megadeth pwns Metallica

Yeah, I think it was more in spite of, rather than because of his racism that Archie Bunker was a beloved character.

As a child, I hated Archie Bunker. And it wasn't because of his racism, which I didn't understand (it didn't make sense to me, as a kid, that people would hate somebody just because they were of a different [whatever]). No, it was because he was always yelling at Mike (to this day I still twinge when people call him "Meathead"). And it didn't sink in until I was in my twenties why.

Michael Stivic. Young college graduate student of sociology. Polish. Supported by his working wife. Pretty liberal. Always yelling.

Michael Stivic was in nearly every way my father. All he had to do was also play guitar in a Band cover band and the parallel would've been complete.

I don't know that I agree.

I'm sure someone somewhere was, but by and large I think the audience was in on the joke.

Amazing Spider-Man is better than Amazing Fantasy.