7 Spin-off Shows That Are Pretty Amazing ...

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com

CSI is still going strong, and it's responsible for many spin-off shows. In fact, CSI: Cyber is coming up as we speak. I loved CSI: New York much more than CSI: Miami, but that's strictly because I would happily bear Gary Sinise's children. My preference aside, there's no denying that folks loved some CSI: Miami. Sadly, both New York and Miami are officially off the air, but you can still tune into the original.

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com

Ab Fab is everything – everything. I watch reruns all the time, because it's impossible to get enough. Many fans don't realize that, yes, the fab show is actually a spin-off. “Modern Mother and Daughter” was a segment on French and Saunders, the sketch show starring Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French. Though they were funny together, I far prefer Saunders with Joanna Lumley, and secretly want to grow up to be just like Patsy. Probably not a good thing, eh, darling?

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com

As much as I loved Beavis and Butthead as a wayward teenager, nothing beats Daria. I still dream of the day it will come back. Daria was an even better role model for the awkward, introverted, antisocial kids of the world than Claire Danes, and not a day passes where I don't wish for a sarcastic refresher. I had secret cartoon crushes on both Jane and Trent as well, but let's not talk about that.

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com

Angel, spin-off of Buffy, became a cult classic almost instantly. It wasn't better than Buffy, but it gave fans something that they very much needed. They got to see beloved characters stick around, and there was some semblance of closure for Angel. Your best course of action, of course, is to binge-watch Buffy and then move on to Angel – just for the sake of continuity. And awesomeness. And eye-candy.

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com

I love The Jeffersons, still to this day. All in the Family was an important TV show, not in spite of Archie's racism, bigotry, and misogyny, but because of all those things. The show opened the world up to different perspectives, and revealed all the dark things people just didn't see on television at the time. The Jeffersons, with an amazing cast that included Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, and Marla Gibbs, was like a direct retort to Archie's racism. Maude, another fantastic spin-off starring the unequaled Bea Arthur, was the answer to Archie's sexism. Two-for!

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com

I have a soft spot for NCIS, because I watch it with my parents every time I visit them. It seems like it's been on for a thousand years already. That's an exaggeration, but it's been on the air long enough that many viewers forget it's a JAG spin-off (and, if I may say, it's ten times better than JAG ever dreamed of being). It even has its own spin-off now, NCIS: Los Angeles – which is also excellent, and not just because there's lots and lots of LL Cool J.

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com

Where Cheers was kind of blue-collar, though never quite low-brow, Frasier was smart, sophisticated, and sarcastic. The duo of Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce was a little magical, and Martin Crane provided all the everyman humor viewers missed from Cheers. Besides, you have to love a show that finishes up its eleven year run with 31 Emmys.

Some spin-offs should have never been made, while others go on to do better than the original versions. There's never any telling when a spin-off will be successful, because taste is so subjective. So now that you've reached the end, let me know which spin-off shows you've loved, which ones you've hated, and which ones make you feel kind of “blah.”