Every so often, a background or supporting character does such a good job at stealing scenes from the stars of a show or movie that Hollywood has no choice but to take notice. And sometimes, they’re given the chance to shine in their own spinoff. We know the success stories (Frasier Crane and Saul Goodman come to mind) and the flops (Joey, we had such high hopes), but bit players have been proving their worth at the top of the marquee for decades, often shining brighter than their original incarnations.
Here, then, are eight shows and movies based on characters that started life in someone else’s story before spreading their wings on their own. They range from hit shows to cult curiosities.
1
Mork & Mindy
Nanu nanu. Shazbot.
It’s odd and totally fitting that the first time that many people ever saw Robin Williams was on TV as the weird and hysterically funny alien Mork in “My Favorite Orkan,” a 1978 episode of the iconic sitcom Happy Days, where he appeared in a dream that The Fonz (Henry Winkler) had. Creator Gary Marshall knew exactly what he had in Williams, though, and immediately spun the character off into Mork & Mindy, with Williams starring as the playful alien from Ork and Pam Dwyer as the sweet Boulder, Colorado, grad student who takes him in. Mork & Mindy ran for four seasons, was nominated for two Emmys, and literally launched Williams into the stratosphere.
It’s worth noting that Happy Days is the undisputed champion of spinoffs, with many of its supporting characters spawning more shows than any other, including Laverne & Shirley, Joanie Loves Chachi, Blansky’s Beauties, and Out of the Blue.
Mork & Mindy
- Release Date
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1978 – 1982-00-00
- Network
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ABC
- Directors
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Howard Storm, Frank Buxton, Bob Claver, Joel Zwick, Garry Marshall, Harvey Medlinsky
2
Pinky and the Brain
Narf!
I loved the adventures of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot in the brilliant ’90s cartoon Animaniacs that ran from 1993 to 1998. But I admit that I largely watched it for the recurring segment about a diabolical lab mouse with a huge head named Brain and his insane and simple-minded sidekick, Pinky, who were hellbent on taking over the world. Pinky and the Brain went solo in 1995 and ran for four seasons and 65 episodes. It was so funny and creative that it beat out The Simpsons for the Outstanding Animated Program Emmy in 1996. Narf!
3
The Colbert Report
The crown prince of truthiness soared like an eagle
As Stephen Colbert, sadly, wraps up his time as the host of The Late Show in May, let’s take a second to pay homage to his conservative cable-news pundit alter ego, Stephen Colbert, that the brilliant comedic actor spent eight years perfecting on The Daily Show, first with Craig Kilborn, and mostly with Jon Stewart. It was a no-brainer for Comedy Central to spin the character off into The Colbert Report (pronounced “Rapore”), where, for nine seasons, Colbert would absolutely thrive, winning Emmys, a Peabody, and coining the word “truthiness.”
4
Peacemaker
John Cena shines as the chrome-topped meathead
James Gunn’s excellent 2022 HBO Max spinoff Peacemaker was easily one of my favorite series of the pandemic, providing the perfect over-the-top violence and ridiculousness I needed. John Cena’s self-conscious, tighty-whitey-wearing, eagle-toting, meathead seemingly died at the end of 2021’s The Suicide Squad. Luckily for us, Gunn resurrected him, and the show has so far enjoyed two spectacular seasons, each reaching 93% and 99% Rotten Tomatoes ratings, respectively.
5
The Lone Gunmen
Plucked from the dimly lit rooms of the X-Files
The trio of paranoid conspiracy theorists—John Byers (Bruce Harwood), Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood), and Richard “Ringo” Langly (Dean Haglund)—who were introduced in a 1994 X-Files episode, became such breakout favorites that Fox gave them their own series in 2001. Co-created by Chris Carter and a pre-Breaking Bad Vince Gilligan, The Lone Gunmen erred a bit more on the comedic side, and only lasted 13 episodes before getting the axe.
The pilot episode of The Lone Gunmen, which aired March 4, 2001, featured a plot involving rogue government agents hijacking a plane to crash it into the World Trade Center. Six months later, 9/11 happened.
6
Deadpool
The Merc with a Mouth breaks the silence
Ryan Reynolds was born to play Wade Wilson. But when the character appeared in 2009’s appallingly bad X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Merc with a Mouth had his lips infamously sewn shut, and fans were furious. For years, Reynolds battled Fox to get it made (even leaking some footage to prove fans would love it—they did), and when 2016’s raunchy, fourth-wall-breaking Deadpool finally arrived, it hit 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $782 million, then the highest R-rated gross ever. OK, so more of a redemption story than a spinoff, but the lineage counts.
7
Annabelle
The porcelain mascot of the Conjuring Universe
I don’t really like dolls in general, but even the three minutes of total screen time that Annabelle, the creepy, blush-wearing doll from 2013’s horror The Conjuring, got in that film had a big enough impression on Warner Bros. to warrant a franchise. Annabelle appeared a year later, and while its story of a malevolent entity terrorizing a small family through a vintage doll was universally panned, audiences loved it to the tune of a $257 million global box office take. The Annabelle franchise spans three dedicated films, and the doll has appeared in nearly every other film in the Conjuring Universe and, bizarrely, in the DCEU’s Aquaman and both Shazam! movies, courtesy of directors James Wan and David F. Sandberg—she’s a cameo queen!
8
This Is 40
The Knocked Up side couple who got a whole movie to themselves
Judd Apatow called 2012’s This is 40 a “sort-of-sequel” to 2007’s Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl rom-com Knocked Up, but it’s really more of a spinoff, as neither of those characters appears. It instead brings back Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann)—the sister and brother-in-law characters of Heigl’s Allison—five years later, as the couple struggles with the rut of marriage, parenthood, and midlife crises. Is it the strongest entry on this list? Maybe not. Did critics like the movie? Notsomuch (it has a 52% on Rotten Tomatoes). However, Rudd is delightfully Rudd-y in it.
These eight spinoffs share a simple lesson—that sometimes the best character in the scene isn’t the lead. From weird-but-memorable cameos to one-off supporting roles, don’t write off the background players; they might just be the beginning of something special.
- Operating System
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RkuOS
- Connectivity
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luetooth, Ethernet, HDMI, USB, Wi-Fi
The impressive Roku Ultra has everything you’d want from a streaming device, with Dolby Vision and Atmos providing quality 4K picture and sound.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
