Frasier>Cheers, Prime>2D Metroid, & other spinoff debates

[Gamerforlife]

Whether or not it was better is open for discussion, but Xena became far, far, FAR more successful and well known than the show it was spun off from, which was Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

I personally always liked Angel better than Buffy, but that may be a bias. I always liked that Angel took a darker, arguably more adult take on its stories than Buffy. I found the characters (including Angel himself) far more compelling. Wesley and Cordelia were bit players on Buffy, yet went on incredible character arcs on Angel that changed them dramatically. The show seemed to be a great place for Buffy alum to really evolve as characters. Also, while Buffy was well known for its moments of comedy, I think Angel really bested it with the season 5 episode, "Smile Time."

At this point in time, the official Buffy/Angel continuity continues on in comic book form under Darkhorse comics, with Joss Whedon supervising it all. It's worth mentioning for the purpose of this topic, than many Whedon fans believe that the Angel & Faith book is far better than Buffy's own book, an opinion that I share. In fact, I was saying that before other fans got on the bandwagon.

The story is dark, yet funny when appropriate, and Rebeka Isaacs does an amazing job of capturing the likenesses of the actors who played those roles, while still having her own artistic take on them. The Buffy book does not feature art that is quite as good, and the story seems to have no real direction. Part of the problem too, is that Faith has become a far more compelling slayer than Buffy, and Angel was always more interesting than Buffy.

I've lost interest in The Simpsons eons ago, yet still find Futurama consistently funny. It's not as culturally relevant, but I'd say the writing and comedy is probably much better than what the Simpsons is putting out.

Now for spinoffs that were shittier than the original, you can compare Highlander: The Raven to Highlander: The Series, though in fairness, the parent show eventually went to shit in its later series. Probably explains why Highlander: The Raven sucked, though it probably also has to do with them taking one of the most obnoxious characters from the original series and dedicated a show to her, instead of using a character that people actually liked.

We could maybe expand this topic to include remakes. I'm really enjoying Nikita on CW, and sometimes find myself wondering if it has become a better show than La Femme Nikita was on the USA network years ago

The classic Batman The Animated Series spawned lots of spin offs, all of which were pretty good. Though I think it was Justice League (and its later renaming of Justice League Unlimited) that really managed to really outdo Batman The Animated Series in quality (though maybe not so much in its flawed first season)

As far as video games go, I always liked Mega Man X better than the classic series. It just took that formula and improved upon it and added to it.

[BoneSnapDeez]

For the past decade, the Final Fantasy spinoffs (the Crystal Chronicles titles, 4 Heroes of Light, Theatrhythm) are vastly superior to the main numbered games (XI, XII, XIII, XIV).

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is (I believe) considered a spinoff from the main series; I enjoy it more than any other Tales game.

Golden Axe Warrior is my favorite Golden Axe game.

Faxanadu (NES) is a spinoff and way more fun than Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu (MSX and other Japanese computers).

SVU and Criminal Intent are more interesting than regular Law and Order.

I can think of tons of metal band "side-projects" that are superior to the members' "main" bands.

[Nemoide]

I thought the Knuckles the Echidna comic was way better than the Sonic the Hedgehog comics from the same time.

[BoringSupreez]

I thought the Knuckles the Echidna comic was way better than the Sonic the Hedgehog comics from the same time.

I've always heard that spinoff was terrible, at least from fans of the regular comic.

[ExedExes]

I enjoyed Beavis & Butthead, and I even liked the reboot last year.

I would say Super Metroid should have been the last game

*previous comment about WarioWare being better than New Super Mario Bros. REDACTED -- totally forgot about that game and my obsession to trying to unlock all the micro-games on Warioware Inc. had me a bit cloudy* (thanks dunpeal2064!)

[dunpeal2064]

WarioWare better than the NSMB and Galaxy games? You crazeh!

I did think Wario Land was better than Mario Land though.

[AppleQueso]

I can think of tons of metal band "side-projects" that are superior to the members' "main" bands.

Devin Townsend >>>>>>>>> Strapping Young Lad

[Michi]

Whether or not it was better is open for discussion, but Xena became far, far, FAR more successful and well known than the show it was spun off from, which was Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Xena! Oh, how could I forget Xena? Xena was great. It started to lose me a bit with the last couple of seasons, but it was still pretty good. Better than Hercules, anyway. That show usually ended up boring me.

SVU and Criminal Intent are more interesting than regular Law and Order.

I enjoyed the earlier Law and Order episodes as much, if not more so, than SVU. Once Jerry Orbach left, though, it just wasn't quite the same. After that is was like the show was trying to re-find it's footing, but never quite made it.

I've never liked Criminal Intent though.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I didn't like Criminal Intent until I started to watch 10 pm reruns last year and got hooked. Vincent D'Onofrio is boss.

[Dylan]

WarioWare better than the NSMB and Galaxy games? You crazeh!

I did think Wario Land was better than Mario Land though.

The Wario Land series is really awesome, I wish we could get more of those rather than all of the Wario Ware games.