After Show

Your show has been a smash success! You're on your 5th or 6th season and your star decides he's had enough ... and decides to end the series. But you don't want to end just yet! Maybe the producers want to milk the cash cow a little longer. Maybe you can create ... an After Show.

An After Show is a very specific combination of Spin-Off and Retool. It is a clear attempt to extend the life of a show by renaming it. To be an After Show it must 1) come after the end of the original series and 2) Star as regular cast members at least one member who could have been considered a star on the original or feature the same setting as the original show. For example ... The Ropers is just a spin-off of Threes Company, but Three's a Crowd is an After Show.

The best way to illustrate an After Show is if it can be placed in this statement.... ________ is an attempt to do _______ without ___________.

Named after the show After MASH, one of the most famous After Shows ever.


 * The Adventures of Superpup is an attempt to do The Adventures of Superman without Superman.
 * Archie Bunkers Place is an attempt to do All in The Family without the Family.
 * 704 Hauser is an attempt to do All in The Family without the Bunkers.
 * After MASH is an attempt to do Mash without Hawkeye, BJ, Charles, Hot Lips, and war.
 * Golden Palace is an attempt to do The Golden Girls without Dorothy.
 * The Legacy Of Reginald Perrin is an attempt to do The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin without Reginald Perrin (due to Actor Existence Failure).
 * Mayberry RFD is an attempt to do The Andy Griffith Show without Andy Griffith.
 * So Random is an attempt to do Sonny With a Chance without Sonny.
 * The New WKRP In Cincinatti is an attempt to do WKRP in Cincinnati without the younger office workers.
 * Ozzie's Girls is an attempt to do The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet without the Nelson Brothers.
 * Sanford is an attempt to do Sanford and Son without the Son.
 * Sanford Arms is an attempt to do Sanford and Son without Sanford or Son.
 * Star Trek the Next Generation is an attempt to do Star Trek the Original Series without the Original Crew.
 * The After Show concept is the main reason Paramount felt confident in pouring so much money into Next Gen's first season - they figured if it bombed, they'd just add the episodes to the original show's 79 episode syndication package and make money off the 13/26 episodes that way.
 * Three's a Crowd is an attempt to do Threes Company without Janet and Terri/Crissy/Cindy.
 * And likewise, Robin's Nest is an attempt to do Man About the House without Chrissy and Jo.
 * Genshiken has recently been re-started but since almost all the male club members have graduated the series is now focused on the adventures of the club's now nearly all-female cast. Not really a case of executive milking, since it's just an adaptation of the storyline the original author has created.
 * Scrubs season nine, aka Scrubs: Med School is an attempt to do Scrubs without JD.
 * Stargate SG 1's ninth and tenth seasons. The producers wanted to change the title to "Stargate Command" and do exactly this, but the network wanted the name power of SG-1. To use the above prescribed phrase, seasons 9 and 10 were an attempt to do SG-1 without Richard Dean Anderson.
 * Are You Being Served Again, also known as Grace and Favour, is an attempt to do Are You Being Served without the department store, Mr. Lucas or Mr. Spooner, or either of the elderly Grace Brothers the store was named for.
 * "It Sticks Out Half A Mile" was a radio-show attempt at making Dads Army without Captain Mainwaring or most of the platoon. Actually, Arthur Lowe was supposed to voice his character in the show but he died after making one episode, so they built up John Le Mesurier's Arthur Wilson as the main character. His death a year later effectively ended all work on the program.
 * "Degrassi" is an attempt to do Degrassi: The Next Generation without Emma, Manny, Spinner, Liberty, and Jay.
 * "Forever Fernwood" is an attempt to do Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman without Mary.
 * "Cory in The House" is an attempt to do That's So Raven! without Raven, Chelsie, Eddie, and Mrs. Baxter.
 * "The Hogan Family" is an attempt to do Valerie without Valerie (due to the main character killed off).
 * Newhart was at one point to have been an After Show, with Suzanne Pleshette again being Bob's wife Emily, with them running the Inn. However, when you consider how the show ended...
 * What's Happening Now is What's Happening with all the characters grown up one now married and without Mrs Thomas.