In the coming years, people will probably remember Joey as one of the worst sitcoms of all time. Why? Because it took a character from a hugely successful series, Friends, and put him in a show that was about as bland as a sitcom could get.

This isn't the first time that a series that spun off main characters from a popular series has fallen on its face. In fact, aside from Frasier and maybe Archie Bunker's Place, the "falling on face" outcome seems to happen more often than not.

(UPDATE: To clarify, I'm talking about a show spun off from a hit show AFTER the hit show ends. I'm thinking of shows like The Golden Palace, Three's A Crowd, etc. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.)

Take the case of AfterMASH. After M*A*S*H ended its long run in 1983, people were still clamoring for tales of the people from the 4077th; so when plans were announced to follow three characters -- Col. Potter, Father Mulcahy, and Max Klinger -- back to life in the U.S. after the end of the Korean War, fans were overjoyed. In fact, ratings for the first half-season or so, which aired in the same Monday at 9 timeslot as M*A*S*H, were so high, the show ended the calendar year 1983 in the #1 slot.

There was a little problem, though: the show was boring as hell.