There are few animated series that have been resurrected from cancellation. 'Family Guy' is one; 'Futurama' is another.

'Family Guy' went on to become so popular, it got a spin-off in 'The Cleveland Show.' Could 'Futurama,' which starts a brand new season this coming week, follow suit? If so, which supporting character would be the centerpiece and main attraction?

Let's postulate, shall we? Here are the top five characters I would have star in a hypothetical 'Futurama' spin-off, in no particular order.

Oprah Winfrey may be leaving syndication for her own cable network, but that doesn't mean her empire won't continue. Hot on the heels of the successful launch of 'The Dr. Oz Show,' another frequent guest of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show', Nate Berkus is getting his own show. 'The Nate Berkus Show' will spotlight interior design advice for guests, as well as general lifestyle tips and personal style.

Berkus has appeared on Winfrey's show many times over the years, and even served as host for her one-season prime time venture, 'Oprah's Big Give.' He's already a bestselling author, radio host, and has his own home line on Home Shopping Network, and at Linens 'n Things.

I guess with Martha Stewart leaving syndication as well, Oprah saw an opening for home decoration and interior design. She'd already taken a bite out of the cooking genre with Rachael Ray. The question is: what's left for Oprah to conquer? Is it time to horn in on the sleazy talk shows like Jerry Springer and Maury Povich? Does she have a judge she can trot out?

When a spin-off is launched, people - and I include myself in the lot - are quick to criticize. "This show sucks!" "It's not the same as the original!" "Rip off!!!" Let's face it, it's not easy for a spin-off to live in the shadow of the show that launched it. One of these series is The CW's 90210.

When Beverly Hills, 90210 premiered in October 1990, I was a 13-year-old looking for a new series that would tackle issues teenagers like me could face. As a Canadian, Degrassi Junior High had been entertaining me and providing answers to questions teenagers ask since 1987, but Degrassi's quality made me crave for more of the like. Thankfully, BH90210 was launched and I never missed an episode during its 10-year run.

When The CW announced that it would revive the series by creating a spin-off, I was all giddy inside. Could Dylan, Brenda, Kelly and company be back? Would it be set at the same high school? Would it be as good as the original? Who? How? When? What? Why? Argh!!! My expectations were getting high. Too high.

As expected, I didn't enjoy the first few episodes of the spin-off much and found a lot of flaws in it. However, out of nostalgia, I stuck with the series and started to find reasons why people should give 90210 a chance. Let's see if you agree with my reasons.

Question: Is Craig T. Nelson being cast on CSI: NY just another big star guest turn or could it be something more important? We don't know the answer yet, but I suspect that booking the Emmy-award winning TV star for three episodes could be a lot more significant than just pumping up the ratings during February sweeps with a meaty story arc.

What we do know is that the popular actor will be on CSI: NY as an antagonist to Gary Sinise's character. Nelson will play Robert Parker, a high profile, powerful publisher who has an ax to grind with Mac Taylor.

To say they're going to butt heads is an educated guess, but I think that's the direction they're going. You can see Parker using his media outlets to attack Mac and his department, you know, those great New York tabloid headlines.

Considering the fact that CSI has been the basis for two very, very successful CBS spin-offs -- CSI: Miami and CSI: New York (in case you've been out of the loop for the past six years) -- it hardly comes as a shock that another CBS ratings powerhouse, NCIS, is planning a spin-off. Maybe the only shock is that they've waited till now to really put thought into action.

EW's Michael Ausiello landed the exclusive and reports that the NCIS spin-off will be like the other CSI's in that they will not take a character from the show and make him/her the centerpiece of that new series. That means you don't have to worry about Ziva, Tony, Abs, McGee and Gibbs breaking up.

And after the fans' reaction at the end of last season, when the team was split up as the new director took over only to be reunited early this season, that's a major relief.

Back in May -- remember that far back -- Isabelle wrote about the fact that David Shore, creator of House, was contemplating a new show. It was a spinoff of House, but not a medical show. It was going to be in the private eye genre.

Newark Star-Ledger columnist Alan Sepinwall (with Dan Feinberg) did an interview with David recently and found out some more information about the spinoff.

"We brought in a character, partway through the year, [actor] Michael Weston as this private investigator House goes to. The spinoff would be less of a spinoff, it would be more us using House to launch it. It would be an independent world. A character out of the House mold, but definitely different."

One of the more interesting things to come out of the Silverman-Graboff executive session (which I promise will be up later today ... probably this evening) is that, though Amy Poehler has been signed to be in a show produced by The Office's Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, that show will not be an Office spin-off. It'll have the same comic sensibility and style as The Office, but the characters won't be part of the Office universe. However, a real Office spin-off is still in play, and there's potential for Rashida Jones to be a part of it.

Got that? Neither did the critics, who repeatedly asked mostly Silverman to clarify the situation during both the panel and the scrum that followed.

According to popular rumor, SNL star Amy Poehler is in talks to star in the spin-off series from NBC's The Office. If this is true, she'll be joining fellow SNL alumnus (and former Weekend Update co-anchor and co-star of the movie Baby Mama) Tina Fey as part of NBC's comedy prime-time line-up. No word yet on how Poehler's real-life pregnancy would affect this situation.

All I can say is: wow, what a fantastic choice. I've always been impressed with Poehler's work since she co-founded the Upright Citizen's Brigade (which is still going strong on both coasts). I've had the pleasure of seeing her perform comedy improv a few times and noticed how she is leaps and bounds more talented than most of the other people on the stage.

If anybody can lead a sitcom, it's Amy Poehler. If this news is true, I very much look forward to this spin-off and think it may be one of those rare cases in which the spin-off equals or is even greater than the original.

Aziz Ansari seems to be the hottest name around Hollywood casting circles. According to Variety, the stand-up comedian, who's also one-third of the MTV's acclaimed sketch team Human Giant, has been cast in the upcoming Office spin-off. He's also signed a one-year talent hold deal with Universal Media Studios.

What's interesting about this news is that Ansari was also tapped to play one of the new interns on the eighth season of Scrubs, which is produced by and will now air on ABC. What I'm guessing is that, since Scrubs will finish shooting in August, this deal will start after his deal with the veteran medical comedy ends. If there happens to be a ninth season of the show, as Bill Lawrence told me might happen, I'd imagine he'd come back after his Universal deal ends or they'll just replace him with someone else.

Every year, networks talk spinoffs. They look at their most popular shows and wonder if they could find a way to bank on the success of some of them. This is why we ended up with countless versions of CSI and Law & Order.

The 2008-2009 TV season will see its crop of new spinoffs. The most talked about are 90210 and the unnamed The Office spinoff. House will also introduce a new character in the hope to give him his own show if the audience responds well.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gossip Girl wants to join in on the fun. The show creators would like to have a series around Jenny Humphrey or a new character they would introduce in the second season of the hit The CW show.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fox is looking to create a spin-off for Prison Break in the form of the same show but in a women's prison. The speculative name of this show would be Prison Break: Cherry Hill.

I realize that there have been television shows about women in prison before. The most popular one is the Australian series called The Prisoner of Cell Block H. The article also mentions a previous Fox short-lived sitcom called Women In Prison.

In the "big surprise" department, we have this item: ABC has made the shocking move to pick up the Kate Walsh-fronted spin-off of Grey's Anatomy, tentatively titled Private Practice.

According to the New York Post, the show may get a new title (ya think?), and the network was very happy with the ratings for the Grey's episode that introduced the spin-off, despite the mixed reaction from the show's fans.

Of course, our snideness comes from the fact that we already knew the show was going to be picked up, for many reasons. Heck, even Walsh knew, as she got a "you're in pretty good shape" from ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson last week on the Ellen show.

On today's edition of Ellen, Ellen DeGeneres decided to take it upon herself to find out if Private Practice, the working title of the Grey's Anatomy spin-off starring Kate Walsh, is going to be picked up for the fall. With her guest, Walsh, looking on a bit sheepishly, DeGeneres decided to call ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson and ask him to cut the suspense and tell Kate and the audience whether the show was getting picked up.

For his part, McPherson was a good sport, and ended up telling Ellen and everyone that Kate is in "pretty good shape," meaning that the show's almost assured of a pick-up. Once Kate got on the phone to say hello to McPherson, the executive uttered a line that was at once funny and painful for him to say -- "This is going to be an interesting contract negotiation" -- meaning that the lovely and leggy Walsh might be in for a very good payday pretty soon. Video is after the jump.

[via the TV addict]

The Grey's Anatomy boards and blogs, and even some of our articles here at TV Squad, have been experiencing a surge in negative comments and posts. Those comments are directed at solely one thing: the potential spin-off featuring the character of Addison.

Why are fans so unhappy with the end result? Will fan comments have ABC not pick up Private Practice?

Let's analyze a few of the negative comments left by the TV Squad visitors in our "Grey's Anatomy vs. the spin-off -- Part 2" post.