A spinoff in television is a new series which contains characters from an old series. They are particularly common in situation comedies.
Three main types of television spin-off exist:
a supporting character or characters in an existing series is given their own show in which they become the main focus. The original series continues and there may be some crossover of characters between the shows on occasion (eg. Rhoda from The Mary Tyler Moore Show)
new characters are specially incorporated into an existing series for the sole purpose of being launched into their own show that will feature no regular characters from the original series, except possibly as guest appearances (eg. Empty Nest[?] from The Golden Girls)
... (+ 1976)
May 21 - Fats Waller, pianist (+ 1943)
May 21 - Robert Montgomery, actor (+ 1981)
June 2 - Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor
July 12 - ...