Why More Shows Should Adopt the Bridgerton and Off Campus Format
With the arrival of streaming services, TV changed forever. Rather than waiting with bated breath for new episodes, we had the freedom to do what’s now known as ‘binge watching,’ consuming entire TV shows in record time in order to participate in those water cooler chats.
Things have evolved a lot since Netflix changed the game. We now have numerous other streamers offering bingeable shows like Paramount Plus, Disney Plus, and Amazon Prime Video.
One of my favourite recent binge-watches, which comes from Amazon, is Off Campus. Based on the Elle Kennedy book series, Season 1 of the show focuses on the love story between ice hockey team captain Garrett Graham and music student Hannah Wells, both of whom attend the fictional Briar University. The interesting thing about this show is that Season 1 is a self-contained story, while Off Campus Season 2 — which was commissioned before the show even aired — will be its own story, too.
But, the thing that differentiates Off Campus from your standard anthology series is that it will all be set in the ‘Briar-verse,’ if you will, with the same cast and characters essentially rotating to be the two romantic leads each time (with, of course, some new additions along the way). Essentially, each new instalment will adapt a different one of Kennedy’s books, with each novel allowing different characters from the Briar-verse to take centre stage.
In my opinion, this format will be the thing that helps Off Campus go the distance, and it draws from a very good example: Bridgerton.
Why The ‘Rotating Cast’ Format Works
As we know, Bridgerton is also adapted from a set of romance novels, authored by Julia Quinn. Each season adapts a different book from Quinn’s collection, with each book, in turn, being devoted to the love story of one eponymous Bridgerton sibling. When it comes to Bridgerton’s success, the numbers really do speak for themselves: everything but Season 4 cracked Netflix’s Top 10 most-watched English language series of all time list.
Primarily, the reason why this ‘rotating cast’ format works is because it strikes the right balance. On the one hand, anchoring the show in the same world with the same supporting cast allows for the depth and breadth of character development and worldbuilding you can only get from having multiple seasons of the same show (which, with Netflix’s track record, is something of a rarity).
While there is a different central love story each time, overarching plot points like the identity of Lady Whistledown have spanned multiple seasons. There are also subplots that help develop certain characters in supporting roles prior to their starring turn, with Anthony’s relationship with Siena, Penelope’s unrequited love for Colin, and Benedict’s love for art all laying the groundwork for their respective moments in the spotlight.
At the same time, by changing up the leads each year, Bridgerton remains fresh. While multi-season shows with the same cast structure can be rewarding in terms of watching those characters develop, it can get a bit stale sometimes. That switching up of the cast hierarchy combined with the strategic placement of brand new characters interacting with this established fictional world helps to keep things exciting for both old and new fans.
And with each season telling a somewhat self-contained story, it is much more accessible for new fans. They don’t necessarily have to watch every single past episode to catch up, although, if they do, they’ll obviously have a much richer experience. In short, this means that the format offers benefits for both kinds of viewers.
Off Campus Follows the Bridgerton Playbook
In my opinion, Bridgerton is a masterclass on how to make this kind of formatting a success — and I’m already seeing echoes of that kind of success with Off Campus. While I stand by the fact that the character John Logan should lead Season 2, the hype surrounding Allie Hayes and Dean Di Laurentis being elevated from supporting to main characters can’t be ignored.
The main benefit of this is that existing viewers who have already gotten acquainted with these characters will feel encouraged to watch, while the format switch also acts as a soft-reboot of the series. If Off Campus goes the distance, there are plenty of other books in the series that can be adapted, and if this kind of Season 2 hype — less than a month after Season 1 ends — continues, I see no reason why we can't end up getting a few more years of this dazzling drama.
If there was one weakness with Bridgerton’s current format, it’s that they never seem to know what to do with their former leads after they’ve had their starring turn. They either vanish completely or just hover in the background to give snippets of tenuous advice about love.
If Off Campus is able to paper over that particular crack, it will end up a stronger show for it, and who knows? It might even surpass Bridgerton.
