TV Show Spin-Offs That Are Just as Good as Their Original
In the climate of movie reboots, sequels, and prequels, it is clear that sometimes audiences are not ready to say goodbye to certain characters or worlds. The same has been happening in television for decades, which has led to the rise of the spin-off series.
Some TV spin-offs feel like obvious cash grabs, hoping to ride the success of a beloved series without capturing the same magic. But, every so often, a spin-off arrives that not only justifies its existence, but stands proudly alongside the original. Whether expanding a rich fictional universe, or shining a spotlight on fan-favourite characters, these shows prove there's still life in the original idea.
The following list of TV spin-offs have more than earned their right to exist alongside their parent show.
After the massive success of The Boys, showrunner Eric Kripke announced a wave of spin-offs of which Gen V was the first to air. Set in Godolkin University, Gen V focused on a younger group of supes, telling the story of Marie Moreau as she enrols at the famous school for super-powered beings.
Beginning after the events of the third season of The Boys, Gen V does a great job at continuing aspects of its parent show's story while still standing apart. Crushingly, during the final season of The Boys, Gen V’s cancellation was announced, but this does not change the fact that the two seasons that do exist easily rival The Boys, especially when it comes to WTF content.
Throughout Sons of Anarchy’s tenure, SAMCRO had dealings with a number of rival crews, with the Mayans being one of the most featured. After Sons finished, it became apparent that audiences were still craving their fix of bad boy bikers and so Mayans M.C. was created.
Rather than just being a carbon copy of the Shakespearian Sons, Mayans highlighted the horrors that cartels cause and in EZ Reyes it had a fascinating lead character. Watching his journey from prospect to loftier heights in the organisation makes for a fantastic origin story. Mayans M.C. is a must watch for any fans of Sons as, in addition to featuring several familiar faces, the show also has regular updates about the status of SAMCRO making it just as much of a sequel show as a spin-off.
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Frasier is one of the better known and most successful spin-offs in television history. The character of Dr. Frasier Crane first began life as one of the regular patrons in Cheers. If you’re not familiar with Cheers, it was essentially the ‘80s version of Friends, just set within the walls of a bar where everyone knew your name.
In Frasier, Dr. Crane left Boston behind after his divorce, to return home to Seattle where he became a popular radio host. The sitcom ran for 11 seasons, equalling that of its parent show.
The reality show format is one of the easiest to create spin-offs from. All that needs to happen is to pick a character and follow their next steps, and this is best exemplified in The Hills. Before The Hills there was Laguna Beach, which introduced audiences to a teenage Lauren ‘LC’ Conrad. After she graduated, the MTV cameras followed her to Los Angeles as she followed her dream to work in fashion, on The Hills.
While a few will remember Laguna Beach, there is hardly a millennial alive that doesn’t remember the drama of The Hills. Filled with perfect locations and soap opera-level plotlines, The Hills is trash television at its most addictive.
When Vince Gilligan created Breaking Bad, few thought he could ever come anywhere close to surpassing it. The show, which saw high-school teacher Walter White turn to cooking meth to raise funds for his cancer treatment, was a global phenomenon, and is in part responsible for the early rise of streaming giant Netflix. A considerable amount of people got subscriptions just so they could catch up on this show they kept hearing about.
During Season 2 of Breaking Bad the character of lawyer Saul was introduced. Played by Bob Odenkirk, the character of Saul was an immediate hit, and so as Breaking Bad ended, Better Call Saul began. Part prequel, part sequel, Better Call Saul is essential viewing for Breaking Bad completists.
During the Season 3 finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel breaks Buffy’s (and the audience’s) heart by saying that he is leaving Sunnydale. While Buffy still had to contend with mending her broken heart, fans were able to catch up with his adventures in Los Angeles in spin-off show Angel. Also featuring Buffy characters Cordelia, Wesley, and much later on, Spike, Angel was a more grown-up monster-of-the-week show.
Upon arrival in LA, Angel established a detective agency and set about helping the hopeless in an attempt to atone for his sins as Angelus. The occasional crossovers with Buffy helped expand the universe, but in reality, Angel was strong enough on its own. Just like Buffy, there are some standout episodes, with Season 5’s ‘Smile Time’ a classic as it saw Angel turned into a muppet-style puppet.
If you grew up in the ‘90s you will know who Xena is. For those that didn’t, Xena started life as a guest character on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys before getting her own show, Xena: Warrior Princess.
While audiences liked Hercules well enough, it was Xena that had everyone talking. A swords and sandals fantasy show, Xena had a strong female lead, plenty of fighting and, as the show progressed, a beautiful queer love story between Xena and sidekick Gabrielle.
Set in New Orleans, The Originals tells the story of the Mikaelson family, the very first vampires to ever exist. The clan were first featured in The Vampire Diaries where Klaus was the big villain of both Seasons 2 and 3 before leaving Mystic Falls for his former home in New Orleans.
Just like its parent show, The Originals is full of witches, werewolves, vampires, and doomed romances, but minus the tedium of the Elena-Damon-Stefan triangle, which made for more exciting viewing. Placing the villainous Klaus into the lead role was an inspired stroke of genius, as anti-hero’s always ensure more complex and complicated narratives.
After the success of cartoon He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which had a strong audience of young boys, Filmation wanted to replicate it but with a show targeted at girls. The result of that brainstorm was She-Ra: Princess of Power, who was Prince Adam, AKA He-Man’s, long-lost twin sister, Adora. When needed, Adora calls upon Greyskull and becomes the super strong She-Ra.
She-Ra: Princess of Power is pretty much just a carbon copy of He-Man — just watch the intros side by side — but it still works. The best news is that it wasn’t just girls that the show brought in, and the cartoon became an early proof that children are gender blind.
Although DC TV show Arrow went on to spawn three different spin-off shows, the first and best is The Flash. Jumping on the superhero bandwagon, The Flash tells the origin story and big battles of the fastest man alive, Barry Allen. Far more light-hearted and comedic than its super serious parent, The Flash proved that DC could have near Marvel levels of fun.
A comic book fan's dream, Barry takes on a multitude of iconic baddies and although The Flash did eventually get a little too caught up in the ‘no one is ever really dead’ trope, it remains a pleasant respite from some of the darker shows. Be warned, though, if you do venture into The Flash, there are several big event stories that saw characters from Arrow and all its spin-offs combine, which gets a little confusing at times.
