Just as Happy Days begat Mork and Mindy and Cheers begat Frasier, television has always mined popular shows for bits of greatness to refashion into something new. Traditionally, spinoffs have worked better for comedies than dramas. (Well, don’t tell that to Joey Tribbiani.) But recently, dramas too are trying to capitalize on the audience of one show to grow themselves into franchises that conquer multiple nights. Fear The Walking Dead (though AMC insists on calling it a “companion series” instead of a spinoff) is trying to do just that, premiering on Sunday night. (The original Walking Dead restarts on Sundays later this fall.)
Here’s a look at some programmes currently on the air that are the spawn of other popular shows that prove that Fear can be a monster hit (pun intended) thanks to the success of the groundwork laid by its predecessor.
Better Call Saul
This Breaking Bad prequel set the precedent for AMC when the premiere clocked in at nearly seven million viewers, the biggest cable premiere in 18-to-49-year-olds in history. Though ratings shrank to about 2.5 million by the finale, the series still managed to score seven Emmy nominations, including one for Best Drama, making it one of the best decisions AMC has made since hiring Jon Hamm.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Just to put it in perspective, this grandaddy of spinoffs premiered in the Clinton administration with 12 million viewers and is still going strong. Sixteen years later it only rounds up about nine million viewers but that doesn’t count the countless repeats that are still putting money in the bank. After all these years its originator and other spinoffs are dead, but nothing can kill this murder show.
The Finder
This 2012 Fox show is proof that this formula doesn’t always work. A spinoff from the still-popular Bones, this Jeff Stultz drama about a man who can find anything thanks to some handy brain damage averaged a decent five million viewers, but Fox still canned it after one season. Guess the one thing this guy couldn’t find was a second season.
NCIS: New Orleans
The funny thing is that NCIS was originally a spinoff of the now-cancelled JAG, but it still is having more children than the family on 19 Kids and Counting. And they keep being more successful too. The New Orleans franchise premiered in 2014 with 17.5 million viewers, the largest premiere in 10 years. NCIS: Los Angeles still draws about 12 million viewers and NCIS: Original Recipe is still the biggest of the bunch with 18.25 million for its recently concluded 12th season.
CSI: Cyber
Just as CSI was joining CSI: Miami and CSI: New York in the great TV cancellation graveyard, this spinoff about a group of agents who solve computer crimes, became one of CBS’s biggest successes with a premiere of 14 million viewers. Though it lost a chunk of that audience during the season, it’s already renewed for season two, keeping the CSI torch burning and newly minted Oscar winner Patricia Arquette gainfully employed.
Chicago Med
When this show premieres in November it will be the third in this franchise following Chicago Fire and Chicago PD making this franchise tied with NCIS for the biggest currently on air. If it does as well as its older brothers, which still pull in 9.6 and 8.7 million viewers respectively, look for Chicago DMV coming to your home in 2017.
The Originals
Unless you have a teenage girl on hand to explain to you the difference between the CW’s Vampire Diaries and this show, it’s not really worth it to explain. The Originals doesn’t do quite as well as its supernatural father. The last season averaged just shy of two million viewers while Vampire Diaries still pulls in about 2.25 million. Sometimes the original does better than The Originals.
The Flash
The CW finally did spinoffs right. With its wall-to-wall superheroes these days and a bit part for The Flash on popular show Arrow managed to be a major boon in the ratings. The first episode scored almost five million viewers, making it the channel’s highest rated premiere in six years. With about four million weekly viewers, this second-stringer is now the biggest show on the network. No wonder they’ve lined up Legends of Tomorrow to spin off of The Flash for 2015.
