10 TV Spin-Offs Better Than The Original
They may not have done it first, but they did it better.
In an age where Hollywood is dominated by franchises and sequels, we can probably expect TV spin-offs to become an increasingly regular occurrence. The last few years have seen a number of megahits continue their lifespans in the form of other shows, such as The Walking Dead leading to Fear The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad giving way to Better Call Saul, Sons of Anarchy being followed-up by Mayans M.C, and Arrow leading to an entire shared universe.
There are no signs of this slowing down anytime soon, with Game of Thrones getting *at least* one spin-off show and many more planned besides, although it's not a new phenomenon. TV spin-offs have existed in some form since the 1950s, with The Honeymooners coming out of Jackie Gleason's sketch show, but their record is patchy at best.
Get it right, and you could be looking at an Angel: a show that takes a beloved character, and gives them adventures worthy of standing alone, creating a tone that is different enough it's not just a repeat, but still recognisable to fans. Get it wrong, though, and you end up with the sad excuse of a Friends spin-off that Joey was. Making something that's different but the same isn't an easy task, and it's even harder to top an established original series, but that's what all of these spin-offs managed to do.