5 Ways TV Shows Continue After They're Cancelled

1. Comics

buffycomiccrop It's fair to say that the TV shows featured here are in a minority, and most shows don't come back from cancellation. Bringing back cast and crew to any screen takes a lot of money, which if a show has been cancelled, generally isn't worth spending. This is perhaps the main reason that many TV shows don't actually continue on screen, but on the page instead. Arguably started by showrunner Joss Whedon, whose shows have been killed even quicker than his own characters, it didn't take long for people to realise there was still a substantial fanbase out there. Even though Buffy had run its course rather than being axed, this didn't stop Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Eight from picking up where it left off, both officially, and canonically. Naturally, spin-off series Angel followed suit, and so too Whedon's later creations Firefly and Dollhouse, albeit to a lesser extent. Although tie-in comics have been printed for years, it is only recently that they have been used to specifically continue a TV series in such a way. Not only do comics save money on the wages of the vast amount of people it takes to produce a TV series, but the stories are only limited to the creativity of the writers and artists. Right from the start of Season Eight, Buffy and co. have a vast slayer army based in a Scottish castle, travel the globe, and Dawn is transformed into both a Centaur, and a Giant, who at one point battles a Mecha-robot version of herself in Downtown Tokyo. Needless to say, the cost to produce the CGI effects for such a Godzilla homage on-screen don't even bear thinking about. A whole host of others have now followed his example, even down to the naming of each mini series after corresponding seasons. Smallville: Season 11 features the likeness' of the series actors and depicts Tom Welling's Kal-El in the super-suit, something which the TV series never managed to achieve properly. Chris Carter himself is also bringing back his beloved Mulder and Scully, acting as executive producer of The X-Files: Season 10, which will €œ bring the mythology of the Alien Conspiracy back up to date in a more paranoid, post-terror, post-wikileaks society.€ Although many argue that having an episode titled Jump The Shark was apt, a comic book continuation isn't bad for a TV series that ended over ten years ago.
Contributor
Contributor

One man fate has made indescribable