Love ’em or hate ’em, spinoffs are a staple in the entertainment game, and 2015 is gearing up to be their year in the spotlight. AMC, Netflix and CBS have planned at least four spinoff series for the coming year.
But why are spinoffs made? Aren’t there better concepts out there begging to see the light of the plasma screen? Why reopen a closed book?
“There have been television spinoffs for decades,” Dan Pal, a lecturer on the entertainment industry in DePaul’s College of Computing and Digital Media, said. “In the 1970s alone, ‘All in the Family’ led to ‘Maude’ and ‘The Jeffersons.’ ‘Maude’ led to “Good Times.’ ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ spun off ‘Rhoda,’ ‘Phyllis’ and ‘Lou Grant.’ Later, ‘Cheers’ led to ‘Frasier’ while ‘Friends’ led to ‘Joey,’ and on and on and on.”
For Jose Soto, a professor specializing in television at CDM, it’s all part of the entertainment business’ bottom line.
“Networks are part of larger conglomerates that control the entertainment industries,” Soto said. “They like a hit, but they love a franchise and spinoffs are the beginning of franchises.”
There have been a number of franchise giants that have proven the spinoff formula to be financially successful – “CSI” and “Law and Order” are some that have consistently held onto a formula for success, with their spinoffs branching out with different characters and settings, rehashing familiar stories.
“Every ‘CSI’ episode is the same, so it doesn’t matter if you put it in Miami, Los Angeles or Las Vegas,” Aaron Levine, a graduate student in digital cinema, said. “It’s all formulaic.”
Most of this year’s spinoffs, though, will stray away from the format of TV procedurals and focus more on further developing a concept or character entertained in a different series.
“Better Call Saul,” a spinoff from the incredibly popular AMC drama “Breaking Bad,” follows the concept of “Fraiser,” taking a somewhat minor character from the original series and writing something totally original for him.
Pal said that the only difference between today’s spinoffs and those from the past might be genre switching.
“‘Breaking Bad’ was primarily a drama, while ‘Better Call Saul’ may be more of a comedy,” he said. “Then again, ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ was a comedy and ‘Lou Grant’ was a drama.”
Spinoffs are often dictated by their medium too, with Internet entertainment providers influencing how traditional networks create their content, keeping an eye on the cash that could come from a digital distribution deal.
“Netflix and Amazon are big bulk buyers,” Soto said. “They need to fill thousands of hours of content for their subscribers and they would rather deal with only one provider than shop around with many.”
For Levine though, “it’s just cashing in.”