10 Best Spin-Off Shows With Fan-Favorite Characters (& Their IMDb Score)
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There have been so many characters who have had their own spin-off series, but which of them were able to stand on their own?
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Hit shows do so well that networks often decide to create a bigger fanbase by developing a spin-off series. It allows for a new array of storylines and possibilities. A majority of spin-offs are created using a popular character from the original show. If the character became immensely popular amongst fans, it’s likely that the spin-off show will generate a viewership anxious to watch.
When it comes to drama series, there are many spin-off shows to indulge in. Some even become more popular than the orignal series. There are more characters to explore, more riveting scenarios and it might even lead to future crossovers.
10 Major Crimes (2012-2018): 7.7
Major Crimes was a crime drama set in the same police division as the hit show, The Closer from 2005. The spin-off picks up where the original show ended with Deputy Chief Johnson leaving the team. Having to fill the role, Captain Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) takes on being the head of the Major Crimes Division.
Her new role doesn’t come easy as the people on her new team don’t trust her and she’s already in hot waters for new rules imposed at the Force Investigation Division. If fans of the original series wanted to see what would happen if Johnson left, they got their answer with the spin-off.
9 The Flash (2014): 7.7
Television and comic book fans know that The CW has done a pretty good job at bringing DC Comic book characters to life on the small screen. Their first stepping stone was with the successful show, Arrow based on the vigilante and Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell). The show gained immense success and opened the door for the Arrowverse.
The first spin-off series to be born from the show was The Flash with Barry Allen (Grant Gustin). Barry Allen first made his appearance in season two of Arrow in his day job as a forensic scientist. He then made a handful of appearances before it was announced that the speedster would get his own show to tell his story.
8 NCIS (2003): 7.8
NCIS along with Law & Order is one of those franchise shows that did things right when it comes to a worthwhile tv formula. But before NCIS made their own way, it was actually a spin-off series from the hit show JAG in 2003. Some of the title characters were introduced in two episodes of the show as well as its concept.
Much like JAG, NCIS is based in the Navy and instead focuses on the fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Their sole job is to investigate foul play and murder to do with the Navy. The show was so successful it birthed multiple spin-off series like NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans.
7 Angel (1999-2004): 7.9
There’s no denying that part of the reason why fans were drawn to Buffy The Vampire Slayer was for the riveting love triangle. Fans have followed Buffy ( Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Angel (David Boreanaz) hit rock bottom a number of times throughout the show. Angel became a beloved character.
Hence why it was an opportunity to give him his own spin-off show titled Angel. After realizing his relationship with Buffy was doomed, he moves to Los Angels and works as a private detective. His motto is to “help the helpless” while also dealing with supernatural occurrences and the threat of demons on the human world. The show also brought back some know characters like Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter).
6 Law & Order: SVU (1999): 8
Law & Order:SVU is a show that is hard to find a reason not to watch when it’s on television. The show isn’t necessarily tagged as a spin-off seeing as its part of the Law & Order franchise. But throughout the show, audiences will see multiple characters from the original series pop up every once and a while.
The show was created as the second installment after the success of the first. In this series, it focuses on another division of the NYPD, the Special Victims Unit. The show is well-known for loosely basing episodes on real-life crimes as well as its main star, Mariska Hargitay as Detective Benson.
5 Chicago P.D. (2014): 8.1
Chicago P.D. is another crime drama show that’s gotten critical acclaim and a huge fanbase. It’s a spin-off of another Dick Wolf work, Chicago Fire. While Chicago Fire revolved around the lives of firefighters, Chicago P.D. focuses on the 21st District along with its officers and the Intelligence Unit.
One of the main characters, Detective Voight (Jason Beghe) was first introduced in Chicago Fire as a dirty cop. All of Dick Wolf’s series intersect and parallel in some way throughout the shows. It’s easier to say that they all exist in the same universe. The detectives from the show appeared in SVU to help take down a notorious serial killer.
4 The Originals (2013-2018): 8.2
When it comes to the supernatural genre, The Vampire Diaries hit the mark for being one of the best series to have been created that appealed to the phenomenon of vampires, witches and werewolves. After the success of the series, there was an opportunity to continue the story through a different perspective in a spin-off.
In the original show, fans fell head over heels for the antagonist, Klaus Mikaleson (Joseph Morgan). He started out as the show’s pivotal villain but ended up having fans care for him. The Originals follows Klaus as he returns to New Orleans to reinstate his power and squander the plans of his demise with the help of his family. There was even another spin-off show titled, Legacies.
3 The Good Fight (2017): 8.3
The Good Fight is a double whammy seeing as it’s a spin-off as well as a sequel to the political drama, The Good Wife. But this time, the show centers around one of the main characters from the original. Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) hits rock bottom when she loses her job and all majority of her fortune in a Ponzi scheme.
In order to try and recuperate her life, as well as her goddaughter’s, they join Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) at one of Chicago’s law firms. Much like the parent show, this show is full of eyebrow-raising drama as it tackles political and social commentary.
2 Boston Legal (2004-2008): 8.4
The Practice was legal drama that many wouldhave remembered seeing an episode or two when it first debuted in 1997. The show had a way of enthralling fans as it centered around the partners and associated of a law firm and the drama that goes along with it. It even won two Emmy’s.
The spin-off show, Boston Legal followed the same idea and focused on a former character, Alan Shore (James Spader). Shore now works a blue-chip law firm that’s respected across the country alongside the founder partner and his friend, Denny Crame (Wiliam Shatner).
1 Better Call Saul (2015): 8.7
The creators of Breaking Bad were already in the works of developing a spin-off show using some of its popular characters and storylines. Specifically the character of Saul Goodman. Also, known by his real name as Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk). The show follows Saul as he turns over a new leaf from being a former con-artist and lawyer to a criminal defense attorney.
Better Call Saul builds up the character’s story and his own struggles as he’s in financial disarray but his practice can’t seem to stay away from crime. The show brings in characters such as retired police officer Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) and even Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn). His romantic interest and former colleague. The show has received critical acclaim for its writing and direction of characters.
Gabriela Silva is a List writer for Screen Rant with experience in all things television, film and pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University with previous years experience interning for Cliché Magazine. With her passion for movies, television and entertainment, she’s interviewed some great actors from Cress Williams of ‘Black Lightning’ to Tati Gabrielle from ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.’ Her love for entertainment reaches a broad range of interests from 90s thriller movies, guilty pleasure teen dramas, action-packed MCU movies to popular K-dramas. You’ll most likely find her binge-watching a new television show or movies on Netflix into the early morning.
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