Some TV shows have had a lasting legacy, creating characters or worlds so popular that they simply must be explored. A reboot, a spinoff, or a prequel could allow writers to show how a character came to be, explain what happened after the final scene, or explore more of the universe that had been created in the original show. Certain stars are happy to return for more adventures, some smaller parts get expanded, and abandoned storylines can be revisited.
Over a few seasons, quite a lot is bound to happen. Some viewers might cling to a mystery that had been introduced but never explained, while some subjects might get addressed that no one ever thought would see the light of day. Then, there are continuity errors that get a clean slate when given the chance to explain. It’s interesting to see how different shows have tackled some burning questions that had bothered viewers for a while.
10 What Happened To Darla?
Buffy The Vampire Slayer & Angel
Darla, played by Julie Benz, was a big part of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was menacing and intriguing, seemingly much more dangerous than her school-girl appearance suggested. It was she who brought the audience into the world of the show in the pilot, and when she got dusted, viewers thought that was the last they’d see of the character. Then she showed up in Angel’s flashback and fans knew there was more to the character.
When Angel (David Boreanaz) got his own spinoff show, viewers were able to explore his past in more detail and find out all about the mysterious vampire who sired him. She was given a proper backstory and even brought back from the great beyond for more adventures with her old vampire family. The teaser in Buffy’s show was a great set up for a potential backstory in the spinoff.
9 The Mystery Of Frasier’s Dad and Brother
Cheers & Frasier
Kelsey Grammer had been playing the character of Frasier Crane for two decades. Counting the newest Frasier reboot, the total is 22 years and counting. He first arrived at the famed Boston bar in 1984, and sat at his stool until the show ended in 1993.
Frasier
has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
His self-titled spinoff had been commissioned before the finale of Cheers even aired, which presented writers with an interesting conundrum. As Frasier had previously said he was an only child, and had stated that his father had died, introducing those characters as such prominent parts of the show left viewers with many questions.
While many spinoffs choose to fully omit certain continuity errors and hope for the best, Frasier tacked both of these head-on. He had explained that he’d been mad at his father, which is why he said he’d been dead, and his cantankerous relationship with his pompous brother at the start of the show explains why he never mentioned him to his bar buddies.
8 Did Joey Ever Find Love?
Friends & Joey
Matt Le Blanc’s character in Friends was always a flirt and could even be considered a bit of a Lothario. The show ended with five of the core six in happy relationships with families, but Joey was seemingly destined for that garage apartment promised by Chandler and Monica.
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1 Forgotten Joey Detail In Friends Completely Changes His Story After The Show
Joey had a different ending from that of the rest of the group in Friends, but one forgotten detail in the main series completely changes it.
While viewers were happy that the friends were seemingly going to stay in each other’s lives, they may still have wondered whether or not Mr. Tribbiani had ever settled down. His eponymous spinoff dealt with that question, and also saw him try and make it in Hollywood. While the show, thankfully, didn’t undo any of the happy endings that Friends had ensured, it did undo a bit of Joey’s character development.
Joey is a spin-off of the hit sitcom Friends, which followed Matt LeBlanc’s beloved character, Joey Tribbiani, as he navigated the next stage of his life. In the series, Joey moved to Hollywood to pursue his acting career. Joey aired for two seasons from 2004-2006.
- Release Date
- September 9, 2004
- Seasons
- 2
Throughout the last season, he seemed to grow and be more secure in his career, but in order to create some wacky new sitcom storylines, this had to change. The show didn’t stay on the air for too long, lacking the magic of the original, but Joey was able to find someone to finally commit to.
7 Did Cory & Topanga Live Happily Ever After?
Boy Meets World & Girl Meets World
After a beloved couple rides off into the sunset, viewers are often left wondering whether or not they actually made it. The iconic 1990s sitcom made Corey and Topanga’s love story the heart of the show for multiple seasons, and audiences were delighted when the couple ended the series in a great place. But, as many other spinoffs and reboots have shown, some couples don’t always make it.
Girl Meets World is a comedy series created for the Disney Channel that is a sequel to the original Boy Meets World, released in 1993. The show stars Riley Matthews and her parents, former series stars Cory and Topanga Matthews, as they navigate the trials and tribulations of school life and adolescence. Riley and her best friend, Maya, will see themselves follow a similar path to their parents as they grow up in a modern-age New York City.
- Cast
- Ben Savage , Rowan Blanchard , Danielle Fishel , Peyton Meyer
- Release Date
- July 27, 2014
- Writers
- Michael Jacobs
- Directors
- Michael Jacobs
- Showrunner
- Michael Jacobs
They either break up, have one of the characters die, or come up with another elaborate idea for keeping them apart. Thankfully, when this continuation came out, fans were happy to see the pair married with a great kid who would take the mantle as the lead of the show. Many other beloved characters were brought back and given their own new stories and happy endings, showing that it’s possible to honor the integrity of the original show without completely dismantling the past.
6 Did Uncle Jesse Keep His Elvis Hair?
Full House & Fuller House
Made during the wave of popularity of nostalgic shows, Fuller House premiered on Netflix with a host of returning characters. Almost every notable cast member other than Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen made appearances, and the show was set up to have DJ, Stephanie, and Kimmy mirror the living situation of Danny, Jesse, and Joey.
It was a sweet way of revisiting a beloved family unit, and checking in with them after all these years.
It was a sweet way of revisiting a beloved family unit, and checking in with them after all these years. The initial run of the show ended on a very positive note, with everyone getting their own delightful ending, so the hope was, that this would not be undone in the new version.
Set years after the events of the original television series, Fuller House returns to the Tanner home where it all started, now following a grown-up D.J. Tanner-Fuller. Along with her three daughters, sister, and best friend, the group lives together in their childhood home in San Francisco, California with D.J. and Stephanie’s father, Danny. The makeshift family works together to raise their family members and explores similar themes present in the first series.
- Cast
- Jodie Sweetin , Juan Pablo Di Pace , Elias Harger , Adam Hagenbuch , Candace Cameron Bure , Fox Messitt , Michael Campion , John Brotherton , Dashiell Messitt , Andrea Barber , Scott Weinger , Soni Bringas
- Release Date
- February 26, 2016
- Seasons
- 5
- Writers
- Jeff Franklin
- Showrunner
- Jeff Franklin
The show’s explanation of Michelle’s absence was hilarious, and though it muddled up the other sisters’ love lives a bit for dramatic effect, all the core couples were left intact. And, audiences were delighted to see Uncle Jesse still sporting a full head of impressive Elvis hair.
5 What Happened To Dr. DeLuca
Station 19 & Grey’s Anatomy
Shonda Rhimes has built a whole world around some of Seattle’s most accident-prone residents. Grey’s Anatomy was the show that introduced the world to Meredith Grey, Addison Montgomery, Ben Warren et al, and has subsequently moved from to OR to a fire station, and from Seattle to LA.
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10 TV Spinoffs That Are As Good As Their Original Shows
Some great TV shows can capture lightning in a bottle on multiple occasions, as a few rare spinoffs find the success of the original series.
By adding Private Practice and Station 19 to her roster of shows, Rhimes was able to create multiple opportunities for in-universe crossovers. Many characters would appear as guest stars, and storylines were set up to ensure viewers watched both shows. One of the more heartbreaking of these crossover episodes was the death of Dr. Andrew DeLuca. Station 19 showed the first part of the story, focusing on his heroic actions and subsequent injury at the very end of the episode.
Station 19 is a spin-off of Grey’s Anatomy that premiered in 2018 on ABC. The series follows the professional and personal lives of the firefighters at Seattle Fire Station 19. Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 sometimes have crossover episodes in which a storyline is depicted on one night throughout both shows.
- Cast
- Jaina Lee Ortiz , Jason George , Barrett Doss , Jay Hayden , Danielle Savre , Grey Damon , Boris Kodjoe , Okieriete Onaodowan
- Release Date
- March 22, 2018
- Seasons
- 7
- Writers
- Shonda Rhimes
- Directors
- Shonda Rhimes
If viewers wanted to know what happened next, they’d have to make sure to watch Grey’s Anatomy. The other way of looking at it is, if someone tuned in to watch Grey’s, and saw DeLuca being rushed into the E.R. in grave condition, they’d have to go back and watch Station 19 to find out how it happened.
4 Where Did The Pineapple Come From?
How I Met Your Mother & How I Met Your Father
While the timeline of How I Met Your Mother jumped from the past to the future and present, many times, there had been a few questions that had not been answered in the show’s initial run. The audience never found out what Blahblah’s real name was, how Robin managed to get mauled by a bull, and, most importantly, how did the pineapple come to be in “The Pineapple Incident”. An episode in one of the earlier seasons, the show was able to highlight its comedy in the best possible way.
Unrelated to but set in the same universe as How I Met Your Mother, How I Met Your Father gives the audience a chance to see the original premise playing out with a new cast. In 2055, Sophie (Hilary Duff) is telling her son the story of how she met his father: a story that catapults us back to the year 2021, where Sophie and her close-knit group of friends are figuring out who they are, what they want out of life, and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options. The show follows the exact framing device as How I Met Your Mother, with future Sophie speaking to her son, whom the audience has yet to see.
- Cast
- Daniel Augustin , Chris Lowell , Francia Raisa , Suraj Sharma , Hilary Duff , Josh Peck , Tien Tran , Kim Cattrall , Ashley Reyes , Tom Ainsley
- Release Date
- January 18, 2022
- Seasons
- 2
- Writers
- Isaac Aptaker , Elizabeth Berger
- Main Genre
- Sitcom
- Showrunner
- Isaac Aptaker , Elizabeth Berger
The original show didn’t officially solve this mystery, instead confining it to a deleted scene, but the short-lived reboot was able to drop a pineapple Easter egg into its limited outing, when The Captain (Kyle MacLachlan) mentions it was stolen from him “back in naught five”. It was a clever not to the classic series that even saw cameos from Robin and Barney. But, while viewers did find out where the pineapple came from, they were not informed about whom the titular father actually was.
3 Who Was Lalo?
Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul
When Saul Goodman made his first appearance in Breaking Bad, he asked Walt and Jesse if Lalo sent them. It was a seemingly off-the-cuff remark that wasn’t explored further throughout the original show. There were no more references to this mysterious person, and they didn’t show up in Breaking Bad in any capacity, other than that first mention. It was a humorous way of introducing Bob Odenkirk’s character to this established world by giving him some immediate backstory of his own.
Better Call Saul follows small-time lawyer Jimmy McGill as he navigates the legal world to make ends meet. The series, set six years before his encounter with Walter White, chronicles Jimmy’s evolution into Saul Goodman, with notable interactions alongside fixer Mike Ehrmantraut.
- Cast
- Adam Dorn , Bob Odenkirk , Jonathan Banks , Peter Gould , Rhea Seehorn , Stacy Keach , Thomas Golubić , Thomas Schnauz , Vince Gilligan , Dave Porter , Junior Brown , Rob Estrada , Gordon Smith , Michael McKean , Patrick Fabian , Michael Mando , Tony Dalton , Giancarlo Esposito , Stoney Westmoreland , Alex Désert , Elisha Yaffe , Chris Mulkey , Jim Beaver , Raymond Cruz , Teddy Eggleston
- Release Date
- February 8, 2015
- Seasons
- 6
- Writers
- Ann Cherkis , Marion Dayre , Ariel Levine , Jonathan Glatzer
- Directors
- Vince Gilligan , Thomas Schnauz , Peter Gould , Michael Morris , Adam Bernstein , Colin Bucksey , John Shiban , Michelle MacLaren , Melissa Bernstein , Larysa Kondracki , Terry McDonough , Gordon Smith , Minkie Spiro , Jim McKay , Daniel Sackheim , Andrew Stanton , Norberto Barba , Rhea Seehorn , Scott Winant , Michael Slovis , Keith Gordon , Deborah Chow , Giancarlo Esposito , Bronwen Hughes
- Showrunner
- Peter Gould
Once he received his own prequel show, the writers took this seemingly innocuous question and created a terrifying villain that tormented the character terribly. Audiences got to see exactly why Saul was scared of Lalo, and why he may have thought he was after him. It was one of the many clever ways of tying these two great shows together.
2 How Did The Outbreak Happen?
The Walking Dead & The Walking Dead: World Beyond
When the world was introduced to the treacherous world depicted in The Walking Dead, they were filled with fear during each episode. The characters had to go through a lot every single day, fighting the undead and fighting each other. While there were many mysteries and fascinating stories to explore in each season, the show had never addressed how it had all come to be.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond is the second spinoff in the Walking Dead universe. World Beyond takes place a decade after the zombie apocalypse plagued the globe. Instead of focusing on the hardened fighters of the apocalypse, The Walking Dead World: Beyond tells the tale of the first generation of kids living in a world filled with walkers.
- Cast
- Annet Mahendru , Nico Tortorella , Aliyah Royale , Nicolas Cantu , Hal Cumpston , Julia Ormond , Alexa Mansour
- Release Date
- October 1, 2020
- Seasons
- 2
- Writers
- Matthew Negrete , Rohit Kumar
- Directors
- Loren Yaconelli , Magnus Martens
There had been rumblings and vague mentions, but audiences didn’t get to find out until the spinoff arrived. The way the Wildfire virus had come to be was not fully explored until The Walking Dead: World Beyond offered an explanation. In fact, it was not until the post-credits scene of its final episode. It had been stated that it originated from a biomedical facility located in France, with the Primrose and Violet research teams.
1 Did Diane & Alicia Make Up?
The Good Wife & The Good Fight
Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) joined Lockhart Gardner as a wide-eyed ingénue, with a bruised ego and a lack of self-confidence. After letting her career take the backseat and focusing on her family, it was a shock to the system to try and start over as a “woman of a certain age”. Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), on the other hand, had a successful career and was secure in her own self.
Baranski’s own spinoff TV show
The Good Fight
was able to answer that question, even if it wasn’t necessarily what the fans were hoping for.
The women had a complex relationship over the seven seasons of the show, with many ups and downs, but it was usually built on respect. In the season finale, as Alicia’s villain arc nears its peak, she betrays Diane, which leads to the infamous slap.
The Good Fight was created for the streaming service CBS All Access and was created by Michelle King, Robert King, and Phil Alden Robinson. The series ran for six seasons between 2017 and 2022. As a direct sequel to The Good Wife, the series follows the trials and tribulations of lawyer Maia Rindell.
- Cast
- Christine Baranski , Cush Jumbo , Sarah Steele , Delroy Lindo , Michael Boatman , Gary Cole
- Release Date
- February 19, 2017
- Seasons
- 6
- Writers
- Robert King
- Directors
- Robert King
- Showrunner
- Robert King
Viewers were left wondering if these strong women would ever be able to find common ground and rebuild a friendship that seemed to be so important to them. Especially seeing as they mourned the loss of Will together, and worked closely on so many hard cases. Baranski’s own spinoff TV show The Good Fight was able to answer that question, even if it wasn’t necessarily what the fans were hoping for.