Spin-off

"Offshoot" redirects here. For the plant, see Offshoot (plant).

A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one, such as a television series based on a pre-existing one, or as a new company formed from a university research group. In literature, especially in milieu based popular fictional book series like mysteries, westerns, fantasy, or science fiction the term sub-series is generally used instead of spin-off, but with essentially the same meaning.

In such genre fiction, the term parallels the usage in television as it is usually meant to indicate work signifying a substantial change in narrative viewpoint and activity from that (previous) storyline based around the activities of the series' principal protagonist(s) and so is a shift to that action and overall narrative thread of some other protagonist(s), which now becomes the central or main thread (storyline) of the new sub-series. The new protagonist generally appears first as a minor or supporting character in the main story line within a given milieu, and it is very common for the previous protagonist to have a supporting or cameo role, at the least as a historical mention, in the new sub-series.

Non-fiction spin-offs

Spin-offs as a descriptive term can also include a dissenting faction of a membership organization, a sect of a cult, a denomination of a church, a diversified branch of a large corporation, or a start-up company formed by members of a research group at a university. In business, a spin-off is essentially the opposite of a merger. In computing, a spin-off from a software project is often called a fork.

The term is also used for concepts or products spun off a research project, for example methods or materials pioneered during the Manhattan Project (spin-off: Commercial Nuclear Power) or during the Space Race (spin-offs: Many, Integrated Circuits and hence most modern electronics, Freeze-dried foods, satellites, et-cetera, and et. al.).

Media

The process of deriving new radio or television programs from existing ones is also referred to as spinning off (see list of television spin-offs). Spin-offs work with varying degrees of success. Some become very popular and last for a number of seasons, others exceed the popularity of the forebearing show and others are poorly received and have considerably shorter life spans.

This phenomenon was already established in radio before the advent of commercial broadcast television, for example The Great Gildersleeve was a spin-off from Fibber McGee and Molly. The Great Guildersleeve might even have been the very first spin-off, when the popular character from Fibber McGee and Molly was given his own show.

Jack Benny's popular radio program spawned at least two spin-offs when blustery bandleader Phil Harris and naif Dennis Day launched their own programs after their success on Benny's show.

Variants of spin-offs

Television spin-offs come in several variations, including:

A supporting character or characters in an existing series is given their own show in which they become the main focus. The original series continues without them and there may be some crossover of characters between the shows on occasion (e.g. Angel from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Flo from Alice, The Ropers from Three's Company, Daria from Beavis and Butt-head)

New characters are specially incorporated into an existing series for the sole purpose of being launched into their own show that will feature no regular characters from the original series, except possibly as guest appearances (e.g. Empty Nest from The Golden Girls, Melrose Place from Beverly Hills, 90210, or Boston Legal from The Practice).
Regular characters from a series continue in their own series after the original series ends (e.g. George and Mildred and Robin's Nest from Man About the House; Frasier from Cheers; Joey from Friends). This is usually done with the same actors, though not always (e.g. Trapper John, M.D.).
A new series is started with the same theme and existing in the same universe as the original series, but may not necessarily have the same characters. Examples of this type are the Star Trek, Stargate, Law & Order, and Crime Scene Investigation series. These are sometimes called franchises. The reality shows Survivor, Big Brother and The Amazing Race also operate in this manner.

Notable Spin-Offs

Angel was a popular spin-off, based on the character of Angel (the vampire with a soul) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series ran for five seasons.

All in the Family is responsible for several spin-offs. Maude and The Jeffersons both featured characters that began on All in the Family. Maude is notable in that it spun-off Good Times. The main character from All in the Family, Archie Bunker, continued in a retooled version of the series called Archie Bunker's Place. All in the Family has about ten spin-off "descendants."

The Mary Tyler Moore Show spun-off Rhoda and Phyllis as well as Lou Grant.

The longest running spin-off is The Simpsons, which was created as a series of animated segments for the sketch series The Tracey Ullman Show, and featured the voices of four cast-members. In one episode of "The Simpsons", secondary-characters are given their own segments in a so-called "spin-off showcase", parodying classic TV series.

Happy Days, itself a spin-off from Love, American Style, also spun-off multiple shows: Laverne & Shirley, Joanie Loves Chachi, and Mork & Mindy.

The only daytime soap opera to spin-off a primetime soap is As the World Turns. In 1965, the producers capitalized on the popularity of the character Lisa Miller Hughes and created a limited-run show around her character, called Our Private World. A year after the nighttime show ended, Eileen Fulton, Lisa's portrayer, returned to ATWT, where she remains today.

Before the final season of M*A*S*H the main cast voted as to whether or not to continue the series. The final vote was 4-3 against. William Christopher, Jamie Farr, and Harry Morgan wanted to continue work on M*A*S*H, and, after the 11th season, they began work on AfterMASH. It lasted just two seasons and 30 episodes, with one unaired (the final one). Trapper John M.D. was another, more successful, spin-off from the movie M*A*S*H.

The Next Generation is an example of a popular spin-off. It was a spin-off from the original Star Trek television series and movies. Many fans consider The Next Generation to be the pinnacle of the franchise. Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise are also spinoffs of the original series.

Crusade is a spin-off of the original Babylon 5 series.

Frasier is one of the most popular spin-off series of all time, based on the character Dr. Frasier Crane from the American sitcom Cheers. The series ran for eleven seasons.

The Law & Order series has spawned a total of five spin-offs: Special Victims Unit, Criminal Intent, Crime & Punishment (a documentary series as opposed to scripted drama), Trial by Jury, and Conviction.

Crime Scene Investigation, the popular series produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, has produced two spin-offs: Miami and NY. Both connected to the original series by a cross-over episode.

The producers of the film U.S. Marshals stated that it was a spin-off from, rather than a sequel to, The Fugitive.

Canadian Idol is a spin-off of American Idol. FremantleMedia holds rights to both shows.

Australia's Got Talent is a spin-off of America's Got Talent. They almost have the same title which makes Australia's Got Talent a suspected spin-off.

Spin-offs can even occur in video games. For example, the Wario Land series began as a spin-off from the Super Mario Land series ( Super Mario Land 3), which was itself a spin-off of the Super Mario Bros. video game series, which in turn was a spin-off from Donkey Kong.

For more examples of spin-off shows on TV, see the List of television spin-offs.

Related Phenomena

Remakes

Main article: Remake

One notable case which is not a spin-off is when the same series is later remade. Examples include Battlestar Galactica, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983, 2002), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987, 2003)).

Cross-overs

''Main article: Fictional crossovers

Sometimes even where a show is not a spin-off from the other, there will nevertheless be a cross-overs, where a character from one show makes an appearance on another show. A notable example of this are Ursula and Phoebe Buffay, twin sisters played by Lisa Kudrow who normally are on different shows, Mad About You and Friends respectively, but sometimes meet. This is also done by Ray Romano and Kevin James with Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens. Steve Urkel from Family Matters was also shown to be the cousin of one of D.J.'s friends on Full House.

Sometimes crossovers are created in an attempt to provide closure to fans of another failed series. For example, Millennium's characters Frank & Jordan Black (played by Lance Henriksen and Brittany Tiplady) appeared alongside Mulder and Scully in the X-Files 1999 episode "Millennium" (episode #7.05). This allowed the fans to have some closure, as none was given when Millennium was abruptly canceled prior to the 1999 season.

Government

Civilian goods which are the result of military or governmental research are also known as spinoffs.

Corporate spinoffs

Many times in the business world, companies "spin off" (see also spin out) their operations. If for example a small group of employees has a great new idea, but the new product doesn't fit the pipeline of their company, it is one option for the corporation to even make money out of it by founding an own, separate start-up company for this business (one step further than sole intrapreneurship so to say). This way, they can still take advantage from the profits of this idea even if it doesn't fit their core competences.

The second big field of spin-offs are academic research groups at universities or around a PhD thesis where their members would like to leverage their knowledge and make money out of their findings. In this case, theoretical knowledge and research is "converted" into a company - producing for example their newly found invention/product, etc.

Another example for a corporate spin-off might be a company that produces ice cream and cars. It might split up into a company that makes cars, and a second company that makes ice cream. The current owners (the shareholders) of the company would own stock in both the company that makes cars, and the company that makes ice cream.

The primary and nearly exclusive reason why this is done is due to the phenonemon of stock valuation. People who buy stock make money in two different ways, via dividends, and via selling the stock at a higher price than when they bought it originally. The goal of all publicly traded companies then is to pay dividends and/or attempt to increase the value of their stock price.

Many academics and investors believe that the stock price of a company over the long term is most strongly influenced by the profits the company makes. However, the price people will be willing to pay for a companies stock relative to its profits (known as the PE ratio) is widely believed to differ depending on certain characteristics of the company. For example, fast growing companies are seen to be able to command a higher price relative to their current earnings, because it is felt that their profits will grow quickly enough to repay that price. Companies that have steady but small increases in profit are believed to be more valued than ones that have wild swings in profitability, because the swings in profitability can create swings in the stock price, making it more likely that the price will be temporarily down when one needs to sell the stock. In the same way, whole industries are seen to command a higher price relative to their earnings when compared with other industries.

Because of these widespread beliefs about stock valuation, company managers sometimes contemplate splitting their companies if they believe that "whole is less than the sum of its parts". For example, let's say that ice cream companies are generally valued at 15 times their profits (say for example because there is a big ice cream company trend hitting the country), and car companies are valued at 10 times their profits (because the car industry is seen as a slow growing industry). There is an icecream/car conglamerate which has stock selling at 50 dollars a share, 10 times the amount of its profits of 5 dollars a share (half of its profits come from ice cream and half from cars). This company then splits into two, with its current stock holders getting a car company for 25 dollars a share, and an ice cream company for 25 dollars a share. The managers doing this hope that others will bid up the price of the ice cream company to 37.50 (15 times their profits) as is the norm for the ice cream industry. In this way, the original stock holder who had a share for 50.00's now has 2 shares which total 62.50 dollars.

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