Spin-off

A spin-off is a buzzword for an officially-recognized continuation series utilizing either some or all of the original cast of a series and/or using the same premise and/or set in the same town / country / universe as television series already (or recently) on-air.

Spin-offs are frequently financially driven by the success of a parent series, and extend the marketable life of the series to the point of becoming a saga that spawns a series franchise.

Spin-offs are commonly produced by the same production company / team responsible for the originating series. Spin-offs can generate spin-offs of their own.

Spin-offs can be set in contemporary time relative to its parent, or occur before or after the events of the parent show.

While spin-offs on TV in recent history are commonly science-fiction related, writers such as Norman Lear, Aaron Spelling and Garry Marshall dominated spin-off efforts in the 1970s and 1980s of American television.

Examples

• The Jeffersons, spun from All in the Family
• Stargate Atlantis, spun from Stargate SG-1, spun from the motion picture, Stargate
• Star Trek: Voyager, spun from Star Trek Deep Space Nine, spun from Star Trek: The Next Generation, spun from the original Star Trek series, which spun Star Trek: Enterprise, set 100 years prior to the parent show
• Crusade, spun from Babylon 5
• Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and K-9 and Company are spin-offs from the long-running Doctor Who.
• Caprica a proposed spin-off of the Re-imagined Series, depicts life over 52 years prior to the Re-imagined Series
• Galactica 1980, spun from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica

The Re-imagined Series is, as its name suggests, not a spin-off but a re-imagining that draws elements from a previous show but does not continue the original show's characterizations or storylines.

In contrast, a continuation is a form of spin-off that occurs after a series has ceased production for some time, which usually resumes the original storylines and characters.