20 TV shows that expanded their universes with spinoffs

The Big Bang Theory already cemented itself as a TV icon, debuting in 2007 and running a dozen seasons. No one was surprised when its breakout character got his own show, kind of. Jim Parsons’ Sheldon Cooper didn’t leave Big Bang, but rather, they gave his character a prequel series with Young Sheldon. A different tone than its predecessor, Young Sheldon then went on for several seasons before spawning Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage. The Big Bang Theory wasn’t done creating new shows, though, in 2025, it was announced that Kevin Sussman’s character, Stuart, would helm another spinoff with a couple of other side characters from the hit CBS series for another new show, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.

Happy Days ran for 11 seasons and in that time helped create a number of other series that would also go on to be part of the Nick at Nite block of classic TV programming years later, like Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy. Other series that came from the Happy Days universe were short-lived: Joanie Loves Chachi, Out of the Blue, and Blansky's Beauties.

The Boys satirical take on both the over consumption of superheroes, mass media, and politics in America is one of Amazon Prime’s biggest hits, so it was expected that its world would grow, and it did in 2022 with the animated series, The Boys Presents: Diabolical, and once more the following year with the premiere of Gen V. There has been talks of continuing to build out The Boys realm once the original series wraps with its fifth season.

When it comes to TV, Cheers really set the bar — literally. It gave viewers one of the most titillating will-they-won’t-they relationships, went on for well over a decade, and helped introduce a couple of other hits along the way. While The Tortellis didn’t make much of an impact, the other two that existed in the Cheers universe were Wings and the series that was just as big and impactful, Frasier.

Grey’s Anatomy debuted on ABC in 2005. Still going all these years later, it could have had a handful of shows connected to it by now, but there have only been a few (so far): a quick six-episode special called Grey's Anatomy: B-Team, Station 19, and Private Practice.

In between The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s seven-year run, it helped create two new series. Mary’s best friend, Rhoda, got her own show in 1984, and a year later, her neighbor Phyllis got hers. When Mary Tyler Moore wrapped in 1977, her boss, Lou Grant, would keep that universe alive and well until 1982.

Family Guy was once cancelled, only to be brought back a few years later. Now, the series is one of the cornerstones of Fox animation, but during its lengthy run, it’s actually only had one show come from it. Instead of a talking dog, The Cleveland Show had a talking bear, and aired on Fox with its companion for four seasons.

The Brady Bunch only had five seasons during its original run, but it lived on in syndication in the ‘90s and ‘00s. In the ‘90s, there were even two very silly movies made based on the show. Back to TV, though. The Brady Bunch had their little multiverse going on as the kids got animated for The Brady Kids, the whole family did the very ‘70s thing by having a variety show in 1976 called The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, a special about the girls getting married then gave way to The Brady Brides, and later another reunion TV-movie, A Very Brady Christmas, would lead to trying to revive the series once more with The Bradys in 1990, but by then people seemed only to want the reruns as it lasted a month on air.

No one knew just how many shows could be set in one city until Chicago Fire gave way to Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, and Chicago Justice. One has to wonder if they’ll ever cross paths with The Bear, which is also set in Chicago.

It didn’t get cooler than Beverly Hills, 90210 in the ‘90s. These rich teens and their drama were must-watch TV, and for a decade, it helped Fox become a television titan. With that, it didn’t take too long for its creator, Aaron Spelling, to start thinking about growing his small-screen dynasty. He started by rethinking 90210. Wanting something more adult, he introduced Melrose Place via a character named Jake, who appeared in a few episodes as a friend of Dylan McKay. While Melrose was a hit, the supermodel show that followed was not as successful. Models Inc. would only last one season. Then, years later, 90210 would come back via a remake, as would Melrose Place. 

9-1-1 managed to survive a network change, and with the original being set in Los Angeles, it was only a matter of time before new cities were added to the mix. With that came both 9-1-1: Lone Star and 9-1-1: Nashville.

Because Steve Urkel took over the popularity of Family Matters, not many people know that TGIF classic originally came to be because of the mother of the Winslows, Harriette. They took her character from Perfect Strangers and spun her off into her own series.

The Goldbergs was both a family sitcom and a sincere love letter to the ‘80s, and it was a part of ABC’s Wednesday night lineup for 10 seasons. A few years into The Goldbergs, its creator, Adam Goldberg, pitched a spin-off that’d follow a new student and her family at the same school but in a new decade, the ‘90s. That idea didn’t fare too well, and the show was reworked to focus on the school staff instead. Schooled would only last two seasons, but it was a valiant effort.

Four years after riding off into the sunset (sort of), Sons of Anarchy was back (sort of). Instead of Jax Teller and his crew, Mayans M.C. followed a different set of characters that were in the same time and space as the other.

Norman Lear is on the Mount Rushmore of TV creators. He developed All in the Family, and due to that show, the small screen grew immensely. First was Maude, which then led to Good Times. Of course, George Jefferson’s appearance on All in the Family is forever one of the most talked-about scenes in TV history. That gave way to The Jeffersons, which then spawned Checking In. There was Gloria and 704 Hauser as well. So in total, Lear helped several shows find an audience.

One thing is for sure at CBS: if there is a way, there is a CSI. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation had 15 seasons on its own, but the series' format was so enthralling that it helped create buzz for numerous spinoffs, each of which would find its own loyal viewership. Fans had their pick of the litter of the years with CSI hitting Miami, New York, Vegas, and even going digital with CSI: Cyber.

No one could have guessed that a post-apocalyptic world would allow for so many stories, but The Walking Dead proved that the undead are lucrative and people cannot get enough of it. Aside from web series and a talk show about the show, Talking Dead, The Walking Dead has grown its world more than a few times. Fear the Walking Dead was just as popular, The Walking Dead: World Beyond was a nice limited series as was Tales of the Walking Dead, and the show even started to break off and focus on characters from the original with three different series; The Walking Dead: Dead City, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

The Animaniacs was a wacky cartoon series that revolved around three siblings who lived on the Warner Bros. lot, and a cast of others who’d star in various skits. One of those was Pink and Brain, two mice set on taking over the world, but always failing to do so. Those two gained so much popularity, they wound up with their own series, which would then spin off into one more starring the two and an additional character from Animaniacs, Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain.

If there is one trend that defined the 2010s, it was vampires, especially sexy ones. Twilight was a hit movie franchise for some reason, and while that was dominating the big screen, The Vampire Diaries held it down on the small one. The CW scored with The Vampire Diaries, and eventually spun that show off into The Originals. That show would keep it going with Legacies. Unfortunately, the vampire trend died down, and this universe officially wrapped in 2022 after the fourth season of Legacies wrapped.

This one is a little out of the box, as people don’t tend to think of reality series as having universes, but look at what Bravo has done with the Real Housewives franchise. However, let’s focus on a show that truly marked the golden age of reality television: VH1’s Flavor of Love. The series did so well that not only did one of the contestants from that, Tiffany “New York” Pollard, get her own dating series, it also helped inspire Rock of Love with Bret Michaels, which eventually led to a couple of those contestants getting shows, as well as some of these shows' contestants culminating in I Love Money. To think, it all started with a house full of women wanting to win the heart of Flavor Flav.