Contains major spoilers for all shows discussed.
Popular culture is rarely content to lettelevision’s best showsrest in peace after they end, leading to a seemingly endless array of spin-offs that show little sign of slowing down as of 2025. FromGame of ThronestoYellowstone, many of television’s most popular and celebrated shows have been given a new lease of life through a spin-off series after reaching their original conclusion, often with vastly differing results onscreen. Depending on their execution, these follow-up shows can elevate the original’s profile or irrevocably drag its reputation through the mud.
While these shows are never exact carbon copies, many high-profile spin-off series have drawn considerable inspiration from their source material, to the point that many of their characters essentially act as direct replacements for characters from the original.Whether they share a similar narrative function in the story, near-identical personality traits, or broadly follow the same arc of character development, these individuals wouldn’t exist as we know them without an array of spiritual predecessors to guide their way.
Gen V
Cast
Gen V is set at America’s only college for superheroes, where students challenge their moral limits while competing to join Vought International’s elite team, The Seven. As dark secrets of the institution are revealed, they must determine the kind of heroes they aspire to be.
Masking sinister Machiavellian intentions behind a well-practiced smile, in light of their shared universe, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to find out that Madelyne Stillwell and Indira Shetty went to the same finishing school. Shelly Con’s nefarious Dean of Godolkin University essentially acts as a direct replacement for Elisabeth Shue’s calculating take on Vought’s Senior VP of Hero Management in the first season ofThe Boys’spin-off series,Gen V.
Despite affecting a warm and empathetic facade to the public, both women served as major antagonistic forces during their shows' first seasons, leading many fans to believe that they were being set up to play a big part in proceedings moving forward. However, that’s where another direct similarity between the pair was highlighted, with Shetty and Stillwell’s story arcs being abruptly cut short in brutal fashion before they could even reach their second season.
1923
1923 is a series following the Dutton family during the early twentieth century. It explores the challenges they face amidst pandemics, the end of Prohibition, historic drought, and the Great Depression, as they struggle to maintain their home in the mountain west.
One of the finest shows of recent years, neo-Western drama standoutYellowstoneis far too inspired an outing to directly replicate characters from the original to its various spin-offs, a state of affairs that is only compounded by the conditions affected by the vastly differing historical periods in which prequels1883and1923take place. However, if you had to draw the closest thing to a parallel possible between the modern and historical versions ofthe Dutton family, you could do a lot worse than Kayce and Spencer Dutton.
A major character inYellowstone’ssecond prequel,1923, Spencer fights in and witnesses the horrors of the First World War, evoking comparisons with his future relative’s service in the U.S. Navy SEALs. Like Kayce, he’s regarded as the prodigal son of his show, with both men beginning the series away from their ancestral land, before being drawn back as their respective shows progress. It would be reductive to label Spencer as a mere historical carbon copy of Kayce given the arguably richer nature of his character, but he’s pretty damn close on paper.
The Flash
The Flash follows CSI investigator Barry Allen, who wakes from a coma with super speed after a lightning strike. Collaborating with S.T.A.R. Labs, he adopts the identity of The Flash to safeguard his city, marking his journey as the Fastest Man Alive in this superhero tale.
The first spin-off outing toArrow, the long-running superhero series inspired by the DC Comics crime-fighter, Green Arrow,The Flashis also based on the adventures of its titular superhero. In many senses, the fact that the follow-up show aired for nine seasons is somewhat remarkable, given that the central premises and themes on offer are so similar to those of its predecessor, something that becomes even more apparent duringmultiple crossover events.
Following in the vein of Oliver Queen’s vigilante superhero group, Team Arrow, Barry Allen goes on to form Team Flash to combat meta-human criminals in and around Central City. While the individual members obviously differ from group to group, you would be hard-pressed to argue that the spin-off’s superhero unit isn’t essentially a direct replacement for Team Arrow; another diverse group of superhuman individuals committed to fighting crime united under the banner of their respective show’s eponymous character.
Suits LA
Suits LA follows Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor who now represents influential clients in Los Angeles. As his law firm faces a critical juncture, Ted must navigate the challenges of a role he once disdained, balancing moral dilemmas with the demands of high-stakes legal battles.
While the debut season ofSuits LAis taking great pains to stress that it is not just an uninspired duplicate of its predecessor,Suits, it’s hard to find much to get excited about in this drab follow-up to the original hit legal drama. Case in point? While it would be reductive to label Stephen Ammell’s Ted Black as an exact doppelgänger of Harvey Specter, the spin-off’s new lead hasn’t done much to prove that he’s anything more than an inferior version of Gabriel Macht’s fan-favorite charge fromSuits.
It’s a state of affairs that hasn’t been helped by the latter briefly appearing on the show, highlighting Black’s derivative nature in sharp relief. Acting as the central protagonists of their respective shows, both men are touted as ferociously intelligent and eloquent lawyers, complementing their extreme intellect with unshakable confidence and ambitious streaks a mile wide. It’s also worth noting that Black subtly channels elements ofSuitsalum Mike Ross, considering some of the skeletons that are duly revealed to be lingering in his personal closet.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation follows Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise NCC-1701D as they embark on interstellar explorations, seeking out new worlds and civilizations.
Brought to life by a first-ballotsci-fi Hall of Famer, William Shatner’s take on James T. Kirk is one of the most iconic characters in television history. SpearheadingStar Trek: The Original Seriesand a host of movies to boot, the captain of theUSS Enterpriseleft big boots to fill for the lead protagonist of any future spin-offs, a task that fell toStar Trek: The Next Generation’sJean-Luc Picard, played in a memorable turn by Sir Patrick Stewart.
Let this writer first passionately disclaim;the two men are decidedly not the sameStar Trekcharacter.An unashamed explorer at his core, Kirk arguably always placed more of an emphasis on action first, while the more cerebral Picard preferred to deliberate and strategize. However, Stewart’s character served as a direct replacement for Kirk as the modern face of the franchise, playing Picard across a host of shows and movies to rubber-stamp his credentials as a character who could rival, if not surpass, Shatner’s legendary charge.
5Cleveland Brown & Peter Griffin
The Cleveland Show & Family Guy
Canceled after four seasons, the ignominious demise ofThe Cleveland Showhas been a long-running joke onFamily Guy, an ironic state of affairs considering that it’s a spin-off of Seth Macfarlane’s original outrageous animated sitcom. However, while the show initially demonstrated some promising signs, it’s hard to escape the notion thatThe Cleveland Showlargely crashed and burned due to the fact it was a near like-for-like take onFamily Guythat simply couldn’t match its predecessor for quality or humor.
Cleveland Brown is one ofFamily Guy’smost iconic supporting characters, but the spin-off just shoehorns him into Peter Griffin’s tried-and-tested role of thelovable, buffoonish TV dad in a suburban setting,as opposed to bringing anything majorly new to the table with regard to his character development. In many senses, the argument is there to be made that every main family character onThe Cleveland Showis at least a partial counterpart to a Griffin onFamily Guy, although the most inescapable parallels are undoubtedly those between Peter and Cleveland.
Better Call Saul
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.
Serving as two of the finest crime-drama series of all time,Breaking Badand its spin-off,Better Call Saul, are both universally regarded as television royalty to this day. Given the disparate natures of their stories despite a shared universe, there are few characters between the shows that could be described as a like-for-like replacement. With that being said, it’s hard to ignore the fact that fellow fan favorites,Jesse Pinkman and Ignacio “Nacho” Vargas, are decidedly cut from similar cloth.
Gradually morphing into the moral compass for their shows, both characters representgood men trapped in a wicked world by poor decisions,rather than an inherently evil nature. A pair of disowned sons, Jesse and Nacho are duly chewed up and spit up by Vince Gilligan’s ruthless universe, a brutal state of affairs that fortunately sees both shows ultimately reward them with a gloriously redemptive moment of catharsis with their respective tormentors before the end.
Fear the Walking Dead
A prequel to AMC’s hit series, Fear the Walking Dead, follows new characters and explores the city of Los Angeles as the world transforms into the horrifying zombie apocalypse that changes the world forever. The first half of the series follows a found family that rebuilds who they are to adapt and survive the new world order. The second half follows Morgan Jones, a survivor from the original franchise who joins the original surviving cast members.
Earning widely mixed reviews,The Walking Dead’sspin-off series,Fear the Walking Dead,never attained the lofty heights of its predecessor across seven seasons. However, parallels were still always going to be drawn between the post-apocalyptic horror drama and the original. Among those hardest to ignore, were the similarities betweenThe Walking Dead’shead honcho Rick Grimes, and the lady initially entrusted with helming the prequel-crossover effort, Kim Dickens' Madison Clark.
While she proved to be amuch darker and less sympathetic character than herThe Walking Deadcounterpart,Clark’s main character energy and fierce sense of resolve made her a natural fit for the role of the spin-off’s central protagonist. Both characters found themselves leading their show’s respective groups, withRick and Madisonalso making miraculous returns from the dead throughout their character arcs.
Mayans M.C.
Mayans M.C. is the sequel to the original crime-drama Sons of Anarchy, occurring almost three years later. The show follows protagonist Ezekiel Reyes (aka EZ), who looks to rise up in the ranks of the Mayans M.C. group. A brilliant mind who had a bright future, EZ’s family was murdered in a cartel incident at a young age, and every step taken up to now has been for the sake of revenge - which slowly poisons his life forever.
Brought to life by Charlie Hunnam and J.D. Pardo, respectively, it’s hard to escape the parallels between outlaw bikers, Jackson “Jax” Teller and Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes. While the leading men of the acclaimed crime-dramaSons of Anarchyand its spin-off seriesMayans M.C.weren’t identical across the board by any means, the similarities between their story threads and personality traits throughout both shows are too great to ignore.
While their backstories differed,Jax and EZ endured a turbulent personal journey to the top of their motorcycle clubs,doing prison time and ultimately meeting a violent end while wearing the “President” patch. Both men possessed a ruthless streak a mile wide and were capable of supremely dark acts in pursuit of their goals, from EZ murdering his former love interest Gabriela to prevent her from going to the police, to Jax ruthlessly ordering a guilt-wracked Juice to silence Darvany Jennings.
House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon is a 2022 fantasy drama set in the world of Westeros, chronicling the Targaryen dynasty at its height. The story revolves around King Viserys’s controversial decision to name his daughter Rhaenyra as heir to the Iron Throne, sparking tensions and divisions within the realm.
Chronicling the civil war between warring factions of the Targaryen family that became known as"The Dance of the Dragons"while simultaneously serving as a spin-off to one of the most popular shows in the history of television, the pressure was decidedly on forGame of Thrones’prequel seriesHouse of the Dragonto deliver. One of the most notable areas of concern was who would fill the Emilia Clarke-shaped void at the new show’s heart, considering that the actress' iconic take on Daenaerys Targaryen had helped carry the original for eight largely exemplary seasons.
While Emma D’Arcy’s fellow dragon-riding queen, Rhaenyra Targaryen, is far from a carbon copy of the Mother of Dragons,the similarities between “Dany” and their take on the Realm’s Delight are hard to ignore.While Rhaenyra is born into power, she’s another lone woman fighting for legitimacy in a realm entirely ruled by men, suffering countless betrayals and setbacks along the way in a manner akin to her revered ancestor. They’re also both portrayed as fiercely protective mothers, whether the “children” in question take the form of Dany’s dragons or Rhaenyra’s sons.
