Spinoffs are the new trend in TV. Paramount’s “Yellowstone” leads the pack with more and more spinoff series being announced and released, each one surpassing the previous one in success. Showtime has announced that it plans to greatly expand the “Billions” and “Dexter” franchises with multiple spinoffs each, while HBO is taking a different approach.
In an interview with Variety, HBO boss Casey Bloys spoke about the potential of “Succession” spinoffs coming to be after the main series comes to an end, which could be as soon as this year’s Season 4. However, he stated that there is no potential for spinoffs of “Succession” because it just wouldn’t feel “natural.”
Bloys cited “House of the Dragon” as an example of a successful spinoff, but he made it clear that “Succession” simply doesn’t have the same qualities that would lend themselves to a spinoff. “It doesn’t seem to me that there’s something in ‘Succession’ where you would go, ‘Let’s follow just this kid’ or whatever. It doesn’t seem like a natural thing to me. But if [creator Jesse Armstrong] said I want to do this, then I would follow Jesse’s lead,” he said.
The television industry has evolved rapidly in recent years, with studios now having streaming libraries that need to attract subscribers. What better way to do that than to create more content based on hit shows? However, HBO seems to be taking a different approach. While “Game of Thrones” has already been spun off once, the network is cautious about overdoing it. In the case of “Succession,” where a spinoff just doesn’t make sense, HBO isn’t interested.
The approach is refreshing for audiences who appreciate when a show ends when it’s supposed to. In the past, a popular TV series would have a beginning, middle, and (hopefully) a successful ending. Then, it would just go away. TV spinoffs, outside of something like “Law & Order” or “NCIS,” weren’t really a common thing. But now, we live in an era where studios have streaming libraries that need to attract subscribers. And what better way to do that than to make more content based on hit shows?
The fourth season of “Succession,” which is rumored to be the last, is set to debut on March 26. While a spinoff may not be in the works, fans can enjoy the upcoming season, which promises to be just as thrilling as the previous ones.
