History helps determine the future of television

During our discussion of history, one person made an interesting comment about a Reality Show on MTV that spawned other similar Reality Shows with one or more of the same cast mates. I thought that was really funny, and a memory of me seeing a Reality Show on MTV flashed through my head.

I remember watching a MTV Reality Show once in my freshman year (4 years ago) with this really distinctive cast member participating in some game. I only watched that episode once, but that guy stayed in my memory. A year or so ago, I was flipping through the channels when I came upon the same guy participating in a MTV Reality Show. I thought “That guy looks very familiar. Wait a minute… He’s still on this show?” Now I know what really happened. The original show created its own historical following, and MTV designed a spin-off show using some of the original cast members.

The history of success of a show motivates creators/producers to make similar products with changes, but essentially keeping the core of the show intact. This can be seen in other shows on television, namely Law & Order and CSI (Crime Scene Investigation)

The original Law & Order was a very popular show. Dick Wolf, the creator of the show, created spin-offs based on the popularity of the original. The original Law & Order spawned Law & Order: Trial by Jury (which was canceled due to low ratings), Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Each show is a little bit different than the original, but it has similar sound, setting (New York area), and music. Even the signature thunk-thunk sound has a historical following of its own. The episodes of all the spin-offs are so popular that even the past episodes are shown over and over again. They are shown on the TNT, USA, and Bravo! networks for hours at a time. I remember being a freshman (that spent too much time watching television) and watching episode after episode of Law & Order: SVU on TNT.

CSI is another popular show. CBS (the network that shows CSI) created CSI: Miami and CSI: New York based on the popularity of the original, which takes place in Las Vegas. The shows have different cast, setting, and music, but they all follow the same plot. A murder happens, the CSI crew comes to the scene, they collect evidence (fingerprints, a fingernail, a finger, anything that can be used to obtain DNA), and they catch the murderer (usually).

So, if the original show is a hit, history tells you that a spin-off is right around the corner.