Cash Cow Franchise / Live-Action TV

• In the late 1960s, Norman Lear bought the rights to adapt a BBC1 comedy, Till Death Us Do Part, for American television. ABC aired the pilot but rejected the series; undaunted, Mr. Lear turned around and sold the series to CBS. All in the Family went on to become the #1 Nielsen-ratings show on American TV; it kept Mr. Lear busy producing nine seasons, four direct spin-offs, two spin-offs from spin-offs, and Archie Bunker's Place, a renamed continuation of the original series.
• The Arrowverse for The CW. Started with humble beginnings in Arrow, it came to encompass six more series set in the same universe, several web series (including two animated spinoffs), multiple comic books, novels, companion books, tons of merchandise, and an annual crossover special certainly designed to draw in as high ratings as possible. Even after the flagship series ended in 2020, The Flash quickly took up the slack, leading the franchise into a new decade.
• Euphoria became massive hit for HBO. Discussions about new episodes often dominate the entertainment news-sphere and received tons of praise from both audiences and critics. It's also one of the most watched shows on HBO Max in general, and they've taken full advantage of it in their advertising.
• Barney & Friends was this for a while after it became successful. Barney's Greatest Hits stayed in the top 10 of the children's CD list on Billboard for half a decade until VeggieTunes knocked it off of the list, JC Penney's had Barney shops inside their stores, and Playskool had a big collection of Barney toys that kept growing every year until the rights were sold to Play Along (now Jakks Pacific).
• The Dutch children's series Bassie & Adriaan spawned a lot of merchandise and was sold to several countries.
• ABC parodied this with a series of commercials for then-upcoming sitcom Home Economics in which the cast is meeting with producers who have made a poster that's clearly a recreation of the ones for Modern Family and also has the show's title as "Home Econom-ish". The execs swear that the cast's concerns will be assuaged when they see the commercials...which make it look like an episode of The Bachelor.
• Big Brother, certainly in the UK (until 2007 or 2008 at least). They've stopped counting how many years its run. To those that dislike it it is difficult to remember a time it was not on and so ever present. It returned in 2011 and it got the same amount of attention it got in its original run.
• Bridgerton became the most-watched Netflix series ever within a month of its debut, and was renewed for three more seasons before the sophomore season even dropped.
• JoJo Siwa became a craze among young girls after appearing on Dance Moms and spawned a line of products branded with her likeness. The most most popular item from that lineup is the JoJo bow, which is a bow similar to the ones she wears. She also is the host of the top-rated show Lip Sync Battle Shorties, has released several songs and starred in several TV movies.
• TBS has late night show Conan as their biggest series.
• CSI: Though its shows have all ended, it casts a shadow over the network to this day; primetime schedule on CBS has been largely dominated by shows focusing on law enforcement. One of these, NCIS, regularly tops the Top 10 Nielsen ratings and ranks among the most-watched shows in the whole world.
• The BBC has Doctor Who over in its home country, the UK, as well. Let's see... an original Long Runner series (including a TV Movie) with an equally massive Doctor Who Expanded Universe and two non-canon movies. And since the 2005 revival with the new series, the Expanded Universe expanded even more (with material for both the classic and new series), bringing along two successful spin-off series of their own (Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures). And the merchandising, of course.
• Fixer Upper was so popular that they were given their own network with the show airing new episodes. DIY Network became Magnolia Network with the series stars Chip and Joanna Gaines running it.
• Fox News: Hannity was the highest viewed until recently Tucker Carlson's show had beat it.
• Game of Thrones is a merchandising juggernaut and possibly the biggest cash cow among HBO's shows. The series drew in very high viewership and becoming noted for its distinctive, visually striking characters and settings. It has copious amounts of toys (for adult collectors), apparel, accessories, cosplay/replicas and other collectibles available for purchase. It's telling that GoT is probably the most expensive series ever produced for television (the final season episodes were produced for $15 million apiece), but that didn't matter since the profits more than made it up.
  • The show's case is notable in that it's one of the few franchises to achieve this status while exclusively catering to mature audiences, aside from video games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto. Most cash-cow franchises rely at least partially on toy and merchandise sales, and usually skew PG-13 or lower so that children can get invested in the franchise and its merchandise; however, GoT is fantastical enough to spur copious toy and merchandise sales in its own right, as adult collectors (particularly millennials) became more of a mainstream demographic over time.
  • The franchise's status as a moneymaker was further cemented when HBO ordered a prequel spinoff a mere six months after the finale was aired, suggesting that, no matter how controversial the final season was, HBO had enough confidence that any new media set in the GoT universe will still be profitable for them.
  • The prequel spinoff, House of the Dragon, made HBO Max servers crash upon launch due to the demand, and the first episode became the most viewed HBO series opener in history across all HBO platforms. A second season was ordered less than a week after the premiere, although it had already more or less been announced months prior.
• Breaking Bad emerged to such powerful critical reviews and skyrocketing ratings that AMC turned it into a cash-cow franchise and started offering Breaking Bad-themed video games, dozens of short 1 to 2 minute YouTube cartoons, clothing and comic books as well as green-lighting the prequel series Better Call Saul and a sequel movie on Netflix. In turn, Better Call Saul has a Spinoff Babies prequel of its own: the animated series Slippin' Jimmy is a prequel spinoff of a prequel spinoff.
• The "Got Talent" franchise started by America's Got Talent and Britain's Got Talent holds the record for being the most widespread TV franchise created. It has spawned localizations in over 50 different countries.
• In the early 1960s, Oscar-nominated screenwriter and veteran TV producer Paul Henning developed a sitcom loosely based on his wife's experiences growing up in the Ozarks. The Beverly Hillbillies went on to become the #1 Nielsen-ratings show on American TV; it kept Mr. Cumming busy producing and writing nine seasons (he also wrote the theme song) and simultaneously producing the sister shows Petticoat Junction and Green Acres.
• Kamen Rider:
  • The franchise has been running continually since it was revived in 2000, but within the Riders there's a very specific cash cow franchise — Kamen Rider Den-O. All Heisei era Kamen Rider series from Kamen Rider Agito to Kamen Rider Kiva have at least one movie^note the only reason Kamen Rider Kuuga is an exception to this is because said movie would've taken place after the TV series - and the writers couldn't figure out a satisfying way to continue the story, as well as Joe Odagiri not anymore willing to reprise his role due to Shigenori Takatera getting fired during Hibiki. All Heisei era Kamen Rider series from Kamen Rider Decade onwards have at least three movies. The breakout success of the Taros has led to NINE Den-O movies.
  • Part of the reason for Decade being a crossover is that Toei executives noticed by the end of the first decade of the 2000's that Kuuga and Kamen Rider Agito were so faded away in the Japanese public's consciousness that merchandise of those two shows wouldn't even budge. While Decade didn't reach Den-O levels by itself, its real-life impact of launching long-forgotten Riders back into mainstream pop culture did bring upon the way to squeeze every last penny of all Kamen Rider shows since 1971 even after Decade's ending. It's even lampshaded in the show as the true purpose of Decade's journey.
  • Decade ending doesn't mean they won't dredge it up from time to time. Decade's portion of Movie War 2010 had some very thinly veiled dialogue that rather blatantly means "we're going to keep crossing over with things as long as the network can wring money off us".
• Bravo Network has The Real Housewives franchise with 11 main series and 19 spinoffs. Possibly the biggest know docusoap/reality series/franchise of all time. Also other shows on the network Project Runway, Top Chef, and Million Dollar Listing (LA) which became a franchise for a bit with NYC and short runners, has each ran on the network for over a decade and the former 2 past 15 years. As well as What Happens with Andy Cohen running for over a decade and might be known as TV's biggest aftershow.
• E! Network biggest series for over a decade and so on is Keeping Up with the Kardashians which the title family has became the biggest reality stars of The New '10s in pop culture and tabloid news as well. E! News is the main program on the network as well and is what the channel is built around and still going on for nearly 30 years.
• Law & Order. The original series ended after twenty years in 2010 (but came back in 2022), and the show spawned two long-running spinoffs (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent), as well as a few Short-Runners and foreign remakes. Criminal Intent became the highest-rated show on basic cable after its move to USA, and the French and Russian adaptations of the series are some of the most successful shows in their respective markets.
• Mythbusters is one to Discovery Communications, and they know it to the point that when someone at The Science Channel proposed a revival just days after the franchise had been ended, the suits approved of the plan very quickly.
• MSNBC has Rachel Maddow's series as its most watched.
• Ever since it was Vindicated by Reruns via Netflix, The Office (US) became a major cash cow franchise, spawning all manners apparel, board games, blankets, notebooks (It Makes Sense in Context), license plate covers, box planters, and even air fresheners (some of which are beet-scented).
  • The massive boost given to Friends on Netflix also spawned a similar treatment, and its merchandise is just as prevalent (and somewhat confusing), including donut makers, oven mitts, doormats saying "Welcome Friends" in the title font, slow cookers, dog toys, eyeshadow palettes, and perhaps most strikingly, an expensive fashion line from Ralph Lauren and a home décor line from Pottery Barn (both of which are seen on the show, but most fans are unlikely to pay $1099 for the apothecary table shown prominently in an episode).
• Orange Is the New Black became Netflix's most viewed original for a time as well as the service's longest-running scripted series, running for a full seven seasons. It is still fondly remembered today.
• Power Rangers moves a lot of merchandise, usually becoming the top-selling action figure line in America each year. And it's still a single arm of Super Sentai, which has been running continually in Japan since 1975! It's been said that the people behind both series actually believe that television ratings are secondary to merchandise sales. It's also rumored that the reason for the exploding number of mecha and extra rangers in later years is because Sentai is trying to recoup the losses of an underperforming Rangers under the Audience-Alienating Era of Disney.
• HGTV has the Property Brothers as its main show. Before that, Fixer Upper was the most viewed. Their classic series House Hunters is still going on after 20 years with many spinoffs too.
• Monk was this for the USA Network for a long while and later Psych and Suits took up the mantle.
• Psych has become this for Peacock, despite originating on USA Network (it became the flagship TV Show of that network too after Monk ended in 2009). The first two movies to debut on Peacock were the Psych: The Movie sequels Lassie Come Home and This is Gus - with plans for 3 more movies.
• Flemish children's series Samson En Gert. To the point that the merchandise actually overshadows the original TV show.
• Sesame Street, the longest-running children's show in North America, has spawned countless pieces of merchandise. There's a Sesame Street version of nearly everything that can be targeted to a preschooler (and on occasion, the parents of said preschoolers). And ever since Elmo became the show's main Spotlight-Stealing Squad, he's been put on everything imaginable.
• Due to its success, The Sopranos is often seen as the show that launched the new Golden Age of adult television in The Oughties and The New '10s, inspiring The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad (by rival networks), becoming an era defining milestone series, famous for its morally compromised protagonists, violence, and occasionally surreal style that came to define this period.
• Nobody probably thought that the Kurt Russell and James Spader cult-sci-fi flick Stargate was gonna balloon into (so far) three live-action series, an animated series, two (so-far) direct-to-DVD movies. This doesn't include spin-off novels based on both the series AND the original movie and a host of games. While not as big as some other franchises it appeared to have some momentum to join them, but after the cancellation of Atlantis and Universe it came to a sudden end in 2011.
• Star Trek; the original series and six movies based off of it, an animated continuation, plus four spin-off series that ran continuously from 1987 to 2005 (and a fifth that debuted in 2017), including four movies based off of TNG and the 2009 prequel (J. J. Abrams himself said this was NOT a reboot - which it was, kind of) of the TOS franchise, its two sequels, a buttload of Expanded Universe games, novels, and comics, and a metric kilobuttload of Fan Fiction and wacky fan theories numerous enough to, well, barely leave in enough room on the Internet for that other franchise and well... you know, including fan-produced live action series with production values that rival the show itself.
• As of 2016, Netflix's cash cow title goes to Stranger Things. A Sci-Fi horror and Genre Throwback to the '80s, the series has been seen as the big reason to keep your Netflix subscription.
• Studio 100 (The company that created Samson En Gert) has another very popular show in Belgium called Kabouter Plop (Plop the Gnome) which is very popular in Belgium. The series has made a lot of songs over the years and tons of merchandise which can be found everywhere in Belgium. Especially in the Studio 100 Theme Parks such as Plopsaland De Panne and Plopsa Indoor Hasselt. Cookies have also been a popular treat by children where it's called "Plop Koeken Biscuts".
• No one expected CW's TV series Supernatural to be 15 seasons long, certainly not series creator Eric Kripke who wrote the story to end after season 5. The franchise sells a ton of merchandise, it makes The CW so much money it's helped bankroll other series for the network, and it is a huge money maker for Creation Entertainment's for-profit fan conventions.
• The U.S. version of Survivor — thirteen years and twenty-six seasons, beating even the show it's based on (Sweden's Expedition: Robinson).
• Top Gear (UK) has expanded way beyond a UK TV motoring series. As well as spawning a number of localized spin-offs and/or being syndicated abroad, The BBC publishes a popular print magazine and a website busily promoting The Merch.
• The Ultraman franchise, with 30+ series, over 15 movies, and a bunch of manga and video games since 1966, isn't stopping anytime soon. This mainly applies in its home nation of Japan (and most of Southeast Asia) as it remains relatively obscure in the West, however Tsuburaya and Mill Creek Entertainment is soon to change that with Blu-Ray and DVD releases of older and newer Ultraman titles in the US.
• The Walking Dead Television Universe has quickly become AMC's flagship franchise. Once better known for marquee fare like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, the episodic series about a group of survivors living in a post-apocalyptic world infested with zombies quickly rose to the top of the network's ratings, and branched out into multiple shows, branded merchandise and more. It has inspired multiple video games (including The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, multiple mobile titles, gambling machines and The Walking Dead (Arcade)), lines of action figures, multiple spinoff shows (including Tales of the Walking Dead), a proposed film trilogy starring lead actor Andrew Lincoln, books, the tie-in interview series Talking Dead, webisodes and much more. While fans will generally agree that the highest ratings period for the series (from Seasons 1-7 of the main series) has passed, it's clear that the show is still the network darling and will continue for some time yet. Notably, when AMC announced that the eleventh season of the main series would be its last, they also simultaneously announced a Spin-Off with actors Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) and Melissa McBride (Carol Peletier), unrelated to the aforementioned spinoff shows, at the same time.
• The X Factor. Where do we start? It launched the careers of so many singers and bands, It's the highest-rated television show in Britain (at times attracting half of all people watching television at the time), spawning international spin-offs, turning Cheryl Cole into a bestselling pop star/media darling, an annual successful concert tour, books, "best of" DVDs, a magazine, even merchandise such as perfume plastered with the X Factor logo has been distributed. And they had this one group from a few years back...what was their name again? One Direction.

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