Your show has been a smashing success! You're on your sixth season, but your star decides they've had enough and decides to end the series. But you don't want to end just yet! Maybe the producers want to milk the cash cow a little longer. Maybe you can create ...an After Show.
An After Show is a very specific combination of Spinoff and ReTool. It is a clear attempt to extend the life of a show by renaming it. To be an After Show, it must 1) come after the end of the original series, and 2) star as regular cast members at least one member who could have been considered a star on the original, or feature the same setting as the original show. For example ... The Ropers is just a spin-off of Three's Company, but Three's a Crowd is an After Show.
The best way to illustrate an After Show is if it can be placed in this statement.... "________ is an attempt to do _______ without ___________".
Named after the show After M*A*S*H, an Ur-Example of the concept.
If, after the star leaves, the execs decide to carry on under the same brand, then said brand has instituted Final Season Casting. If they decide to keep going by recasting the star's character, that's The Nth Doctor or The Other Darrin. Also compare Post-Script Season, which occurs when a series with season-long arcs gets Un-Cancelled, whereas this variant applies primarily to shows that are Episodic in nature.
Compare From the Ashes, when a fictional work's ending is the starting point of a Spin-Off. See also Revival, which is similar to this trope but tends to come much later after the end of the original show. A subtrope of Sequel Series. Not to be confused with the sort of aftershow that airs directly after each episode with discussion (eg. Talking Dead).
Examples:
Anime & Manga
- Dragon Ball GT: It's an attempt to do both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z at the same time —in the sense that it attempts to combine the tone of both shows— without much of the original cast of either besides Goku and Trunks. Vegeta does return to prominence during the later half of the show though, where it also drops trying to be a partial retread of Dragon Ball in favor of just being Dragon Ball Z but Goku is a kid again (most of the time).
- Genshiken Nidaime is an attempt to do Genshiken with the male cast reduced to occasional cameo appearances.
- Macross 7: It was a successful attempt to do Super Dimension Fortress Macross without Hikaru, Misa, Minmay, Claudia, Captain Global, or Britai. There is one difference, in that while the actors were of varying willingness to return (Arihiro Hase having died and Mari Iijima having a moderately successful singing career made them the ones least likely to return), it was the creator, Shoji Kawamori, who has professed zero interest in revisiting Hikaru, Misa, and Minmay.
Films — Live-Action
- The Bourne Legacy is an attempt to do The Bourne Trilogy without Jason Bourne or almost any of the other important characters.
- Curse of the Pink Panther and Son of the Pink Panther were attempts to do The Pink Panther without Inspector Clouseau.
Live-Action TV
- The Adventures of Superpup is an attempt to do The Adventures of Superman without Superman or any of the human cast.
- M*A*S*H, believe it or not, has not one, but two of these:
- After M*A*S*H is an attempt to do M*A*S*H without Hawkeye, BJ, Charles, Hot Lips, and war. It actually did fairly well for it's first season, then Executive Meddling ensued when the show wasn't pulling in the ratings CBS was hoping for. The second season would be a critical and commercial flop, dooming the entire show to obscurity and killing off the M*A*S*H franchise outside of syndicated re-runs.
- W*A*L*T*E*R was yet another attempt to do M*A*S*H, this time without the rest of the original cast besides Radar, and war. It was supposed to follow Radar (now going by his real name Walter) working in the police department after he was forced to sell the farm and his wife cheated on him right after their marriage. The pilot basically undid any closure the character got in the original series or even After M*A*S*H. It never made it past the pilot stage (possibly due to the failure of After M*A*S*H) and the pilot would only see broadcast once.
- American Detective is essentially Homicide Hunter, except that Joe Kenda is now telling the stories of other detectives.
- And Just Like That...... is a continuation of Sex and the City without Samantha Jones.
- Archie Bunker's Place is an attempt to do All in the Family without Gloria and Michael Stivic. Edith was later killed off after Jean Stapleton left the show.
- Boston Legal is an attempt to do The Practice without the original main cast.
- Bunk'd is Jessie without Jessie, Luke (though he makes one guest appearance), and Bertram (although he too had a couple of guest appearances), until Emma, Ravi, and Zuri, the characters that did make the jump, depart the series. Emma later came back in a Season 5, but the other Jessie characters are highly unlikely to return (and Luke returning is, sadly, impossible).
- The Conners is an attempt to do Roseanne without Roseanne. Enforced as the Roseanne reboot that was in the works was canned when Roseanne Barr found herself embroiled in a controversy concerning some racist remarks she made on Twitter, and the reboot was Retooled as an After Show.
- Cory in the House is an attempt to do That's So Raven without Raven, Chelsie, Eddie, and Mrs. Baxternote .
- Degrassi: The Next Generation:
- It's an attempt to do Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High without the original students except for Snake, Spike, Caitlin, Joey, and Mr. Raditch (who was the principal in the first four seasons). The name was officially shortened around season 10 after Emma, Manny, Spinner, Liberty, and Jay left, though it's still the same show.
- Degrassi: Next Class is an attempt to do Degrassi: The Next Generation without Clare, Eli, Alli, or Drew.
- The Dumping Ground is an attempt to do The Story of Tracy Beaker/Tracy Beaker Returns without Tracy Beaker. Oddly though, this one kind of plays with it because despite wanting to try doing the show without him the producers still had Zach Braff guest star for about half the episodes of the season (and Elliot for 4) which makes it seem like even they didn't have faith that the show could carry on without him. The main characters are medical students rather than interns this time with some of the original doctors as faculty/medical staff at the university.
- Forever Ferwood is an attempt to do Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman without Mary. It was followed by Fernwood Tonight, a talk show.
- The George Burns Show is an attempt to do The Burns and Allen Show without Gracie Allen.
- Golden Palace is an attempt to do The Golden Girls in a hotel without Dorothy.
- The Good Fight is a continuation of The Good Wife minus Alicia Florrick, revolving around Diane Lockhart instead after she loses her retirement savings to a Ponzi Scheme.
- Grace and Favour, known as Are You Being Served Again in the States, is an attempt to do Are You Being Served? without the department store (traded in for a bed and breakfast), Mr. Lucas or Mr. Spooner, or either of the elderly Grace Brothers the store was named for.
- In Sickness and in Health is an attempt to do Till Death Us Do Part with the political content (and later the racism) toned down. It was also without Mike and Rita, although the latter occasionally appeared. After the first series, it was without Else as well, as Dandy Nichols (the actress who played her) died shortly after the first series was broadcast.
- It Sticks Out Half a Mile is an attempt to do Dad's Army on the radio without most of the platoon and without World War II. Captain Mainwaring was supposed to be in it, but Arthur Lowe died after making one episode, so they built up Sergeant Wilson as the main character. John LeMesurier's death a year later effectively ended all work on the program.
- Jason King is an attempt to do Department S without Stewart, Annabel, or Sir Curtis.
- Joey is an attempt to do Friends without... well, everyone save Joey.
- Jonas L.A. is an attempt to do Jonas without their parents and Arizona setting.
- Kate Plus 8 is an attempt to do Jon & Kate Plus Eight without Jon.
- Kidsongs: The TV show that aired on PBS in 1994 was an attempt at reviving the previously syndicated series from 1987 without any of the original castnote .
- Lab Rats: Elite Force is an attempt to do Lab Rats without Leo and Adam (with Donald only appearing in the pilot), and Mighty Med without any Mighty Med staff other than Kaz, Oliver, and Skylar nor any of the other normos (though that last one is justified since Mighty Med itself is destroyed in the new show's premiere.
- The Legacy Of Reginald Perrin is an attempt to do The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin without Reginald Perrin because The Character Died with Him.
- Lewis falls somewhere between this trope and a Spin-Off, being a continuation of Inspector Morse, starring the now deceased Morse's right-hand man promoted to Detective Inspector and main character. Played with the trope by way of a five-year Time Skip during which Lewis Took A Level In Cynicism, partly thanks to his wife being killed off in the interim, and making him the grumpy but mostly benevolent mentor to a slightly uptight and naive junior detective the way Morse was to him in the original series. They must have done something right, because it lasted for nine seasons.
- Major Crimes is an attempt to do The Closer without Kyra Sedgwick or J.K. Simmons.
- Mayberry R.F.D. is an attempt to do The Andy Griffith Show without Andy Griffith. This one was more successful than most other examples, lasting three seasons before succumbing to CBS' "Rural Purge".
- McMillan is an attempt to do McMillan & Wife without the wife.
- The New WKRP in Cincinnati is an attempt to do WKRP in Cincinnati without Andy Travis, Jennifer Marlowe, or Bailey Quarters (and only occasionally including Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap).
- Newhart was at one point to have been an After Show to The Bob Newhart Show, with Suzanne Pleshette again being Bob's wife Emily, with them running the Inn. However, when you consider how the show ended...
- Ozzie's Girls is an attempt to do The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet without the Nelson Brothers.
- Pete and Gladys is an attempt to do December Bride without the December bride.
- Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists was Pretty Little Liars without Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer.
- Robin's Nest is an attempt to do Man About the House without Chrissy and Jo.
- Sanford is an attempt to do Sanford and Son without Lamont.
- Sanford Arms is an attempt to do Sanford and Son without Fred or Lamont.
- Saved by the Bell:
- The New Class is an all-new group of students attending Bayside High.
- Saved by the Bell is Good Morning, Miss Bliss without Miss Bliss.
- Scrubs season nine, aka Scrubs: Med School is an attempt to do Scrubs without JD, Carla, The Janitor or Elliot.
- So Random! is an attempt to do Sonny with a Chance without Sonny. Unusual in that So Random was originally a sketch comedy that existed In-Universe, before becoming an actual show.
- Solo One is an attempt to do Matlock Police without the main cast.
- Stargate SG-1's ninth and tenth seasons. The producers wanted to change the title to "Stargate Command" and do exactly this, but the network wanted the name power of SG-1. To use the above prescribed phrase, seasons 9 and 10 were an attempt to do SG-1 without Richard Dean Anderson.
- The Suite Life on Deck is an attempt to do The Suite Life of Zack & Cody without Arwin, Carey, and Maddie, though they have made appearances from time to time,
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is an attempt to do The Terminator without the T-800.
- Three's a Crowd is an attempt to do Three's Company without Janet and Terri/Crissy/Cindy.
- Wall Street Week with Fortune is an attempt to do Wall Street Week without Louis Rukeyser.
- What's Happening Now is What's Happening!! with all the characters grown up one now married and without Mrs Thomas.
Western Animation
- Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Donkey Hodie are attempts to do the Neighborhood of Make Believe and Someplace Else, respectively, without the "real world" of Mister Rogers.
- Family Guy: Parodied in an episode where the network wanted to reboot the show. One of the ideas is to do this, where Chris is the lead, he is married to Tricia Takanawa, and Joe lives with them. Peter and Lois are stated to be dead, while the rest of the family moved to Australia.
- Gadget and the Gadgetinis is an attempt to do Inspector Gadget without Brain or Chief Quimby.
- Sabrina's Secret Life is an attempt to do Sabrina: The Animated Series with the characters aged up by two years and without Gem, Chloe, Quigley, or Pi.
