Sister shows are two or more television shows which exist in the same fictional universe and which may have crossovers. They differ to a degree from spin-offs in that shows may air simultaneously, rather than being derived from, and replacing, another. The popularity of most shows is limited to a few seasons, and sister shows allow expanding the immediate audience and ratings share. This is accomplished by using mostly different actors and production facilities. Sister shows often shift styles or target audience slightly, for a larger overall market. Thus The Beverly Hillbillies emphasizes slapstick, while Green Acres emphasizes surreal humor.
Examples
- The King of Queens and Everybody Loves Raymond.
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, and CSI: NY.
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was joined by a sister show CSI: Miami in 2002, and a second, CSI: NY, in 2004.
- The Xena character proved popular on Hercules and a second show started.
- The shows aired together as part of the Back2Back Action Hour in syndication in 2000-2001.
- Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury.
- All My Children and One Life to Live (which join Loving and General Hospital)
- From 2004 to 2005, they featured a crossover storyline told on both shows.
- Stargate Atlantis premiered during the eighth season of Stargate SG-1. Both occasionally had crossover plots.
- Deep Space Nine began during the sixth season of The Next Generation. Several characters from the older series appeared in the newer, but only one episode of the older (Birthright (TNG episode)) had characters from the newer. All the Star Trek shows are in the same universe, and there were many shared concepts and characters.
- All three take place around the town of Hooterville. Guests appear in Green Acres, although the plots are not linked.
- The Trumptonshire series had Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley villages in the same area. Gordon Murray stated that the area of "Trumptonshire" is "representative of real locations which are one-and-a-half miles from each other in an equidistant triangle." [1]. Several characters appear in guest roles in other villages.
- The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful
- Known for frequent crossovers, the latter was planned by William J. Bell to be a sister show. Characters have gone between the two series regularly since the 1990s.
- As the World Turns, Guiding Light, and Another World (which join Days of our Lives)
- Guiding Light was joined by a sister show As the World Turns in 1956 and was also joined by another sister show Another World in 1964.
- It can be noted that Seth MacFarlane created American Dad! as a sister show to Family Guy with the same premise.[citation needed] These two shows happen to exist in the same universe since characters from the latter appeared in an episode of the former. MacFarlane and crew had been thinking of a way to do a crossover and the opportunity came up during the making of the episode "Lois Kills Stewie".
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