That is Game of Thrones right now. Because yes, GOT is once again expanding. 

Well well, speaking of, HBO knows and expects that people will be fully gaga for dragons, betrayal, and medieval family drama that makes even your own relatives look peaceful. So, Westeros lore is being unlocked, and all GOT paglus are invited. 

The new spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is expected to be a bingeable but not dragon-heavy civil war programme. 

It is smaller and stranger, and that, believe us or not, is good. Based on George R.R. Martin’s Dunk and Egg stories, the series follows Ser Duncan the Tall, a broke hedge knight with more courage than clout, and his sharp little squire Egg, who is very much not what he seems. So there’s no drama surrounding the palace in this one, but the drama dose is not lacking. We’ll be witnessing two people move through Westeros on foot and finding their way while battling with mud, hunger and violence. 

And honestly, can you blame them? Spin-offs are strange like that. Sometimes they feel unnecessary, sometimes they feel like a franchise refusing to stop talking. But sometimes, they hit so hard that you forget they were ever supposed to be “extra.”

Sometimes, the side story becomes the story. So while Game of Thrones gets ready to pull us back into the chaos, here are five spin-off series that prove one thing very clearly: supporting characters do not stay supporting for long.

1. Young Sheldon

When Young Sheldon was announced, it felt like a toxic relationship of the makers with the show Big Bang Theory. But the reality is oh so surprising. Young Sheldon is a prequel sitcom about a kid who is different..in so many ways. And yet, Young Sheldon ended up being… genuinely lovely. 

Instead, it offers something more layered and deeply human. Sheldon is a brilliant pain-in-the-ass, but the show is not just interested in him but also in the people around whose life continue to be affected by Sheldon and vice versa. 

Spoiler Alert: There’s a mother trying to raise him, siblings living in his shadow and a small-town dynamic. 

You start watching for Sheldon, but you stay because the Cooper family feels yours, like people you have met in real life. It is comforting without trying to make you feel better or less nerdy. Perhaps this honesty is what makes it special. 

2. House of the Dragon

After Game of Thrones ended, people acted like they were done.

The fandom was exhausted, the discourse was endless and trust was broken. Everyone was ready to move on, at least on the face of it.

But then House of the Dragon premiered, and so did the nostalgia and the unhealthy but justified attachment with the show. People were again passionately arguing about succession like it was a real political conundrum and suddenly everyone on the internet was back to posting family trees.. like nothing has changed. 

But who is to be blamed, Westeros has that kind of spell on its audience. The show dives into Targaryen civil war, and that is the appropriate royal dysfunction that made GOT unputdownable in the first go. 

This is not a healthy family, this is a family where inheritance drama involves dragons and centuries of ego.

It is not just a spin-off, it is more like Westeros reminding everyone that it is not done haunting television.

3. Joey

Friends is basically immortal. People who were not even alive during its peak still know the theme song. Chandler jokes are still circulating and Monica’s apartment is still aspirational.

So of course someone thought, “Let us give Joey his own show.” In Joey, he moves to Los Angeles to chase acting success, meets new people, starts a new life. And here is the thing: it was not terrible. It was just… not Friends. 

The problem was never Joey being unlikable. The problem was that Joey worked best inside the group chaos of the original ensemble. Friends was a chemistry show, it seemed a little impractical at first to bottle that and ship it to LA.

Joey remains one of the most interesting examples of your most favourite and endearing characters have a real and human layer underneath.  

4. Better Call Saul

If someone told you during Breaking Bad that the sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman would get his own series, you would think obviously it would be a deep and dark comedy, which would probably be cancelled on the internet as soon as it grabs eyeballs. But no, Better Call Saul is the most tempting tragedy one can fall into and is exceptionally written. 

The show is as much about goofy lawyer antics as it is about being a good man. This good man philosophy comes wrapped in the character of Jimmy Mcgill. Ok, at least he tries to be good. 

But he ends up becoming Saul because life keeps cornering him into smaller and smaller compromises. 

The brilliance is that it does not rely on Breaking Bad nostalgia, it builds its own emotional flavour. 

5. Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage

If Young Sheldon opened the door, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage walked through it confidently.

Because Sheldon was never the only interesting person in that household. This spin-off shifts focus to Georgie, the older brother who initially felt like the classic sitcom sibling, he is funny, slightly reckless, and did we mention, oh so oh so oh so HOT? 

But adulthood changes everything. In the show, Georgie can be seen managing marriage, responsibility and growing-up altogether. It genuinely felt like the worst adulting ad one could see, but the show’s quirks made it fun. It was fun to see your favourite hero navigate the ifs and buts of daily life. 

Spin-Offs Exist Because Who Likes Letting Go

Spin-offs are not just franchise leftovers ,they are proof that audiences get attached to worlds, not just plots.

People want the backstories, they want the alternate angles. They want the characters who deserved more screen time and they certainly want to stay inside the universe a little longer.