10 Most Confusing TV Franchises
TV franchises can be incredibly rewarding for their creative teams and the networks behind them, but some are confusing for viewers as they build, twist, and reshape familiar stories. While building a TV franchise takes time and effort, it’s a finicky structure that takes a practiced distance from the creative team at the center. There have been several TV franchises that have worked through the years, from Game Of Thrones and Law & Order to NCIS and the Marvel universe, building on each other while maintaining their own sense of identity. Even the best, however, can become confusing with time. TV franchises have to ensure that each show maintains its own identity as it moves through its narrative, especially when shows within a franchise are running concurrently. In order to build a franchise, having shows that stand on their own but offer the opportunity for interconnection is key. This means ensuring that timelines make sense, that characters aren’t carbon copies of one another, and most importantly, that viewers are along for the ride on each show, happy to watch every show’s episodes. While some franchises work well, others get bogged down with confusing details, difficult plots, and overlapping stories.
10
911
Although the 9-1-1 franchise, which began on Fox in 2018, has been a long-running, network-hopping success, it’s consistently one of the most confusing procedural franchises on the air. Starting out with the original 9-1-1, the series quickly expanded to include the now-defunct 9-1-1: Lone Star, and now pairs up with 9-1-1: Nashville. While there’s some crossover between the shows, the franchise is often confusing because of its inconsistencies. 9-1-1 leans into heavy disaster, while Lone Star focused on character drama, and Nashville leans into its soapy, country roots. The expanding universe makes details tough to track, and relationships significantly complex.
Cast
Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, Rockmond Dunbar, Connie Britton, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Guzman, Corinne Massiah, Marcanthonee Jon Reis, Gavin McHugh, John Harlan Kim
Latest TV Show
9-1-1: Lone Star
Upcoming TV Shows
9-1-1: Nashville
9
Grey’s Anatomy
Ellen Pompeo in season 22 of Grey’s AnatomyImage via ABC
As one of the longest-running TV shows on TV, Grey’s Anatomy has had its fair share of spinoffs. Grey’s itself is complex in terms of character, because there have been so many. In the early days, Grey’s featured web spinoffs, trying to capitalize on early internet success, but in more recent years, its traditional spinoffs have included Private Practice and Station 19. There has been a ton of crossover storytelling on the shows in the Grey’s universe, but some on shows that are no longer on the air or accessible, which can make it tricky to track down the details.
Release Date
March 27, 2005
Directors
Rob Corn, Kevin McKidd, Debbie Allen, Chandra Wilson, Allison Liddi-Brown, Jeannot Szwarc, Tony Phelan
Writers
Shonda Rhimes, Julie Wong, Jen Klein, Tameson Duffy, Meg Marinis
Ellen Pompeo
Dr. Meredith Grey
Chandra Wilson
Dr. Miranda Bailey
8
Power
Kanan (50 Cent) looking into the distance while talking to Dre (Rotimi) in Power (2014)
Although Power itself is a clear-cut series, the wider franchise has become one of the most convoluted of the modern era. Expanding with spinoffs, each called books in the world of the franchise, Power and its spinoffs are all set in different eras, which makes it incredibly confusing to follow. Power Book II: Ghost follows the events immediately post-series, while Power Book III: Raising Kanan is a prequel set in the 1990s, but their concurrent runs make it tough to follow the storylines. With overlapping shows that reveal details about the same characters at different times, Power can be tough.
Release Date
2014 – 2020-00-00
Directors
Hernán Otaño, Bart Wenrich, Kari Skogland, Sanford Bookstaver, Shana Stein, Kieron Hawkes, Slick Naim, Ami Canaan Mann, Anthony Hemingway, David Rodriguez, M.J. Bassett, Mario Van Peebles, Rob Hardy, Stefan Schwartz, 50 Cent
Writers
Courtney Kemp Agboh, Monica Mitchell, Gabriela Uribe, Eric Haywood, Gary Lennon, Matt K. Turner, Vladimir Cvetko, Heather Zuhlke, Safia M. Dirie, Andre J. Ferguson
Omari Hardwick
James ‘Ghost’ St. Patrick
7
The Walking Dead
Grimes stands in front of a fence with zombies behind them in The Walking DeadImage via MovieStillsDB
With a ton of expansion from the original series, The Walking Dead is one of the more aggressive and rapidly changing franchises in the modern era. What began with one series in 2010 has expanded to at least six shows, and that alone makes it a bit confusing for viewers to jump in. The chronology of the shows has led to a lot of questions about character details and information, as well as the order to watch the shows in. Viewing order is a huge debate, and the level of attention it takes to understand everything comprehensively is intense.
Release Date
2010 – 2022
Showrunner
Frank Darabont, Angela Kang, Scott M. Gimple, Glen Mazzara
Directors
David Boyd, Ernest R. Dickerson, Billy Gierhart, Guy Ferland, Laura Belsey, Jeffrey F. January, Michael Cudlitz, Sharat Raju, Alrick Riley, Michael Slovis, Michelle MacLaren, Rosemary Rodriguez, Seith Mann, Tricia Brock, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Daniel Sackheim, Fred Toye, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Jon Amiel, Kari Skogland, Kevin Dowling, Tawnia McKiernan, Larry Teng, Julius Ramsay
Writers
Channing Powell, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Glen Mazzara, Jim Barnes, Vivian Tse, Robert Kirkman, Erik Mountain, Evan Reilly, Kevin Deiboldt, Julia Ruchman, Nicole Mirante-Matthews, Nichole Beattie, Eddie Guzelian, Geraldine Inoa, Magali Lozano, Curtis Gwinn, LaToya Morgan, Eli Jorne, Adam Fierro, Frank Renzulli, Ryan Coleman, Jack LoGiudice, Charles H. Eglee
Norman Reedus
Daryl Dixon
Melissa McBride
Carol Peletier
6
The Big Bang Theory
Image via MovieStillsDB.com
As one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, The Big Bang Theory expanding its universe made sense, especially for a series with characters outside the core cast that it could mine from. While Sheldon Cooper’s early life on Young Sheldon was exciting to uncover, the franchise’s inconsistencies in the character and contradicting information quickly made it difficult to blend the shows together. As new shows have emerged in the franchise, like Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, there’s been even more to fit into the story that wasn’t there originally. Collectively, the shows are fun, but create some confusion.
Created by
Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady
Character(s)
Leonard Hofstadter, Penny Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz, Raj Koothrappali, Amy Farrah Fowler, Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, Stuart Bloom
5
Pretty Little Liars
Shay Mitchell as Emily, Troian Bellisario as Spencer, Ashley Benson as Hanna, and Lucy Hale as Aria open a package from A.Everett
Although the original Pretty Little Liars, which was adapted from a series of novels by Sara Shepard, remained the only show in its franchise for some time, eventually things branched out with Ravenswood and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. During the original days of the franchise, the complicated mysteries of the shows were always too convoluted to make much sense, with details and characters changed on a dime. As the show moved into a different format with 2022’s Original Sin, the tonal shift of the show made things even more inconsistent with the original, making the franchise impossible to follow.
Release Date
2010 – 2017-00-00
Showrunner
Ina Marlene King
Writers
Ina Marlene King
Franchise(s)
Pretty Little Liars
4
Twin Peaks
Kyle MacLachlan, Peggy Lipton, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, and Mädchen Amick in Twin PeaksImage via MovieStillsDB
Twin Peaks is a series that’s meant to be confusing and tough to follow, but as the franchise moved forward post-series, the follow-up film and the show’s 2017 revival marked some more convoluted choices that left viewers mystified. While the franchise is still one of the most popular and heavily praised of its time, Twin Peaks was determined to challenge its audiences, and creating stories that spanned from murder to supernatural speculation made it easy to do so. While the franchise’s complexity was a huge part of its draw, it’s a commitment, and viewers often debate fundamental pieces of lore.
Release Date
1990 – 1991-00-00
Showrunner
Mark Frost
Directors
Lesli Linka Glatter, Caleb Deschanel, Duwayne Dunham, Tim Hunter, Todd Holland, Tina Rathborne, Diane Keaton, Graeme Clifford, James Foley, Jonathan Sanger, Mark Frost, Stephen Gyllenhaal
Writers
Mark Frost, David Lynch, Harley Peyton, Robert Engels, Barry Pullman, Scott Frost, Tricia Brock
3
The Vampire Diaries
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As The Vampire Diaries franchise grew into several different spinoffs, the lore of the already complicated series got denser and more difficult to follow, though not to the dismay of viewers. While the original series, which began in 2009, spurred spinoffs The Originals and Legacies in subsequent years, the vampire and supernatural lore that surrounded the shows expanded, creating layered mythology that required a lot of attention. With characters moving between shows, the expansion kept things fresh, but made the franchise incredibly intricate, and tough for new viewers to crack into. Still beloved, The Vampire Diaries is a tough sell.
Release Date
2009 – 2017-00-00
Showrunner
Julie Plec
Directors
Chris Grismer, Joshua Butler, Marcos Siega, Kellie Cyrus, J. Miller Tobin, John Behring, Jeffrey G. Hunt, Rob Hardy, Leslie Libman, Paul Wesley, Lance Anderson, Darren Genet, John Dahl, Wendey Stanzler, Jesse Warn, Garreth Stover, Geoff Shotz, Ian Somerhalder, Liz Friedlander, David Von Ancken, Kevin Bray, Mike Karasick, Brad Turner, Carol Banker
Writers
Brian Young, Michael Narducci, Holly Brix, Elisabeth R. Finch, Andrew Chambliss, Alfredo Septién, Bryan Oh, Jose Molina, Turi Meyer, Gabrielle Stanton, Shukree Hassan Tilghman, Bryan M. Holdman, Céline Geiger, Mike Daniels, Charlie Charbonneau, Alan B. McElroy, John Herrera, Andrew Kreisberg, Elizabeth Craft, Michael J. Cinquemani, Sarah Fain, Sean Reycraft, Nina Fiore
Nina Dobrev
Elena Gilbert / Katherine Pierce
Paul Wesley
Stefan Salvatore
2
Doctor Who
David Tennant in front of TARDIS in Doctor Who
As one of the longest running expanded universes on TV, Doctor Who has spun into one of the largest franchises of all time over the years. With spinoffs like Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, the show is already complex on its own with rotating casts and conflicting details, making the spinoffs sometimes feel like an entirely different, somewhat unnecessary companion. With time travel boundless, the continuity of the show can consistently be messed with. Different incarnations of the Doctor can interact, creating confusion surrounding who’s who, and while the series embraces the confusion, it can still be messy.
Release Date
2005 – 2021-00-00
Directors
Graeme Harper, Euros Lyn, Douglas Mackinnon, Jamie Magnus Stone, Charles Palmer, Rachel Talalay, Joe Ahearne, James Strong, Jamie Childs, Saul Metzstein, Toby Haynes, Wayne Che Yip, Nick Hurran, Richard Clark, James Hawes, Daniel Nettheim, Colin Teague, Keith Boak, Azhur Saleem, Adam Smith, Andrew Gunn, Nida Manzoor, Lawrence Gough, Paul Murphy
Writers
Steven Moffat, Russell T. Davies
Jodie Whittaker
The Doctor
1
Star Trek
Captain Kirk leading the crew of the Enterprise in Star Trek: TOSMovieStillsDB
As one of the best TV franchises of all time, Star Trek’s longevity and diversity in its storytelling also creates one of the most confusing TV landscapes ever mapped out. With the franchise having begun in 1966, Star Trek has spun off into endless shows and books, expanding the lore in a way that makes it nearly impossible to know everything going on. With different shows occurring in different eras, there’s some overlap at times, but there are continuity errors and details that are smudged throughout franchise history. While Star Trek isn’t necessarily straightforward, debating is still exciting for fans.
TV Show(s)
Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Cast
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Wil Wheaton, Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Cirroc Lofton, Armin Shimerman, Colm Meaney, Terry Farrell, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jeri Ryan, Robert Duncan McNeill, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Garrett Wang, Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Scott Bakula, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Michelle Yeoh
Created by
Gene Roddenberry
تم النشر: 2026-07-01 17:15:00
مصدر: screenrant.com
