Reacher falls in the category of TV show we may sometimes refer to as a “dad show”, but the franchise might be trying to buck that label with the latest entry in the series. Based on Lee Child’s Reacher novels, which were previously adapted into feature films, Prime Video’s Reacher series has become a breakout success.
Starring Alan Ritchson as the hulking military police officer turned vigilante drifter, the three seasons and counting of the Prime series have earned rave reviews from audiences and critics alike, with a combined 96% on Rotten Tomatoes​​​​​. Now there’s a spin-off planned, and it may color the franchise a different shade.
Reacher’s Upcoming Spinoff Makes It More Than A Typical “Dad Show”
If you wanted to, you could probably group Reacher into a category of television colloquially known as a “dad show”. It’s a term you see thrown around the internet a lot, typically referring to shows with older, gruff, male leads who are reluctant to participate in the main conflicts of the shows.
Despite the moniker, mothers, grandfathers, and even, surprisingly, grandmothers, are capable of, and often do, enjoy “dad shows”. Jokes aside, “dad shows” definitely include an observable genre of TV shows. They are usually crime dramas and thrillers, but ones that lean more toward thriller than drama.
Another name for them could be “shows you can miss the first five minutes of”, a reference to the all-too-familiar experience of an older person in your family strolling into the living room after the show has already started, despite you yelling across the house that you are going to press play.
Reacher is getting a spinoff now, Neagley, which will likely debut sometime in 2026, and it might be different enough of a show to untag the “dad show” sticker from the Reacher franchise. This series, set to follow Frances Neagley (Maria Sten), sounds like it will be a female-focused, fast-paced thriller, not in line with the “dad” aesthetic.
Neagley’s Spinoff Proves The “Dad Show” Label Risks Becoming Outdated
To be sure, no TV show really wants to be described as a “dad show”. Beyond having some awkward implications around fatherhood and motherhood, i.e., the “guys and gals never like the same thing” kind of folksy wisdom, “dad show” also suggests a series that doesn’t necessarily require your full attention.
This idea perhaps made more sense before television really jumped up a level in quality. On network television, there may have been plenty of “dad shows”, shows where you didn’t really have to understand the entire plot to devote 30 minutes to something and still earn some mild enjoyment.
TV watchers are much more savvy these days, and television shows are, more often, better. Reacher might be considered a “dad show”, but it’s also an acclaimed series with some complex ideas. If Neagley can suddenly unmake the Reacher franchise as a “dad show”, then perhaps it never was a “dad show” to begin with.
- Release Date
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February 3, 2022
- Network
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Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Nick Santora
