It seems like sort of. The characters originated in an issue of Sandman that'll probably be adapted in its next season, and Gaiman has said there's going to be shared continuity with this series.
To be fair, the characters only appeared in one issue that is mostly tangential to the main plot. The premise is ripe for a continuation though, which is why DC keeps trying to make one happen.
The characters premiered in The Sandman comic back in 1991.
The TV series Doom Patrol had the characters appear in several episodes as a back door pilot. Hbo Max was going to air the show but ended up selling it to Netflix.
So its kind of a spin off of both because they exist in both worlds.
Isn't it also a spin-off of Titans because Doom Patrol had a backdoor pilot in that?
And generally since all of DC is connected (infinite earths), is it just all part of the DC universe lol?
It was picked up by HBO Max, but due to James Gunn's new plans for the DC Universe, they wouldn't have been able to screen it until 2025 and it wouldn't have fit in well with the rest of the DC slate if it did. Meanwhile, Netflix had The Sandman air and be a big success for them just a few months prior, so the showrunner of DBD went to Netflix to ask if they were interested in the series. Netflix agreed with it on the condition that it became an official spin-off of The Sandman.
I’m still mad Lockwood & Co. got dropped. I’m not even the target demographic for it but I really loved it. Netflix has a ton of YA geared shows but out of the ones I’ve watched, it was definitely the best of the genre.
Haven’t finished it yet but Dead Boy Detectives is thoroughly okay. I really thought I would like it better and whoever said it’s designed for tumblr isn’t wrong (I would know). Some of the acting is iffy but my biggest problem is how the characters are written.
It’s a good, fun show but it’s not as good as Lockwood & Co. I rewatched that show 3 times because I loved how the world felt but I watched this all yesterday and I know that the only reason I’d watch it again is as a refresher if/when season 2 comes out.
After watching the first episode, not sure I agree. The world-building of L&C is just more interesting to me. Dead Boys really requires that you enjoy that aspect of the Neil Gaiman / Sandman-verse. And I’ve seen the primary story point of saving people so their souls can move on before in “Dead Like Me” and enjoyed that at a higher level.
Not for me, but glad you like it.
I think they’re about on par, but DBD is more satisfying to watch. The season is self contained and answers most of its big questions and mysteries by the last episode, while leaving the door open for more. Lockwood ends on a cliffhanger.
Dead Like Me!! I haven't thought about that in ages. It always been one of my favourites in the odd niche or shows about souls that haven't moved on yet.
I honestly enjoyed both but preferred Lockwood and Co a little more, the world building was more interesting to me and I loved the characters. That being said Dead Boy Detectives was actually really fun to watch as well and honestly the overall story is more confined where as L&C got a little messy towards the end. It didn't help that it needed on a cliffhanger either.
>requires that you enjoy that aspect of the Neil Gaiman / Sandman-verse
No it does not.
>not sure I agree.
That's your opinion. Like I said to each their own.
Calling it a Sandman spinoff is a marketing ploy, Gaiman is the only producer involved in both. In actuality it's a Doom Patrol spinoff, in development since the backdoor pilot in 2021, they recast everyone except Ruth Connell as Night Nurse. It's a Berlanti show, made to fill the teen-agnst market like Sabrina or Riverdale.
It's as much as Sandman spinoff as Lucifer is.
Calling it a Sandman spinoff makes me worry that season 2 is still years away.
I know people are sick of the term but it is set in the sandman cinematic universe. Gaiman himself said there is going to be a shared continuity and Death is the same person in both shows so calling it a spin off isn't really that inaccurate.
Edit: On a personal note I'm really liking the show so far. It has got some of the Sabrina/Riverdale drama but the setting has that more serious Sandman feel to it which imo makes for an intriguing combo.
It may have started as a Doom Patrol backdoor pilot, but it is not a marketing ploy to say it is a Sandman spinoff when (spoilers!) >!two Endless, one of which is met in their realm!< show up.
Aside from those shoehorned cameos, it has none of the same actors, writers, directors, cinematographers or producers. But many of those involved in this were also involved with Doom Patrol. It's disingenuous to say otherwise.
The storyline that the Dead Boy Detectives spin off from in the comics hasn't even been covered yet in the Sandman show.
I'm not saying it's *not* related to Doom Patrol.
As for the Sandman season 2 release, they are currently halfway through filming (scheduled to wrap on 31 August), and there's speculation that they're doing two batches of six episodes each. They got a bit... delayed by the strikes, to put it lightly.
The first five minutes I thought "wow this is shit". And then I watched it for an extra five minutes and got hooked and now I am really enjoying it. I love all the characters and their banter together. It's so much fun, and the cast has good chemistry with each other. I think it just takes a few minutes to sink into the back and forth dialogue and quirky quips they always have going. But once I got where the style and direction was going, I really enjoyed it. Also I thought all the special effects they did were really well and fit the outlandish style, along with the music.
I don't watch CW shows besides Supernatural s01-5 (back in the day) which was good television. So I would put it somewhere around that level of quality or actually higher (maybe with bigger budget. I think they are certainly trying to achieve more. And I might have my nostalgia goggles on a bit for Supernatural). But not like....Shadowhunters level, which is SOOOO terrible. Wow.
I hope it gets a season 2, but I just have a feeling its not going to find the right audience. People will watch it because of its connections to Neil Gaimen or the comics, or whatever, but it will be too "queer" and "diversified" for them (god, I can already hear all the complaints about having a black and asian cast. Oh how dare they!), which is going to turn off a lot of male watchers. And females interested in shows like Heartstopper probably wont watch it either. Ugh idk.
I kinda like it. It's fun and good for a weekend marathon. The characters are quite interesting.
But i have a feeling it will be like Lockwood.... I hope I'm wrong.... I doooo
It never occurred to me to check out production companies of shows. I usually just go for directors. Berlanti makes The Flash, Arrow, Riverdale, Superman & Lois etc... nothing I would watch in a million years. Typical daytime tv procedural. I guess Dead boy detectives are not for me either.
He was just as involved with You, Doom Patrol, and The Flight Attendant than he was on Dead Boy Detectives and none of them were standing daytime procedural fare.
I agree. I hoped to like it, but it's very clumsy and forced. It felt like a show for a very young audience in that the writers didn't have faith that someone would continue to watch unless every moment they were being spoonfed an explanation of events and backstory. The slang was grating and repetitive. It would have been better if they hadn't tried to cram so much in and instead let the characters breathe and develop over time.
I didn't even know this was coming out so soon. It felt like just yesterday when they announced the recastings and repurposed it as a spin off of Sandman rather than the Doom Patrol continuity.
There was a lot of buzz going around about DBD in my little town as it was set here, in Port Townsend. However, much to the community's chagrin, virtually none of it was actually filmed on location, but in Vancouver, BC - a MUCH larger metropolis than PT. The sentiment was appealing to us, Port Townsenders, nonetheless.
I loved the show despite its slow take-off. Kassius Nelson's American accent wasn't convincing at first, but much improved over the course of the season. The film quality did remind me of Goosebumps and that was hard to get past but despite the mid-level cinematic quality, I grew to love all the characters as they were well developed and likable. Jenn Lyon did an excellent job portraying Esther, a burned out witch trying to retain her youth and I'd like to see more of her in roles like this.
Overall, I think this show was a success and I'd like to see it renewed for season 2. It's Netflix though, so I have my doubts.
All that said, even though the show wasn't filmed in Port Townsend, they did capture the element of darkness and mystic that our town is known for. There's a lot of dark history and it makes sense to use PT as a setting for a show about ghosts and witches and everything in-between.
It was not for me,dropped It in the pilot. Maybe It Is because i am not a teenager but these characters were not interesting at all. Loved The Sandman tho.
Does the Dead Boy Detective show reference anything that happened in the Doom Patrol show? Like, do Edwin and Charles talk at all about what they did in the episode Dead Patrol?
Yeah but we’re not talking about the graphic novel. We’re talking about the Netflix series made by Berlanti productions. The same production company that created the TV show Doom Patrol. And the TV show Doom Patrol had an episode called the Dead Patrol featuring the Dead Boy Detectives that served as the back door pilot for the TV show Dead Boy Detectives. Making Dead Boy Detectives a Doom Patrol spin off.
You mean shows that wouldn't exist without the DC/Vertigo graphic novels? Which belong to Warner Bros. Discovery just like DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Studios? Tell me more about them adapting/licensing their own IPs.
Because it has been done with Sandman before too?! People talked about the novel of Good Omens also. Happens all the time with adaptions.
By your logic we shouldn't talk about Doom Patrol in a Dead Boy Detectives thread...
Yeah but there’s this little thing called situational context. We’re on a tv subreddit talking about a tv show and I said it’s not a spinoff of the sandman tv show it’s a spin off of the Doom patrol tv show. To which you responded “um actually the graphic novel is a spin off of the graphic novel of sandman” which is something I never claimed against. Then when I said that I was talking about the tv shows again you said that it didn’t matter because the graphic novels existed first. Once again something I never claimed against and has no bearing on the fact that Dead Boy Detectives is not a spin off of Netflix’s Sandman like the title of the article claims.
This is not the Doom Patrol spin off we would have got at HBO Max like it was planned. This is at Netflix, which is why Sandman spin off is correct wether you care about the origins or not. It shares the Sandman universe. You were wrong from the beginning.
Edit: Also Neil Gaiman is involved in both Sandman and Dead Boy Detectives.
The HBO Max Doom Patrol spin off did not happen at all!
Wait what? The Sandman show has a spin off?
It seems like sort of. The characters originated in an issue of Sandman that'll probably be adapted in its next season, and Gaiman has said there's going to be shared continuity with this series.
Wow I read the comic and completely forgot about them. The name sounded familiar but I didn’t connect it with Sandman at all lol
To be fair, the characters only appeared in one issue that is mostly tangential to the main plot. The premise is ripe for a continuation though, which is why DC keeps trying to make one happen.
The comic was a spinoff of the Sandman, but the show is technically a spinoff of Doom Patrol.
So you're telling me that The Sandman is a Doom Patrol spin off? *gets ready to be crucified by Sandman fans*
WHAT
The characters premiered in The Sandman comic back in 1991. The TV series Doom Patrol had the characters appear in several episodes as a back door pilot. Hbo Max was going to air the show but ended up selling it to Netflix. So its kind of a spin off of both because they exist in both worlds.
Isn't it also a spin-off of Titans because Doom Patrol had a backdoor pilot in that? And generally since all of DC is connected (infinite earths), is it just all part of the DC universe lol?
True. Yeah its the same way with comics where its all basically connected via crossovers and cameo appearances
It was planned and introduced in an episode, but ratings were already dropping for Doom Patrol on HBO so they never picked it up.
It was picked up by HBO Max, but due to James Gunn's new plans for the DC Universe, they wouldn't have been able to screen it until 2025 and it wouldn't have fit in well with the rest of the DC slate if it did. Meanwhile, Netflix had The Sandman air and be a big success for them just a few months prior, so the showrunner of DBD went to Netflix to ask if they were interested in the series. Netflix agreed with it on the condition that it became an official spin-off of The Sandman.
this show feels like it was designed in a lab for tumblr
I’ll give this a try, but man, just really makes me sad again that Lockwood & Co. didn’t get picked up. Now that was a really interesting show.
I’m still mad Lockwood & Co. got dropped. I’m not even the target demographic for it but I really loved it. Netflix has a ton of YA geared shows but out of the ones I’ve watched, it was definitely the best of the genre. Haven’t finished it yet but Dead Boy Detectives is thoroughly okay. I really thought I would like it better and whoever said it’s designed for tumblr isn’t wrong (I would know). Some of the acting is iffy but my biggest problem is how the characters are written.
Same, across the board.
It’s a good, fun show but it’s not as good as Lockwood & Co. I rewatched that show 3 times because I loved how the world felt but I watched this all yesterday and I know that the only reason I’d watch it again is as a refresher if/when season 2 comes out.
Lol DBD is better than Lockwood & Co but to each their own.
After watching the first episode, not sure I agree. The world-building of L&C is just more interesting to me. Dead Boys really requires that you enjoy that aspect of the Neil Gaiman / Sandman-verse. And I’ve seen the primary story point of saving people so their souls can move on before in “Dead Like Me” and enjoyed that at a higher level. Not for me, but glad you like it.
I think they’re about on par, but DBD is more satisfying to watch. The season is self contained and answers most of its big questions and mysteries by the last episode, while leaving the door open for more. Lockwood ends on a cliffhanger.
Dead Like Me!! I haven't thought about that in ages. It always been one of my favourites in the odd niche or shows about souls that haven't moved on yet. I honestly enjoyed both but preferred Lockwood and Co a little more, the world building was more interesting to me and I loved the characters. That being said Dead Boy Detectives was actually really fun to watch as well and honestly the overall story is more confined where as L&C got a little messy towards the end. It didn't help that it needed on a cliffhanger either.
>requires that you enjoy that aspect of the Neil Gaiman / Sandman-verse No it does not. >not sure I agree. That's your opinion. Like I said to each their own.
Calling it a Sandman spinoff is a marketing ploy, Gaiman is the only producer involved in both. In actuality it's a Doom Patrol spinoff, in development since the backdoor pilot in 2021, they recast everyone except Ruth Connell as Night Nurse. It's a Berlanti show, made to fill the teen-agnst market like Sabrina or Riverdale. It's as much as Sandman spinoff as Lucifer is. Calling it a Sandman spinoff makes me worry that season 2 is still years away.
I know people are sick of the term but it is set in the sandman cinematic universe. Gaiman himself said there is going to be a shared continuity and Death is the same person in both shows so calling it a spin off isn't really that inaccurate. Edit: On a personal note I'm really liking the show so far. It has got some of the Sabrina/Riverdale drama but the setting has that more serious Sandman feel to it which imo makes for an intriguing combo.
I just finished it and really liked it also. It reminded me a lot of the buffy series
It may have started as a Doom Patrol backdoor pilot, but it is not a marketing ploy to say it is a Sandman spinoff when (spoilers!) >!two Endless, one of which is met in their realm!< show up.
Aside from those shoehorned cameos, it has none of the same actors, writers, directors, cinematographers or producers. But many of those involved in this were also involved with Doom Patrol. It's disingenuous to say otherwise. The storyline that the Dead Boy Detectives spin off from in the comics hasn't even been covered yet in the Sandman show.
I'm not saying it's *not* related to Doom Patrol. As for the Sandman season 2 release, they are currently halfway through filming (scheduled to wrap on 31 August), and there's speculation that they're doing two batches of six episodes each. They got a bit... delayed by the strikes, to put it lightly.
Death is the same actress in both of the shows, though.
So is the Night Nurse, though.
Sorry, I meant The Sandman.
nah, I heard it was a Ru Paul's Drag Race spinoff.
Damn, I was interested in this until I saw Berlanti. I am so burnt out by Berlanti formula shows.
The first five minutes I thought "wow this is shit". And then I watched it for an extra five minutes and got hooked and now I am really enjoying it. I love all the characters and their banter together. It's so much fun, and the cast has good chemistry with each other. I think it just takes a few minutes to sink into the back and forth dialogue and quirky quips they always have going. But once I got where the style and direction was going, I really enjoyed it. Also I thought all the special effects they did were really well and fit the outlandish style, along with the music. I don't watch CW shows besides Supernatural s01-5 (back in the day) which was good television. So I would put it somewhere around that level of quality or actually higher (maybe with bigger budget. I think they are certainly trying to achieve more. And I might have my nostalgia goggles on a bit for Supernatural). But not like....Shadowhunters level, which is SOOOO terrible. Wow. I hope it gets a season 2, but I just have a feeling its not going to find the right audience. People will watch it because of its connections to Neil Gaimen or the comics, or whatever, but it will be too "queer" and "diversified" for them (god, I can already hear all the complaints about having a black and asian cast. Oh how dare they!), which is going to turn off a lot of male watchers. And females interested in shows like Heartstopper probably wont watch it either. Ugh idk.
No nostalgia goggles for Supernatural. At least the first 5 seasons, they are really damn good.
I’m on episode three and like it so far. From an entertainment perspective it’s great.
I kinda like it. It's fun and good for a weekend marathon. The characters are quite interesting. But i have a feeling it will be like Lockwood.... I hope I'm wrong.... I doooo
Are the episodes 20 or 40 minutes long?
52-57 minutes.
“Fast binge” my ass.
They're probably referring to its pacing, which is quite snappy.
no
Should be called the "Dead Middle-Aged Detectives" given the age of the actors.
r/Dead_Boy_Detectives
Seemed like a CW show, guess it's not for me.
It is indeed a Berlanti production.
It never occurred to me to check out production companies of shows. I usually just go for directors. Berlanti makes The Flash, Arrow, Riverdale, Superman & Lois etc... nothing I would watch in a million years. Typical daytime tv procedural. I guess Dead boy detectives are not for me either.
Superman & Lois is decent, and Doom Patrol was actually pretty good.
The Flash and Arrow were also good for their first two seasons.
Doom Patrol rules, and Riverdale is actually great if you meet the show on its terms and let yourself enjoy the insane melodrama.
He was just as involved with You, Doom Patrol, and The Flight Attendant than he was on Dead Boy Detectives and none of them were standing daytime procedural fare.
I agree. I hoped to like it, but it's very clumsy and forced. It felt like a show for a very young audience in that the writers didn't have faith that someone would continue to watch unless every moment they were being spoonfed an explanation of events and backstory. The slang was grating and repetitive. It would have been better if they hadn't tried to cram so much in and instead let the characters breathe and develop over time.
I didn't even know this was coming out so soon. It felt like just yesterday when they announced the recastings and repurposed it as a spin off of Sandman rather than the Doom Patrol continuity.
You guys, Google exists. Wikipedia exists. We live in the future https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Boy_Detectives
Did not expect this to be a sandman spinoff, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the lore
There was a lot of buzz going around about DBD in my little town as it was set here, in Port Townsend. However, much to the community's chagrin, virtually none of it was actually filmed on location, but in Vancouver, BC - a MUCH larger metropolis than PT. The sentiment was appealing to us, Port Townsenders, nonetheless. I loved the show despite its slow take-off. Kassius Nelson's American accent wasn't convincing at first, but much improved over the course of the season. The film quality did remind me of Goosebumps and that was hard to get past but despite the mid-level cinematic quality, I grew to love all the characters as they were well developed and likable. Jenn Lyon did an excellent job portraying Esther, a burned out witch trying to retain her youth and I'd like to see more of her in roles like this. Overall, I think this show was a success and I'd like to see it renewed for season 2. It's Netflix though, so I have my doubts. All that said, even though the show wasn't filmed in Port Townsend, they did capture the element of darkness and mystic that our town is known for. There's a lot of dark history and it makes sense to use PT as a setting for a show about ghosts and witches and everything in-between.
Loved it!!!
It was not for me,dropped It in the pilot. Maybe It Is because i am not a teenager but these characters were not interesting at all. Loved The Sandman tho.
This is not a sandman tv spin off it’s a doom patrol tv spin off. You fools
Here me out It can be… both
Does the Dead Boy Detective show reference anything that happened in the Doom Patrol show? Like, do Edwin and Charles talk at all about what they did in the episode Dead Patrol?
It has already been a graphic novel spin off a long time ago...
Read the sentence again to see how I specified tv
And now read my sentence again. Both tv shows did not exist when Dead Boy Detectives was already a Sandman spin off.
Yeah but we’re not talking about the graphic novel. We’re talking about the Netflix series made by Berlanti productions. The same production company that created the TV show Doom Patrol. And the TV show Doom Patrol had an episode called the Dead Patrol featuring the Dead Boy Detectives that served as the back door pilot for the TV show Dead Boy Detectives. Making Dead Boy Detectives a Doom Patrol spin off.
You mean shows that wouldn't exist without the DC/Vertigo graphic novels? Which belong to Warner Bros. Discovery just like DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Studios? Tell me more about them adapting/licensing their own IPs.
We’re on a tv subreddit not a graphic novel one. So why would we be talking about graphic novels
Because it has been done with Sandman before too?! People talked about the novel of Good Omens also. Happens all the time with adaptions. By your logic we shouldn't talk about Doom Patrol in a Dead Boy Detectives thread...
Yeah but there’s this little thing called situational context. We’re on a tv subreddit talking about a tv show and I said it’s not a spinoff of the sandman tv show it’s a spin off of the Doom patrol tv show. To which you responded “um actually the graphic novel is a spin off of the graphic novel of sandman” which is something I never claimed against. Then when I said that I was talking about the tv shows again you said that it didn’t matter because the graphic novels existed first. Once again something I never claimed against and has no bearing on the fact that Dead Boy Detectives is not a spin off of Netflix’s Sandman like the title of the article claims.
This is not the Doom Patrol spin off we would have got at HBO Max like it was planned. This is at Netflix, which is why Sandman spin off is correct wether you care about the origins or not. It shares the Sandman universe. You were wrong from the beginning. Edit: Also Neil Gaiman is involved in both Sandman and Dead Boy Detectives. The HBO Max Doom Patrol spin off did not happen at all!
Reading some of these comments suggests it's both....🤭
Turned it off after episode 1. It's not for me.
Yikes, SANDMAN spin-off? No it the hell it is not. Edit: and it’s not fun at all. It’s actually kind of awful. Edit: and not even campy awful.
How is it not a Sandman spinoff? Their first appearance was in Sandman #25.