What is a 'series franchise' in TV drama?

What is a 'series franchise' in TV drama?

A franchise is a term used for a category of show. Sometimes it relates to a genre. For example: police, medical, high school, family, at one time was westerns, and, to a lesser extent, political or journalism. The franchises usually have expectations of the kinds of stories that will be told. If you had a lawyer franchise, for example, you would expect that each week someone would bring a law case to your main character, the lawyer, who would than spend that episode dealing with it.