I want a clear, non-cutesy alternative to the word "franchise," when discussing sprawling works of fiction that contain multiple series and stories told in a variety of media (think things like Star Wars or Star Trek). I want this, because it just seems wrong to clump feats of human creativity that touch us on deep meaningful levels in with Wendy's and Taco Bell. There needs to be another word to describe this.
What I mean by "non-cutesy" is that it needs to be something that could appear in formal writing. It can't sound like we're just going out of our way to not say "franchise." It needs to feel natural and logical. Similarly, being "clear" means that it needs to be a word. It can't be some acronymous stew or a paragraph-long description.
This is, of course, mostly rooted in aesthetics, but there is also some desire to say that popular fiction has value to society beyond what investors and companies consider its worth as a commodity.
