digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover and share the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

See the original image at campussqueeze.com

10 TV Shows That Were Ripped Off By Other Shows

campussqueeze.com — We probably don't even realize how many shows are "introduced" every year and ultimately fall by the wayside, never to be heard from again. But sometimes a show comes along that influences American culture and other TV shows as well. Here are 10 shows that influenced some serious copy-cats.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • 111anaconda, on 07/08/2008, -0/+49Nice, but if you think about it, without Law and Order there wouldn't be a CSI, and without Matlock there wouldn't have been Law and Order, and I'm sure there was something before Matlock.
    • socialpyramid, on 07/08/2008, -8/+3Matlock? How old are you? jk
      • bob_the_alien, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3When i was in my freshman year of college I became addicted to Matlock, it came on everyday at Noon, which was 30 minutes after my class ended, so I'd come home everyday and eat lunch and watch Matlock. And I still love the show to that day. and btw I'm 28. it was in reruns at the time, but i'm really mot sure when it aired originally, never saw it til it was in reruns.
      • capturedpenguin, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3I'm only 19 and have seen my fair share of Matlock as well. You don't have to be old to enjoy old shows.
      • allisonaxe, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1@capturedpenguin:

        i'm going to modify your statement and say that you don't have to be old to enjoy old shows about old people.

        (27-year old matlock fan here: used to come on syndicated when i'd get off the bus home from my freshman year of highschool. used to want to be an attourney because of that show, actually, but then I learned that its not all solving mysteries to save your innocent clients.)
    • allaboutdatiki, on 07/08/2008, -0/+19Was it Colombo before Matlock?
    • GerudoX, on 07/09/2008, -3/+0CSI at least took the evidence seeking/finding portion of justice instead of just sitting in a courtroom.
    • jrburkh, on 07/09/2008, -2/+3Murder, She Wrote.
    • VAXcat, on 07/09/2008, -4/+0 Without "Arrest and Trial" there would never have been a "Law and Order"...
      • VAXcat, on 07/10/2008, -0/+0 Why is this getting dug down? Maybe folks haven't heard of the groundbreaking TV series, "Arrest and Trial", from 1963. It's widely acknowleged to have created the format followed by "Law and Order". It starred Ben Gazzara, and it was great! The Wiki page for Arrest and Trial points out the Law and Order connection, for crying out loud
    • missmorgie, on 07/09/2008, -0/+8Perry Mason!
      • inverselogic, on 07/09/2008, -1/+1Perry Mason was the ***** *****! (kay im done ;p)
    • HappyScrappy, on 07/09/2008, -0/+9CSI owes a lot more to Quincy, M.E. than it does to Law and Order.
    • FriedTurkey, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5Law and Order is more like Dragnet. Complete with stiff acting and hilariously bad stereotypes "ripped from the headlines".

      My favorite Law and Order is when they had that hilarious Michael Jackson story.

      I also want to know why nobody ever stops and talks to the cops in Law and Order. They always have to continue doing their job like everyone in New York is too busy to talk about a murder case.
    • Oracle95, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5I was thinking without "Quincy" there'd be no "CSI".
    • NeoCortex, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Dragnet
    • rebotfc, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1To be honest Diagnosis Murder beats them all.
  • WatchDoit, on 07/08/2008, -29/+82Simpsons are better than Family Guy
    • SVOboy, on 07/08/2008, -13/+20Sadly not since ~season 12, save for rarely glimpses.
      • slothchunk, on 07/09/2008, -2/+7it had several poor seasons after that for sure, but the last few seasons have been great
      • praisethelard, on 07/09/2008, -3/+5I'd still take any recent Simspons episode over Family Guy.
    • Haoie, on 07/08/2008, -1/+44Classic Simpsons are the best.

      Which, by some definitions, the seasons between 1992-1997.
      • Airloss, on 07/18/2008, -4/+9Isn't it sad how long its been since it's been good?

      • PopASquatt, on 07/09/2008, -1/+3Nice to see someone else that grew up in the 90's.
    • Inohavehalos, on 07/09/2008, -17/+7Sorry dude, thats just not true.

      the simpsons are just too bland now.
    • stoikiometry, on 07/09/2008, -15/+8Futurama > all, except Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law. I like both equally for different reasons, but I know Family Guy sucks compared to Birdman.
    • salvadorwii, on 07/09/2008, -5/+19you are right...
      family guy is funny because all those "oh this reminds me of..." moments
      • santaliqueur, on 07/09/2008, -0/+12Family Guy is nothing but those moments. Funny show, can only take it in small doses.
      • urgeigh, on 07/09/2008, -7/+2Family Guy is so much more than the "Flashbacks".
      • lolwutpear, on 07/09/2008, -0/+7not just flashbacks: flashbacks AND pop culture references. like the simpsons, family has been steadily going downhill. the differences is that the simpsons were gold for most of the 90s, while family guy only had a few good seasons.
      • crossmr, on 07/09/2008, -0/+4I hate those. A couple are okay, but I watched one episode where it stumbled like a drunken sailer from one "reminds me of..." to the next, barely stopping for anything in between. Just on and on. I think outside of the flashbacks and set ups for them there were like 2 lines of dialog.
      • jerrycurley, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Sorry salvador, but if I want random references to stupid ***** of the past, I'll watch VH-1's "I Love the..." shows.
    • willster580, on 07/09/2008, -7/+8ATHF.
    • nexus420, on 07/09/2008, -11/+4Futurama>Venture Bros>Family Guy>Birdman>Simpsons>ATHF>American Dad

      at least thats how I feel at this moment.....they all make me laugh, a lot. Isn't that the most important thing? :)
    • lebrad, on 07/09/2008, -15/+16FYI Family guy is actually terrible.
    • Volaitle86, on 07/09/2008, -9/+3Seasons 1 and 2 of family guy kicked any simpsons seasons ass. Sadly Family Guy has become terribly unfunny much like the simpsons
      • mrburgundy, on 07/09/2008, -1/+2you're that guy who likes a band's "old stuff", aren't you?
      • crazycraka, on 07/09/2008, -1/+0Wow weird not 1 person mentioned south park.. I love family guy and the simpsons.... But seriously that show is ***** funny as *****, years ago and its still funny now..

        http://www.southparkstudios.com/
  • socialpyramid, on 07/08/2008, -1/+54Seriously, number 1 on this list is hilarious
    • USER1236, on 07/09/2008, -5/+0There's almost no variation between the two. Whichever show you watch really just comes down to your preference for the middle word: are you a "That" person or a "This" person? If you said "What's the difference?" then you're not really thinking because you could also have said "What's that difference?" or "What's this difference?" and said pretty much the same thing.


      -That was one of the best summations I've read
  • allaboutdatiki, on 07/08/2008, -9/+1flip that house vs flip this bird
  • Diggnabbit, on 07/08/2008, -12/+7Meh. Hardly real ripoffs. Mostly just a bunch of shows following similar formulas.
  • wille1623, on 07/09/2008, -4/+15Flavor of love (vh1) vs. I love new york (vh1)
    • RikkiTikki, on 07/09/2008, -1/+9vs. Rock of Love (vh1)
    • laplie, on 07/09/2008, -1/+7the bachelor vs ( flavor of love, i love new york, the bachelorette, rock of love, for love or money, joe millionaire, average joes, shot at love)
    • GerudoX, on 07/09/2008, -3/+2sorry..that's ALL reality TV :)
    • iNNeRKaoS, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3New York was on Flav's, show, so it's not really a rip off... it's a crappy spin off of a crappy show.
  • InvisibleInk, on 07/09/2008, -1/+10Thirtysomething, then Once and Again

    Twin Peaks, then Desperate Housewives
    • solesoul, on 07/09/2008, -0/+6Except Twin Peaks ruled. Desperate Housewives is just a soap opera with higher production values
    • asskicker32, on 07/09/2008, -0/+8twin peaks is to desperate housewives as Vincent Van Gogh is to Jim Davis
    • Armitage2k, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2Melrose Place vs. Desperate Housewives....
  • mikec00l, on 07/09/2008, -5/+46Simpsons did it!
  • TGMD, on 07/09/2008, -15/+11Pfft, TV is just a cheap rip off of radio which is a cheap rip off of plays which are cheap rip offs of books which are cheap rip offs of cave paintings..

    Yes, We as a species, haven't done anything original in 20,000 years
    • SteveIsTheDude, on 07/09/2008, -1/+15Lost is cool, get out of your cave and go buy a TV.
      • tedrock, on 07/09/2008, -1/+4i've been off work due to an injury and i have acquired all 4 seasons of Lost. i just finished season 2 and i'm sorry but i don't see why people love this show so much. i guess i'm not part of the demographic.
      • hierophantus, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3I assume (and hope) that by "have acquired," you mean, "have downloaded for free."

        You know how you get really bored really fast when someone starts describing their dream in detail? That's how I feel when I hear people talking about this show.
    • jave8u, on 07/09/2008, -2/+1/sarcasm* :/
  • keatonkeaton998, on 07/09/2008, -1/+57Are You Afraid of the Dark vs. Goosebumps
    • willster580, on 07/09/2008, -0/+20Looking back, I can't believe I watched either one...and thought it was scary too. Oh, and don't tell me that you weren't scared when the guy got trapped in the pinball machine.
      • MannaPC, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5Or the firehouse episode...
      • USER1236, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3The scariest one I thought was the kid who steals the clowns nose at the amusement park only to have the clown follow him back to his house.
      • Tabris, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2The pinball machine mall episode is the only episode I remember. There was the armored guy that chased them around.
      • geniusNOTatWORK, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2the episode where there was a girl who was really an alien and she was being tested with various games alongside her "brother" or something really scared the ***** out of me. Not so much the whole story, but the last moment when the alien without a face was communicating with the girl from a snowy tv.
      • willster580, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Now I miss it... :(
      • warplayer, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1I loved the pinball machine in the mall ep...ahhh memories
      • mikec00l, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1The quicksilver episode or the comic book one where they had blue crap comming out of their mouth was the scariest.
    • bagboyrebel, on 07/09/2008, -1/+5doesn't count because Goosebumps started as a book series while Are you Afraid of the Dark was always a tv show. But I think Are you afraid of the dark was a better show.
    • lordtyros, on 07/09/2008, -0/+8Eerie Indiana, anyone?
      • wonderbriefs, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3I remember that. Was that like 1 season?
  • ExperiMETAL, on 07/09/2008, -3/+24I can't stand Sex and the City or any of those other horrid spin-offs.
    • willster580, on 07/09/2008, -1/+15Anything where the main characters are only women that isn't porn is usually something I try to avoid.
    • skinny01, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5I'd say Designing Women was the grandmother of those shows. It was the first that I can remember that had a group of women that really let out all of that stuff women weren't supposed to talk about on tv or admit that they do or think.
      • wonderbriefs, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5I grew up with four sisters, a mom, and my dad mostly lived in the basement. So these types of shows were always the bane of my existence.
      • bigtex, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3Actually: Golden Girls. Sex In The City is the exact same show, they're just (slightly) younger.
  • Bviper, on 07/09/2008, -11/+6Finally someone who realizes that Family Guy is in fact ripped off of the Simpons (but there's enough room in my heart for both)
    • jerrycurley, on 07/09/2008, -1/+6What do you mean "finally"? Seth MacFarlane openly ADMITS it. And has for some time.
    • phatpenguin, on 07/09/2008, -2/+3Family Guy - il plagiarismo
      American Dad - Il Plagiarismo e Plagiarismo
  • Owwmykneecap, on 07/09/2008, -1/+18ds9 and babylon 5
    • Shivetya, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1star trek the original series.

      (and yes I am a big b5 fan so I know the similarities and all the strife caused by ds9 practically being b5... but b5 might never had been if not for st:tos)


      My favorite : BSG : BSG
      • bob_the_alien, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1except for like the last season I hated Deep Space 9, now Babylon 5, great show, still love it to this day, although I didn't think Crusade was all that good, although if TNT hadn't canned it, who knows, it may have had better days, toward the end of the season, it was starting to come into it's own.
        And yes, Battlestar Galactica is great, I won't argue with that ever, and I mean both the old and new.
        you are right though, the original Star Trek is what started it all.
  • Herv3, on 07/09/2008, -2/+21How are you going to put Wife Swap/Trading Spouses and not give any love to Chapelle Show?
  • CurlyFoot, on 07/09/2008, -0/+9Then there's the 'House' vs. '3 lbs.' dilemma... I think we know who took that one down
  • andnever, on 07/09/2008, -7/+13scrubs versus greys anatomy
    • Niallgriff, on 07/09/2008, -2/+29grey's anatomy is scrubs without jokes....its like the last 5 minutes of scrubs for a whole hour....
      • jerrycurley, on 07/09/2008, -10/+1Scrubs has jokes? Not in any of the episodes I have had the severe displeasure in watching.
      • andnever, on 07/09/2008, -1/+14youre right...a show that focuses on the lives and interactions of the young doctors rather than the actual hospital that happens to have a voice over narration by the main character who likes to tie all plot lines together at the end of the episode and add a dash of advice. with the guy and girl that are on again off again will they wont they. the teacher who yells and screams with a hard outside shell but is secretly sweet on the inside...let me know when i should stop.
  • username7410, on 07/09/2008, -1/+4"That premise, while simple (dull), can't be knocked too hard because people will watch anything (The Hills)."

    Dugg.
  • PhoenixAvatar2, on 07/09/2008, -3/+22Pokemon -> Digimon
    Power Rangers -> Virtually every Saban show made after Power Rangers (Beetle Borgs, VR Troopers, etc etc)
    • bob_the_alien, on 07/09/2008, -0/+4Power Rangers thou, is pretty much just rip off of Japanese shows, like Ultraman, everyone loves Ultraman.

      i remember have Ultraman for the SNES, it was hours of fun.
      • allisonaxe, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2power rangers just took the martial arts and giant robot fight scenes from a japanese show (blanking on the name at the moment) and replaced the "unmasked" scenes with american mid-20s pretending to be teenagers... so yeah, even the original wasn't really that original.
      • Oracle95, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2I remember there was a program on "Up All Night" that was similar to "Mystery Science Theater 3000" that showed a Japanese show on Friday nights (I think it was the early 80's) that was pretty much Power Rangers with Japanese actors and Mystery Science-like dubbed dialog.
      • bat-21, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2That's like saying the X-Men are a rip-off of Superman. Power Rangers is an Americanized version of various live-action Super Sentai series. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Sentai
      • bob_the_alien, on 07/10/2008, -0/+1Your right, I agree with you on that, bat-21, they are quite different, but it's still got the whole giant monster's from outer space thing going on. and then you have the patrol, that all always dressed up in the big uniforms, and even in some episodes fight with Ultraman in machines, now while you have a Giant Man fighting instead of a Giant Robot, they are still pretty similar, and I'd say that even the Creators of Super Sentai would have to say that Ultraman helped spawn it.
    • bagboyrebel, on 07/09/2008, -1/+3to be fair, pokemon and digimon are both based on video games. The digimon digital pet came first though.
      • PhoenixAvatar2, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2No, the first Digimon Tamagotchi thingy didn't come out until after Pokemon and the TV show came out two years after the Pokemon one did.
      • bagboyrebel, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1sorry, your right. I got the dates mixed up.
    • skinny01, on 07/09/2008, -0/+4Transformers and Gobots
    • tiberone, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3omg Beetle Borgs were ridiculous, that show was sooo weird...
    • bxblox, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2superhuman samurai cybersquad
    • SacraBos, on 07/09/2008, -0/+4Power Rangers et. al. are not so much rip-offs of each other as much as Saban has exactly ONE idea and they can't help but rehash it pointlessly.

      For some odd reason, it reminds me of Mike Brady in the Brady Bunch Movie where every architectural design he came up with looked amazingly like his own house... Okay, I admit it, I saw the movie. Marsha's still hot.
    • D3ADBOLT, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1What about geekwad vs nerdball
  • Inohavehalos, on 07/09/2008, -1/+33Nanny 911 and supernanny.

    Although, both suck.
    • FriedTurkey, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2A Fox executive admitted that they create cheap knock offs of the other network's shows to kill off the other show. They don't even care about the ratings for the knock-off. It is all about cheapening the whole idea so it dies.
      • jerrycurley, on 07/09/2008, -2/+0Friedturkey admitted that he likes to ***** goats.

        See how easy it is to make statements of fact when you don't feel the need to provide evidence?
  • salvadorwii, on 07/09/2008, -2/+74digg vs reddit
    • jobobshishkabob, on 07/09/2008, -7/+5So why has it become "cool" to bash Digg and praise Reddit (on Digg) in the same sentence?
      • Intensity, on 07/09/2008, -2/+11What are you talking about, Digg came before Reddit.
      • jobobshishkabob, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2Oh well I'm an idiot for that mistake, but I still have been noticing that trend on other posts..
  • aaylasecura, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2tv shows and movies are mostly mash ups of previous shows and movies nowadays..
  • cowbilly, on 07/09/2008, -8/+0Too slow site doesn't load, buried
  • zakatov, on 07/09/2008, -1/+18Lol, flip THAT house..... how can we make a better name for our show... I know, we'll flip THIS house.
  • sjps220, on 07/09/2008, -1/+8Gilmore girls copied Dawson's Creek, and is the same as One Tree Hill and the OC? I thought it was kind of a unique show.

    You may think I'm being sarcastic, but you would be wrong. And yes, I was born with, and still have, testicles.
    • nittanylion06, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5anyone that thought Gilmore Girls copied from Dawson's Creek never actually watched either show
    • bxblox, on 07/09/2008, -1/+4I think they copied from dawsons creek in the style of dialogue, where every teen sounds like a philosopher.
      • hierophantus, on 07/09/2008, -2/+1That's the most annoying aspect of these shows.
    • Diggnabbit, on 07/09/2008, -0/+4Exactly, the only sense in which Gilmore Girls is like those other shows is that it's (partly) about teenagers. In other words, they all ripped of Beverly Hills 90210 which probably ripped off some 80s show.

      These are basically standard genres on TV. Within those genres, GG was actually pretty innovative.
    • Armitage2k, on 07/09/2008, -2/+190210 anyone?
  • Manta537, on 07/09/2008, -4/+4Leave it to Beaver -> The Munsters
  • GerudoX, on 07/09/2008, -0/+26I thought Millennium was actually a loosely tied spin-off of x-files. I swear I remember an episode of the x-files talking about the Millennium group before that show ever started, and even using the main character in the new series.
    • Gotar, on 07/09/2008, -0/+6Yeah Frank Black was in one of the later season episodes of X-Files (season 7?).
    • phatpenguin, on 07/09/2008, -0/+6Frank Black was introduced in The X-Files to try to give credibility to the character/series and get people to watch Chris Carter's new show, not as a new character that was given a spin-off (ie. "The Lone Gunmen")
      • hierophantus, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Yeah, they made a painfully obvious and awkward attempt to shoehorn Frank Black into the X-Files universe in order to corral X-Files fans over to the new show. I actually winced, it was so forced.
      • jpow33, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Also, Chris Carter wasn't trying to cash in on the popularuty of the X-Files so much as Fox was. He signed a deal to develop a total of 5 shows: X-Files, Harsh Realm, Milennium, The Lone Gunmen. The X-files movie counted as the last to get him out of the contract. The studio was pushing all the spin-offs that he didn't really want to do.
  • Kosher1947, on 07/09/2008, -1/+32Millennium isn't a rip-off...it was a spin-off. It was produced by Chris Carter. The shows even crossed over...story elements left over from Millennium were even concluded in the last season of the X-Files along with the Lone Gunmen.

    If a show takes place in the same fictional world, than by definition it isn't a rip-off.
    • nexus420, on 07/09/2008, -1/+10like Angel was a spin-off of Buffy...Frasier a spin-off of Cheers....yep, they ***** up a couple on this list
      • orlandogeek, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Moonlight seriously ripped off Angel, and did it very poorly.
  • nem0, on 07/09/2008, -4/+48Daily Show and Fox News. Both are fake news shows.
    • bob_the_alien, on 07/09/2008, -1/+3that could pretty much be said for all new networks period. it's all political and corporate bs.
      • jerrycurley, on 07/09/2008, -1/+0yes...any news network that doesn't mention all the ***** anti-everything conspiracy theories on Alex Jones and similar hilarious websites is fake news...Gotcha.

        Just don't expect to ever be considered intelligent
  • FENWAYFREAK, on 07/09/2008, -1/+11Seriously. No american idol vs. nearly every other show on television? (dancing with the stars, so you think you can dance, nashville star, too many to list).
    • lummie, on 07/09/2008, -0/+7Actually American Idol was a rip of Pop Idol (UK) which was a rip of Popstars (NZ)

      Just as Survivor (US) was a rip of Treasure Island (NZ)
      • mizike, on 07/09/2008, -0/+8So basically what you're saying is that New Zealand is responsible for the plague of reality shows that I'm subjected to? Damm you Kiwis!!!

        Actually, reality TV has had a hugely positive influence in my life; it's proliferation caused me to finally cut the cable. Now I just download shows I actually want to watch instead of just sitting through whatever dreck happens to be on. Thanks Kiwis!!
      • wonderbriefs, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5Come on, what about Star Search?
      • SirBruce, on 07/09/2008, -1/+2The Gong Show came first. And they're remaking that now, too!
    • Armitage2k, on 07/09/2008, -1/+2Star Search?
  • underdog138, on 07/09/2008, -1/+10I'll have to call bull on Gilmore Girls vs Dawson's Creek. The former was more about the relationship between Rory and her mother. The latter was more about the dynamics between Dawson and his peers.

    Here's my man-card on the table. Someone pick that up for me.
    • tiberone, on 07/09/2008, -1/+3I will let it be. Gilmore Girls kicks ass.
    • RaulMuadDib, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2The chicks on gilmore girls are hot
  • MetalGear7, on 07/09/2008, -0/+26The Digg Crowd...Smart, Young, Educated, and ***** for articles with lists
    • nexus420, on 07/09/2008, -0/+24I'll give you 5 reasons why......
      • phatpenguin, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5Nice. Dugg for hilarity and truth.
  • nexus420, on 07/09/2008, -3/+11ok people, you need to go back farther. The Simpsons is a rip-off of All in the Family. While the characters aren't as blatant as Family Guy (which is hilarious in a completely different way) it is still a rip-off. Hardly anything is original these days. Just look at what Hollywood is "remaking" and ripping off. And lets not forget that a ton of "our" TV shows like The Office are rip offs from the UK and other countries. We just repack things in shiny new boxes.
    • bjs3171, on 07/09/2008, -3/+2come on, our The Office is quite different from the UK Office.
      • lummie, on 07/09/2008, -2/+0Different because its not funny?
      • Tabris, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2Funny in a different way. Dwight's awesome because he's so serious and awkward.
  • TWiThead, on 07/09/2008, -0/+7The author credits the concept of an abrasive, overweight husband married to an out-of-his-league wife to "The Simpsons," and then he/she goes on to cite "The Honeymooners" only as the inspiration for "The Flintstones." Weird.
    • Kosher1947, on 07/09/2008, -1/+3It is kind of accepted that the Flinstones is a Honeymooners inspired show. It has a lot to do with the characters being very a like, beyond simply the fat husband.
      • TWiThead, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3Yes, there's no doubt that "The Honeymooners" heavily inspired "The Flintstones," but the former also set the standard for the "abrasive, overweight husband married to an out-of-his-league wife" premise. To attribute that to "The Simpsons" (despite acknowledging "The Honeymooners" elsewhere in the article) is rather silly.
    • RUGERSP101, on 07/09/2008, -0/+6It because the author is like 19 years old and has no knowledge of TV history. The author just used a handful of shows that he/she had personal experience with, and then googled the honeymooners.
  • djadamjay, on 07/09/2008, -9/+3The 4400 - then "Heroes (barf)"
  • FaithclubDotNet, on 07/09/2008, -2/+28Lost is just a ripoff of Giligan's Island
    • Kosher1947, on 07/09/2008, -1/+4There was a fan film that presented a reality in which Lost and Giligan's Island were the same place.
      • bagboyrebel, on 07/09/2008, -1/+5I'm sorry
      • chinolofus, on 07/09/2008, -1/+1its on youtube. its called "lost on gilligans island" and is actually pretty well done.
      • chinolofus, on 07/10/2008, -0/+1why the hell did someone dig me down?
  • jerrycurley, on 07/09/2008, -3/+2What a stupid list. Most of the shows that supposedly got ripped off were not original ideas by any means. I mean, sure, Family Guy is a blatant rip off...as Seth MacFarlane even admits to. But since when was The Simpsons the first show with families? At the very least, one could easily say that The Simpsons is an animated version of Roseanne.
    • Boognish, on 07/09/2008, -1/+3And Roseanne was a rip off of Married With Children
      • wonderbriefs, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5How the hell is Roseanne a ripoff of Married with Children?
        Roseanne -> Wisecracking, short-tempered, working mother.
        Peg Bundy -> Couch-surfing, bon-bon munching, white trash.

        Dan -> Overweight, gregarious, responsible, likable dad who plays with his kids.
        Al Bundy -> Doofus shoe-salesman who hates his wife and kids and reminisces about playing high school football.

        And before I overanalyze, I'll just say that DJ, Becky, and what's-her-name had really no similarity to Bud and Kelly.

        Both were good shows.
    • Balanced, on 07/09/2008, -0/+4At least initially both the Simpsons and Roseanne were parodies of the standard sit-com . At the time, most sit-com families were very affluent (the family on the Cosby Show had the income of a doctor and a lawyer as I remember) or at least acted like it and the family was rarely seen in anything but designer cloths. Also the family had to be rather bland to be deemed acceptable by the networks... Major characters couldn't have any real issues like substance abuse problems that weren't resolved in one episode and were generally paragons of morality.

      Both of these shows went for a more realistic route. Characters wear normal clothes. The Simpsons are struggling because Homer's really not that good at his job and Marge is stuck at home.

      Admittedly Roseanne got weird in the later seasons and the Simpsons has had a lot of off moments, but both were (when they premiered) very edgy for the time.
      • jerrycurley, on 07/09/2008, -1/+0The Simpsons are struggling? Don't tell that to Frank Grimes. RIP Grimey.
      • jerrycurley, on 07/09/2008, -0/+0Wow...getting buried for this? Did someone not get the reference?
    • jerrycurley, on 07/09/2008, -0/+0I am not suggesting that the Simpsons IS a rip off of Roseanne. I am saying that if you are going to use the logic that any family show is a rip of of The Simpsons (which is stupid), then you would have to considered The Simpsons a rip off.
  • tlo182, on 07/09/2008, -3/+8Trading Spouses is just a ripoff of a Chappelle's Show skit pointing out how ridiculous and retarded reality shows are...then they actually did it!
  • GorfTron, on 07/09/2008, -1/+14Hee Haw VS Fox News
    • MrStabby, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3The awesomeness/character used in this comment is epic...
  • Motobike_man, on 07/09/2008, -7/+4Simpsons did it
  • Motobike_man, on 07/09/2008, -9/+0Simpsons did it
  • cjmal, on 07/09/2008, -0/+9I'm pretty sure Law And Order came before CSI. The Law And Order series didn't even get a mention and it's way better than most other crime scene dramas.
  • MadCabbit, on 07/09/2008, -5/+0Wait, how can they NOT list Seinfeld?

    Easily the most copied show, IMO.
    • nextyoyoma, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2really? I can't think of a single show with the same type of format/subject matter/characters. Influential, yes, but copied, no.
  • bipolarruledout, on 07/09/2008, -1/+2Your telling me that TV is derivative? I'm SHOCKED. Good thing I only watched a handfull of these and never with any regularity. It's too bad that "Six Feet Under" pretty much killed all other TV for me. Alan Ball where are you.... I need you back in my life!
  • GorfTron, on 07/09/2008, -7/+2Ren N Stimpy VS almost every cartoon today.
  • nynety, on 07/09/2008, -3/+2Friends was a rip-off of Seinfeld. Besides the premise, they stole a lot of jokes too.
    • yacks, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3huh? atleast name a show that has some plausibility of being a copy of Seinfield.. say The Drew Carey Show.
  • GorfTron, on 07/09/2008, -7/+2Ren N Stimpy VS almost every cartoon today.
  • bipolarruledout, on 07/09/2008, -4/+3TV is derivative.... what a shock. It's too bad that "Six Feet Under" pretty much killed all TV for me. Weeds is OK but I think it's overrated and getting long in the tooth rather fast.
  • Namingishard, on 07/09/2008, -1/+5Whats that ***** vampire show? Moonlight or w/e, Rip off of Angle.
  • bigteebo, on 07/09/2008, -1/+2There's a show on BET called ??? Hills(forgot the name) that's a 100% ripoff of "The Hills" & "Laguna Beach". Except the cast is all black.
    • lordtyros, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2Viacom owns both MTV and BET. That's why all the shows on BET are now basically MTV shows with black people.
  • applessauce, on 07/09/2008, -1/+5There's no way that The Simpsons is to blame for the rash of shows with an abrasively funny loudmouth man's man husband, a hot responsible wife who is still kind of crude, and some afterthought kids (Unhappily Ever After, Grounded For Life, Still Standing, ...). The Simpsons doesn't even fit the model that well: it's too focused on the kids, Marge is too uptight and not hot enough, and, um, it's a cartoon. Married With Children is probably their closest ancestor.
    • dadioflex, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2I thought exactly the same thing about Married With Children but Family Guy is still a total rip-off of The Simpsons.

      Oh and Marge IS hot.
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 93 of 93 discussions
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.