View source for Better by a Different Name

{{trope}}
{{quote|''I liked [Bleach] better when it was called [[Yu Yu Hakusho]], and I liked ''that'' show better when it was called DRAGON BALL Z!''|'''Vegeta''', [[Dragon Ball Abridged]]}}

It is common that some work is heavily "inspired" by a previous work—they may have different authors and settings, but there are strong similarities of plot, situations and characters. It is also common that the second work is much inferior to the original, because the original is great or the derivative is awful or both. The Better By A Different name snark expresses this idea. The usual phrasing is "[This work] was better when it was called [other, earlier work]."

For [[Better by a Different Name]] to be effective, the original work needs to be well-known and admired. The trope is also rare when a work is a blatant [[Follow the Leader]] of another. For one thing, the joke is kind of ruined if the predecessor is obvious. For another, not all clone-work is execrable. Causality is also a confounding variable for Better By A Different Name. It may be that both the original and the supposedly "derivative" work were ''actually'' inspired by some [[Older Than They Think|even earlier]] common source.

Often overlaps with [[If I Wanted X, I Would Y]].

A [[Sub-Trope]] of [[They Copied It, So It Sucks]], in that this trope is a common way to express that belief.

Compare [[Take That]], [[Recycled in Space]] (which often is a cause of this), [[Serial Numbers Filed Off]] (another cause of this unless it's by the same creator), [[Spiritual Licensee]].

'''Important:''' To avoid [[Natter]], this is reserved for instances actually noted in a specific work, fiction or non-fiction, regardless of whether these comments [[Fan Dumb|are correct]].

{{examples|Examples (sorted by source of the comment instead of the subject):}}
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* During the period where [[The Incredible Hulk]] was intelligent, he once refused to wear a cap with a [[Savage Dragon|a fin]] on it, since he didn't want people to say [[Take That|"it's just Hulk with a fin on his head"'']].

== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[That Is All]]'': A variant. John Hodgman writes that he was able to accomplish his goal of getting ''[[The Adventures of Brisco County Jr]]'' back on the air, except he had nothing to do with it and the show is now called ''[[Burn Notice]]''.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* This was one of David Spade's trademark bits on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''. In his last season it got turned around on him, when host Teri Hatcher told him she liked his then-current movie ''Black Sheep'' better when it was called ''[[Tommy Boy]]''.

== [[Music]] ==
* [[Mitch Benn]] liked Russia's 2008 entry for the [[Eurovision Song Contest]] better when it was by Cat Stevens and called ''Wild World''.
* Filk artist Voltaire's song "U.S.S. Make Shit Up":
{{quote|I was stranded on the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]''
And pounding on the door
When suddenly it dawned on me--
I'd seen this show before!
Perhaps I'm in a warp bubble
And slightly out of phase
Coz it was way back in the sixties
When they called it ''[[Lost in Space]]''! }}
** Which is more than slightly amusing when one considers that [[Lost in Space]] can be described as either ''[[Swiss Family Robinson]]'' [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]] or [[Gilligan's Island]] [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]] depending on how kind one feels on that particular day.
*** Or "a rip-off of the original series of Star Trek after Roddenberry gave CBS the complete premise of Star Trek and they rejected it."

== Other ==
* A magazine gave a breakdown of the [[Summer Blockbuster]]s of 1997. They discuss how ''[[Hercules (1997 film)||Hercules]]'' did only moderately well compared to other recent works of the [[Disney Animated Canon]], and they surmised people thought it was done better when it was called ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''.
* [[Roger Ebert]]: "All bad movies have good twins, and the good version of ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119219/ Goodbye, Lover]'' is ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099797/ The Hot Spot]''... a thriller that was equally lurid but less hyperkinetic."
** He said the same anything with ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098258/ Say Anything]'' (GREAT!) and ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098308/ She's Out of Control]'' (HORRIBLE!), both of which opened on the exact same day (April 14, 1989).
* A diversion in an [http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/02/25/isn%E2%80%99t-it-about-time-you-gave-armageddon-another-chance/ online] ''SFX'' article, giving the cases for and against ''[[Armageddon]]''.
{{quote|'''Case for the defence''': The science in ''Armageddon'' is no more wacky than it is in something like ''[[Fantastic Voyage (film)|Fantastic Voyage]]'' and – let’s face it – considerably more sensible than the science presented in ''[[Source Code]]''.
'''Case for the prosecution''': Hey, I liked ''Source Code''!
'''Case for the defence''': I liked it better 20 years ago when it was called ''[[Quantum Leap]]''.
'''Case for the prosecution''': Touché. }}

== [[Web Original]] ==
* Used in [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xSt0jd0zL7g this video] of ''[[Dragonball Z Abridged]]''.
{{quote|'''Nappa''': I'd rather watch ''[[Naruto]]'', Vegeta.
'''Vegeta''': Oh, please! If I wanted to watch over a hundred episodes of [[Filler]], I'd watch ''[[Inuyasha]]''.
'''Nappa''': What about ''[[Bleach]]'', Vegeta? It's like us, ''[[Recycled in Space|with swords]]''!
'''Vegeta''': I liked that show better when it was called ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'', and I liked ''that'' show better when it was called ''[[Dragonball Z]]''! }}
* In [http://omohide.com/181/maison-ikkoku-review-what-makes-a-good-anime/ this recent review], ''[[Love Hina]]'' is said to have been better when it was called ''[[Maison Ikkoku]]''.
* A ''[[Zero Punctuation]]'' review for ''[[Painkiller]]'' says that it's often called the Unofficial ''[[Doom]] 3'' "since the actual ''Doom 3'' tripped over something in the dark, banged its head, and forgot it wasn't ''[[System Shock]]''".
** He also noted that ''[[BioShock (series)]]'' was "not ''like [[System Shock]]'', it ''is'' [[System Shock]]''", though he didn't make a quality judgement either way.
* [[Rotten Tomatoes]]' [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/duplex/ consensus] on ''[[Duplex]]'': "It was funnier when it was called ''[[Throw Momma from the Train]]''."
* [[The Nostalgia Chick]] notes that ''[[Spice World]]'' is a movie with at half the ambition of ''[[A Hard Day's Night]]'', a quarter of the budget and at least two percent of the talent.
* [[Moviebob]], a week after reviewing ''[[Jennifer's Body]]'' (in the appendix to his review of ''[[Surrogates]]''), compared said film to ''[[Ginger Snaps]]'', which he called the good version of that movie.
* In [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LdCophxHgk Kaiba's Real Father - Conclusion] on ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]''
{{quote|'''Kaiba:''' Was that a [[Dragonball Z Abridged|DragonBall Z]] cameo? Geez, knowing my luck, my father's going to turn out to be Ghost Nappa. That's pretty much how these things usually go.
'''Mokuba:''' Aaaahh, but you gotta admit, Seto, Nappa sure is funny!
'''Kaiba:''' Yeah, I liked him better when he was called "Tristan". }}
* A couple times in ''[[Cracked.com|Cracked]]'':
** "I saw ''[[The Matrix]]'' back when it was called ''[[Dark City]]''." This is the example given for #4 of [http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-common-movie-arguments-that-are-always-wrong/ 6 Common Movie Arguments That Are Always Wrong].
** Yet it goes on to explain why ''[[Home Alone]]'' and ''[[Die Hard]]'' are [https://web.archive.org/web/20131122054554/http://www.cracked.com/funny-4445-home-alone/ the same movie].
*** ''[[Home Alone]]'''s older counterpart is usually considered to be the original ''[[Straw Dogs]]'', due to both films using elaborate traps in a house and the main character's life constantly being in danger.
* The [https://web.archive.org/web/20130706032243/http://www.jabootu.com/sphere.htm Jabootu review] of ''[[Sphere]]'' draws the broad strokes of the film's [[Cliché Storm]]:
{{quote|I was in fact entertained by the first part of ''Sphere'' the first time I saw it (when it was called either ''[[The Abyss]]'' or ''[[Alien]]''), and I was ''quite highly'' entertained by the second half the first time I saw that (when it was called ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'' and starred Walter Pigeon). I have to take it as a given that I would have enjoyed the last five minutes of ''Sphere'' along with everyone else who saw it the first time, when it was called ''[[Prince Of Tides]]'', but I missed that one.}}

== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [[Author Avatar|Pantsman]] of ''[[VG Cats]]'' does this twice in his rant about ''[[Inuyasha]]'', first saying he liked it better when it was called ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' and later calling it "''[[Dragonball Z]]'' for girls".

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[[Category:Insult Tropes]]
[[Category:Criticism Tropes]]
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