Follow the Leader/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions

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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:FollowTheLeader.LiveActionTV 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:FollowTheLeader.LiveActionTV, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license)
 
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** ''[[Quincy]]''.
* ''[[Survivor]]'' opened the floodgates of competitive [[Reality TV]] in the early Noughties.
* ''[[Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?]]'' and ''Pop Idol'' inspired scads of [[Who Wants to Be Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?|prime-time million-dollar quiz shows]] and talent contests, respectively:
** The former always has dramatic lighting, bombastic music, [[Commercial Break Cliffhanger|Commercial Break Cliffhangers]] and a huge cash jackpot. Even stalwarts like ''[[Wheel of Fortune]]'' have found ways to offer a $1,000,000 prize.
*** This whole genre is called [[Who Wants to Be Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?]]
** The latter which tend to always have a blunt English guy, a sympathetic woman, and some third wheel, most likely a 'cool' guy.
* The heavily character-driven, strangers-in-a-strange-land suspense formula of ''[[Lost (TV)|Lost]]'' inspired plenty of other shows, such as ''[[Invasion]]'', ''[[Jericho]]'', ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'', ''Surface'', and ''[[Threshold]]''. Many of which were cancelled before they barely even began to delve in their [[Myth Arc]]. Coincidentally, there is a ''Lost'' episode titled "Follow the Leader."
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*** ''Jackass'' itself was derived in part from the character off Super Dave Osborne, a [[The Parody|parody]] of 1970s stuntmen like Evel Kneivel, played by comedian Bob Einstein. Einstein himself detests ''Jackass'', pointing out in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa-Otn02mtY this interview] that ''Jackass'' is tragically easy to imitate, while the stunts he pulled were a lot harder for viewers to copy.
* ''[[The X Files]]'' inspired a number of series featuring alien invasions and supernatural hoohah, such as ''[[Dark Skies]]''.
** The success of ''[[The X Files]]'' mythology perhaps also inspired series, such as ''[[Twenty Four|24]]'' and ''[[Lost]]'', that used serialized storylines, which in turn led to more serialized thriller shows such as ''[[Prison Break]]'', ''[[Kidnapped (TV)]]'', ''Vanished'', ''Reunion'', and ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'', along with a few that ''also'' borrowed the alien invasion premise as well: ''[[Invasion]]'', ''Surface'', and ''[[Threshold]]''. Most of these series failed due to people being unable (or unwilling) to keep up with so many different ongoing stories -- and also due to generally being not very good.
** There were tons of shows in Japan of this type long before X-Files. In 1964, we have Ultra Q, greatly involving Kaiju. Then, in 1968, two series: Operation Mystery (probably the most like X-Files out of the three) and Mighty Jack ([[Macekre|the movie]] was lampooned in [[MST3K]]). All 3three are made by the same company.
* While the degree to which ''[[Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' was inspired by/ripped off ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' is controversial ([[Fandom Rivalry|to say the least]]), there is less doubt that the former's "Dominion War" [[Story Arc|arc]] was inspired by the latter's intricate [[Myth Arc]] (although only the most rabid partisans of ''Babylon 5'' would claim that ''Deep Space Nine'' ripped it off outright). The ''B5'' myth arc was in turn inspired by story arcs used in foreign television series, and combining it with a long-time comic-book fan's [[Continuity Porn|love of continuity]] to take the concept [[Up to Eleven]].
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** The ''People's Court'' revival was originally planned as a vehicle for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson_trial Lance Ito], who wisely declined.
* The ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' TV series was followed by a slew of modern-day [[Monster of the Week]] fantasy series (''[[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]]'', ''[[Supernatural]]'', ''[[Reaper]]'', and a number of others) as well as helping to spark a resurgence of action series with [[Action Girl|female leads]], though arguably the somewhat earlier ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' was more of a trendsetter in that field.
** It also inspired a lot of [[Wake Up, Go to School, Save The World]] series. ''[[Smallville]]'', ''[[Roswell]]'', and ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' being chief among them.
** It also had an influence on the revival of ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'', although Rose did not engage in any roundhouse kicks.
** It also helped kick off a revival of vampire movies, particularly ''Underworld''.
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** It also lead to a string of TV shows in which classic British heroes were reinvented (''[[Robin Hood (TV)|Robin Hood]]'', ''[[Merlin]]'', ''[[Sherlock]]'', etc). Like ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'', some of these shows have been well-received. Others, not so much.
* The success of ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'' led to a raft of other fantasy-adventure shows, including ''[[Roar (TV)|Roar]]'' and ''[[The New Adventures of Robin Hood]]''.
* ''[[Degrassi the Next Generation]]'' was such a runaway hit in its US broadcast on the cable network Noggin that the channel's teen programming block, The-N, was spun off into its own channel. The-N has spent its entire existence making (or getting the rights to) shows that repeat the formula: a [[Soap Opera]] [[Dysfunction Junction]] of teenage (or slightly older) [[Star -Crossed Lovers]] whose love is threatened by either [[No Going Steady]] or a [[Love Triangle]], [[In a World]] where [[Adults Are Useless]] and a [[Family -Unfriendly Aesop]] is around every corner, and [[Nothing Is the Same Anymore|everything changes constantly]]. The-N even marketed them this way, with ''Degrassi'' actors guest-starring in them and [[Crossover]] commercials with characters from multiple shows. None of them gained the mega-popularity of ''Degrassi.'' They ranged from ''[[South of Nowhere]]'', (''Degrassi'' [[X Meets Y|meets]] ''[[Beverly Hills 90210]]''...[[Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series|in America!]]), which managed a cult following, to ''Whistler'' (''Degrassi'' [[X Meets Y|meets]] watered-down ''[[Twin Peaks]]''), which was poorly promoted and barely noticed outside of Canada, to ''Beyond The Break'' (''Degrassi'' [[X Meets Y|meets]] ''[[Baywatch]]'', complete with a former ''[[Baywatch]]'' actor), which was exactly as cheesy and ridiculous as expected.
** Part of the reason for the clones not getting better than cult status may be that the ''Degrassi'' writers were beginning to get weary with their creation, and doubly weary with imitations of it. ''[[The Best Years]]'', a clone created by the head of the ''Degrassi'' writing staff, was full of [[Take That]] against ''Degrassi'', and the [[Crossover]] commercials quickly changed from grimly earnest to [[Adam Westing]].
* Even Cartoon Network is getting in on the action, with ''The Othersiders'' (based on ''Ghost Hunters''), ''Dude, What Would Happen...?'' (based on ''[[Myth Busters]]''), ''Survive This'' (from the creator of and based on ''Survivorman''), and ''Brainrush'' (based on ''[[Cash Cab]]''). [[Network Decay|Curiously, all of these shows are live-action.]]
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** Shows revolving around the purchasing of goods kept in storage lockers, like ''[[Auction Hunters (TV)|Auction Hunters]]'' and ''[[Storage Wars]]'';
** Shows dealing with auctions, such as ''[[Auction Kings]]'';
** Shows where merchants visit ordinary people and buy things that seem like worthless junk but can be resold at higher prices, such as ''[[American Pickers]]'' and its Canadian [[Spin -Off]] ''Canadian Pickers''.
** And now, A&E has already launched ''Duck Dynasty'' already, with ''Barter Kings'' coming really soon.
* [[ABC Family]] is doing this to itself now. After the success of ''[[The Secret Life of an American Teenager]]'', it is releasing more melodramatic [[Teen Drama|teen dramas]], such as ''[[Pretty Little Liars]]'', ''[[Switched At Birth]]'', ''The Nine Lives of Chloe King'', etc.