Older Than They Think/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions

* Dr. McCoy's famous line [[I'm a Doctor, Not Aa Placeholder|"I'm a doctor, not a _____!"]] from ''[[Star Trek]]'' actually originates in the 1933 film '' The Kennel Murder Case'', where a coroner insists repeatedly "I'm a doctor, not a ____!" (reporter, detective, etc.).

** Similarly, the Borg's famous line "Resistance is futile" was used earlier in ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'', ''[[Lost in Space]]'', and probably other sci-fi. (The variant "Resistance is useless" was used by the Vogon guard in ''[[The HitchhikersHitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy]]''.)

* One episode of ''[[The 4400]]'' had as its plot the possibility of the entire premise of the show being an illusion, causing complaints from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' fans that it was stealing from the latter's episode "Normal Again". Or from ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]''{{'}}s "Back To Reality", or from ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation]]''{{'}}s "Frame of Mind". Or ''[[Neverwhere]]''. As it happens, the plot ([[Cuckoo Nest]]) is actually among [[The Oldest Ones in Thethe Book]], with classic examples such as Ambrose Bierce's 1886 story "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge," or Chuang Tzu's tale of the man who dreamt he was a butterfly.

* The reintroduction of the Cybermen in the new ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' story "Rise of the Cybermen" prompted some claims that the monsters were a rip-off of ''[[Star Trek]]'''{{"}}s Borg -- in fact, ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' fans had been making exactly the opposite claim ever since the Borg were first introduced, almost a quarter century after the Cybermen first appeared.

{{quote| ''Doctor Who'': "You belong to us. You will be like us."<br />

''Star Trek'': "You will become like us. You will service us."<br />

* In the ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'' franchise, the [[Memetic Hand Gesture|Vulcan salute]], and its accompanying farewells, "Peace and long life" and "Live long and prosper", are both derived from Jewisha benediction delivered during Jewish religious services. The story was told several times by [[Leonard Nimoy]] and also recounted in the 1968 book ''The Making of Star Trek'' by Stephen E. Whitfield: during the first episode with Vulcans other than Spock, Nimoy felt they needed something distinctive for their interactions, and drew upon a childhood memory of a service where he peeked during a moment when the congregation was supposed to look away from the rabbi as he delivered a blessing -- which he did with both hands in what became the "Vulcan salute".

* The concept of a virtual reality called "The Matrix" was first used in ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' in the 1976 serial "The Deadly Assassin", twenty three years before its better-known movie namesake.

* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' gets this a ''lot'', in-fandom, when new series fans gush over the genius of some ideas and concepts without realising many of then existed in the old series. So horror elements written by [[Robert Holmes]] (half of which he stole from old horror movies anyway) and later reused by [[Russell T. Davies (Creator)|Russell T Davies]] or [[Steven Moffat (Creator)|Steven Moffat]] are seen as their "genius". Even if the writers have themselves fequently mentioned that some of these elements are tributes to the writers whose stories they grew up with. Of course, the most extreme example of this is when new series fans preface their fanfics [[Fan Dumb|with "Doctor Who belongs to Russell T Davies and/or Steven Moffat"...]]

* Much has been made of how innovative the format of ''[[Law and& Order]]'' was when it first debuted, but there were two obscure earlier shows that had essentially the same structure: ''[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_and_Trial:Arrest and Trial|Arrest and Trial]]'' (1963-64) and ''[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/The_D:The D.A._ (1971_TV_series)1971 TV series)|The D.A.]]'' (1970-71).

* The middle section of ''[[Babylon 5 (TV)|Babylon 5]]'' -- the part with Nightwatch and the [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|Ministry of Truth]] -- has been accused of being an [[Author Tract]] against the War on Terror and the Bush Administration in general. The last episode aired in fall 1998, almost three years before 9/11.

* One forum poster on ''[[Television Without Pity]]'' compared the ''[[Dollhouse (TV)|Dollhouse]]'' episode "Echoes" to the ''[[Star Trek: the Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek theThe Next Generation]]'' episode "The Naked Now". That show was itself a [[Whole-Plot Reference]] to the ''[[Star Trek: the Original Series (TV)|Star Trek theThe Original Series]]'' episode "The Naked Time".

** Or I've heard that the whole Kenny thing is a reference to the ED-209 boardroom malfunction where a corporate yesman named Kenny got killed. The scene in question is from the first ''[[Robo CopRoboCop]]''.

{{quote| '''Batista:''' "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."<br />

'''Masuka:''' He's a [[Star Trek|Trekker]]! That shit's straight from ''Deep Space 9''.<br />

'''Batista:''' What? ''[[Mark Twain]]'' said that. It's one of his most famous quotes.<br />

'''Other officer:''' Twain was never on ''Deep Space 9''. [[Completely Missing the Point|He was on ''Next Generation''.]]<br />

'''Batista:''' He didn't say it on ''Star Trek''.<br />

'''Other officer:''' Okay, so what's it from?<br />

* In 1969, a new comedy sketch show debuted that completely tore apart the format of traditional sketch comedy, replacing conventional sketches with sketches that simply stopped mid flow, sketches that ran into each other and a whole lot of silliness. It is, of course, [[Spike Milligan]]'s Q series which preceededpreceded ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' by a few months. (To be fair, the Monty Python team were working on their show at roughly the same time).

** IIRC Montythe PythonPythons acknowledged the''The Goon Show'' as a major influence, so it's unsurprising that ''Flying Circus'' would bear similarities to another work of Milligan's.

** ''Q5'' started just as Pythonthe Pythons had been given their show but didn't really have a concrete idea of how they were going to accomplish what they wanted with it. It's mentioned in interviews and in [[Michael Palin (Creator)|Michael Palin]]'s diary that there was at least one conversation between them about how they'd seen ''Q5'' and thought, "That's what we were going to do, isn't it?"

** Also, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eDaSvRO9xA "Four Yorkshiremen"] did not originate with Monty Python. It was from ''At Last the 1948 Show'', and the original performers were John Cleese, Graham Chapman, [[The Goodies (TV)|Tim Brooke-Taylor]], and Marty Feldman.

*** [[The Goodies (TV)|Tim Brooke-Taylor]] has said that people refuse to believe he co-wrote the sketch.

* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' was often called a "ripoff" by [[Fan Dumb|uninformed]] ''[[Voltron]]'' fans due to the similar design of the Dino Megazord, unaware that both series were Americanized adaptations of Japanese shows and that the ''[[Super Sentai]]'' franchise that ''Power Rangers'' is based on is a year older than the franchise to which ''[[Go LionGoLion]]'', the Japanese version of ''Voltron'', belongs. Also, both shows were made by Toei.

** Although, Toei does acknowledge that the Dino Megazord's design (technically the Daizyujin from ''Zyuranger'') was made as a homage to Voltron ([[Go LionGoLion]]). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130303133330/http://www.toeihero.net/archive/rgl/omoide/main.html Source in Japanese].

** Similarly, if you saw ''[[Masked Rider]]'' and thought it was a ''[[Power Rangers]]'' ripoff, you should know that ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' is about two or three years older than ''[[Super Sentai]]''. Undoubtedly its debut was met with the usual cynicism: "Oh, so they took ''[[Kamen Rider]],'' made some stupid ripoff where there's [[Five-Man Band|five of them]] in [[ColourColor-Coded for Your Convenience|silly rainbow colors]] so they can [[Merchandise-Driven|sell more toys]], then made it [[Lighter and Softer]] so kids will watch? [[Toku]] is [[Ruined FOREVER]]! [[It Will Never Catch On]]!"

* With the ''[[Vampire Diaries]]'' TV adaptation airing in the midst of the ''[[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|Twilight]]''-craze, many [[Fan Dumb|twitards]] believed ''Vampire Diaries'' stole most of its elements from ''Twilight''. The ''Vampire Diaries'' books were made in the nineties.

* Alan Alda's depiction of Hawkeye Pierce in the TV version of ''[[MASHM*A*S*H (television)|M*A*S*H]]'' borrows heavily from Groucho Marx.

** ...to which a nod was made in the first-season episode "Yankee Doodle Doctor". By way of sabotaging an attempt by Army brass to propagandize the 4077th's "heroic doctors", Pierce plays Groucho in the [[Show Within thea Show|Movie Within Thethe Show]], and Trapper John plays Harpo.

* When the Canadian show ''Ed's Late Night Party'' aired for a short time in the US on G4, many viewers criticized Ed the Sock for ripping off [[Conan O 'Brien|Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.]] Ed the Sock had actually been around on various Canadian programs since the early-90's and was possibly an inspiration for Triumph. This led to Ed resenting Triumph, and NBC insisting that the character shouldn't be anywhere near Conan's show when it taped a few episode in Toronto.

** Ed the Sock was scheduled to appear on [[Conan O 'Brien]] but cancelled at the last minute. Three months later Triumph appeared on the show.

{{quote| '''Alex''': That is such an obvious lie. It's the name from the Rush song.<br />

'''Harper''': And the classic ''book''.<br />

* For those who may not be aware, [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_Busters:The Ghost Busters|The Ghost Busters]] came almost a full decade before [[Ghostbusters]]. Similarly, the [[FilmationsFilmation's Ghostbusters (Animation)|cartoon version of the 1975 live action show]] debuted before ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' (if only by a few days).

* When the series premiere of ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]'' first aired, some viewers immediately accused the show of ripping off the "protagonist wakes up in a hospital after a post-apocalyptic event" scene from ''[[Twenty Eight Days Later|28 Days Later]]''. In fact, not only did the comic book series show this scene a full seven months before ''28 Days'' premiered in theatres, but both of those films copied it from ''[[The Day of the Triffids]]'', which was written in 1951 (more than 50 years before either of the two works in questions).

* On ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'', one episode had the "unlikely location for a [[Film Noir]]" be a gas station. It's been done with ''two'' [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Me_Deadly:Kiss Me Deadly|gas]] [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Past:Out of the Past|stations.]]

* Here's a good one: Jon Stewart occasionally does a nasally, weasely voice on ''[[The Daily Show]]'' that many young viewers associate with his show (for an in-television example, Britta Perry does so on an episode of ''[[Community (TV)|Community]]''). However, older viewers will recognize it as a reference to a [[The Tonight Show|Johnny Carson]] voice / character, one that Johnny often went to when a joke fell flat ("Whoa, bomb-o!"). But here's the kicker, even older viewers will know that Johnny's voice was originally a reference to [[The Honeymooners|Jackie Gleason's]] Reginald Van Gleason III character ("Mmmboy are you fat!", as mentioned in an episode of the Sopranos).

* The motive and method of the [[Big Bad]] in the ''[[Hawaii Five -0]]''/''[[NCIS: Los Angeles]]'' [[Crossover]] was to {{spoiler|save the planet by [[Depopulation Bomb|killing off much of humanity with an engineered plague]]}}. [[Tom Clancy]] came up with the same idea in the book and video game ''[[Rainbow Six]]''... and the [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] film ''[[Moonraker (film)|Moonraker]]'' that also used the same idea predated ''Rainbow Six'' by two decades.