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Sometimes, rather than home-brew a knock off, a company will license a foreign program, usually [[Anime]], and adapt it to be more like its competitor.
 
Rarely, two dissimilar shows will develop a rivalry. Maybe they're opposite each other in the same time slot, maybe one steals the other's time slot, or maybe there's some superficial similarity that causes viewers to compare the two shows. ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' had a whole episode full of in-jokes about how people compared it to ''[[The OC]]'', simply because they were both on [[FoxFOX]] and set in Orange County, California.
 
See [[Dueling Movies]] for the cinematic version and [[Dueling Games]] for the video game version. Do not confuse with [[Fighting Series]].
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| ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' || ''[[Flame of Recca]]'' || Manga/Anime show starring a [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits|ragtag bunch of youngsters]] joining forces to fight evil with supernatural powers. || Both manga were adapted into anime by the same studio. || A bit complicated. Technically, Yu Yu Hakusho as it's more popular worldwide. However while YYH had a more successful anime, the manga was canceled prematurely and not as fondly remembered. Flame of Recca on the other hand had a very succesful manga that manged to complete its story with no problems, but a largely unsuccessful anime.
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| ''[[Eden of the East]]'' || ''[[Future Diary]]'' || Anime show featuring a group of individuals who recieved cellphones with special properties, forced to take part in a twisted [[There Can Be Only One|elimination game]]. || ''Future Diary'' started earlier as a manga, but was adapted into anime years later. || ''Eden of The East'' had its rightful share of love from critics and viewers as well, but nothing like the fad caused by ''Future Diary'', mostly thanks to its gruesome story and [[Ax Crazy|unusual]] [[Yandere (disambiguation)|heroine]]
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| ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' || ''[[Digimon]]'' and ''[[Monster Rancher]]'' || [[Mon]] series about kids [[Walking the Earth]]. Usually involves defeating some sort of [[Big Bad]] too. || All three went off in different directions. Though all three were [[Merchandise-Driven]], ''Pokémon'' become a blatant merch show after its third season, while ''Digimon'' and ''Monster Rancher'' remained plot-driven series. || ''Monster Rancher'' was the first to go, dying quietly right at the end of the [[Mons]] boom of the early 'Aughts. ''Digimon'' soldiered on for a few more years before it too died with the end of ''[[Digimon Frontier]]''. However, it was revived a few years later with ''[[Digimon Savers]]'', and ''[[Digimon Xros Wars]]''. Meanwhile, ''Pokémon'' is still a [[Cash Cow Franchise|massive titan of a franchise]]. The common refrain of the Poké-Digi [[Fandom Rivalry]] is "''Pokémon'' has better games, ''Digimon'' has better animes."
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| ''[[Saikano]]'' || ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' || Two ultimate weapon girls trying to live a normal life, despite that enemies are after them. || Both of these works are based on mangas and [[Darker and Edgier]] works. {{spoiler|Both have [[Downer Ending|Downer Endings]].}} || ''Elfen Lied'' wins in popularity, ''Saikano'' in overall quality.
|-
| ''[[Rosario to+ Vampire]]'' || ''[[Vampire Knight]]'' || [[High School]] romance between a human and a vampire. || ''[[Rosario to+ Vampire]]'' is ([[Cerebus Syndrome|initially]]) a light-hearted comedy compared to the more dramatic ''[[Vampire Knight]]'', but both manga have their share of funny moments and tense ones. || Both sell pretty well in Japan, and [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|even better in North America]].
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| ''[[Hidamari Sketch]]'' || ''[[Sketchbook]]'' || Quirky [[Slice of Life]] show, originally [[Yonkoma]], about quirky girls being quirky in a quirky art school, with lots of [[Scenery Porn]] and [[Contemplate Our Navels|Navel Contemplation]]. || ''[[Sketchbook Full Colors|Sketchbook]]'' was first, and has more and quirkier girls; ''[[Hidamari Sketch]]'' goes more deeply into the relationships between them. ||''[[Hidamari Sketch]]'' is clearly more popular, judging by the sheer amount of [[Memetic Mutation|memes]] this show has brought forth. It also was made into ''three'' seasons, whereas ''[[Sketchbook]]'' got stuck with just ''one''. Still, ''[[Sketchbook]]'' holds its own, if only for the appearance of Kate, who became a [[Memetic Mutation]] in her own right.
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| ''[[Miami Ink]]'' || ''[[Inked]]'' || [[Docu Soap]] about tattoo parlors. || Both quite similar, one on TLC, one on A&E. || ''[[Miami Ink]]'' lasted longer and had two spinoffs.
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| ''[[Skins]]'' || ''[[The Inbetweeners]]'' || Series about the "''real''" [[TradesnarkTradesnark™|(TM)]] lives of British sixth formers. || Both air on E4. The former is a drama and the latter is a comedy. ''Skins'' focuses more on the [[Wild Teen Party]] aspect of life, resulting in suggestions that "''Skins'' is what teens wish their lives were like, ''[[The Inbetweeners]]'' is what they actually are." || Ongoing. Moving ''[[The Inbetweeners]]'' from spring to autumn has given it a massive ratings boost, but ''[[Skins]]'''s global fanbase is arguably broader.
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| ''[[Beakman's World]]'' || ''[[Bill Nye the Science Guy]]'' || Kids' [[Science Show]]. || Whereas Beakman was a fictional character, Bill was an actual scientist (an engineer to be more precise). Whereas Bill stuck with one topic throughout an episode, Beakman switched topics frequently. Whereas Bill focused on the science almost exclusively (if imaginatively), Beakman also had a small, wacky recurring cast and a little non-science-related zaniness. || Both lasted about 100 episodes, were equally epic and awesome, and kissed Mr. Wizard's ring. Bill might get an edge in that he's still active in promoting science and enviromentalism, but the real winners are kids' report cards.
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| ''Kidnapped'' || ''Vanished'' || Serialized story arc about a kidnapping. || ''Kidnapped'' was on [[NBC]], ''Vanished'' was on [[FoxFOX]]. || Both got 13 episodes. ''Kidnapped'' got better reviews, but ''Vanished'' got buzz from [[Killed Off for Real|killing off its main character]], played by Gale Harold.
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{| class="wikitable"
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| ''[[Police Stop]]'' || ''[[Police Camera Action]]'' || Footage of dangerous driving and the police doing emergency work and making arrests. || ''[[Police Stop]]'' was a series of [[Sequelitis|sequels]], i.e. ''Police Stop! 2'', ''Police Stop! 3'' etc. whereas ''[[Police Camera Action]]'' used episode titles, e.g. ''The Unprotected''. That show also had presenter links, unlike ''[[Police Stop]]'' which was (rarely) after episode 2 with a presenter, except for the [[Very Special Episode]] ''Police Stop! 9''. Graham Cole presented every episode of Police Stop, except ''Police Stop! 2'' which he did the voice-overs but no on-screen presentation.''[[Police Camera Action]]'' is now going this way, so neither show wins. || Neither wins, since ''[[Police Camera Action]]'' is [[Adaptation Expansion|an adaptation]] of ''[[Police Stop]]'' with actual presenter links.
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| ''[[Good Luck Charlie]]'' || ''[[Raising Hope]]'' || Sitcoms involving the titular infant girl and her family. || ''Good Luck, Charlie'' is kid-friendly, on the [[Disney Channel]], and [[Every Episode Ending|every episode ends with Charlie's teenage sister Teddy recording a video for her]], while ''Raising Hope'' is rated TV-PG to TV-14, on [[FoxFOX]], and is about a 23 year old named Jimmy who finds out that he had a daughter (the eponymous Hope) after a one night stand with a woman who is now in prison. || According to IMDB, ''Raising Hope'' has higher ratings than ''Good Luck, Charlie''. Though the latter series has also been pulling in great ratings for Disney as well plus have a [[Christmas Episode|Christmas-themed]] TV movie. At the current, its a tie.
|-
| ''[[Pan Am]]'' || ''[[The Playboy Club]]'' || ''[[Mad Men]]''-[[Follow the Leader|inspired]], [[The Sixties|early '60s]] period dramas about a subset of workers in the era ([[Sexy Stewardess|Pan Am stewardesses]] and [[Playboy Bunny|Playboy bunnies]], respectively). || [[Mad Men|The inspiration for the two shows]] focuses on the historical changes of the era, as well as breaking viewers' [[Nostalgia Filter]] for [[The Sixties]] by highlighting the injustices (racism, sexism) that were still rampant then. Oh, and it has [[Gorgeous Period Dress]] and depicts its main characters living extravagant, flashy lifestyles. Now, can you guess what the two network copycat shows focused on? || Neither show held a candle to ''Mad Men'' in terms of critical acclaim, though ''Pan Am'' was the better received of the two and lasted a full season before getting the axe. The big loser was ''The Playboy Club'', which attracted a lot of heat from feminists before its premiere for [[Unfortunate Implications|glamorizing and whitewashing]] the Playboy clubs of the '60s, and which got cancelled after only three critically-ravaged episodes (attempts to get the show [[Channel Hop|picked up by Bravo]] failed).
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| ''Win, Lose or Draw'' || ''Pictionary'' || "Picture charades" [[Game Show]]. || Although ''Win, Lose or Draw'' came on the air before its rival, the ''Pictionary'' board game predated both. ''Fast Draw'', a 1968 game hosted by Johnny Gilbert, predated '''that'''. || ''Win, Lose or Draw'' for lasting three seasons (two on [[NBC]]) as opposed to ''Pictionary'''s two (both in syndication, and one of which was a children's show).
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| ''[[The Singing Bee]]'' || ''[[Don't Forget the Lyrics]]'' || Karaoke [[Game Show]]. || In a double duel, [[NBC]] announced ''Singing Bee'' for fall 2007. [[FoxFOX]] rushed the ripoff into production for summer 2007, which led NBC to announce an earlier start date before casting a host or taping an episode. The shows premiered on consecutive nights in July 2007. ''DFTL!'' has one contestant and an overall format [[Who Wants to Be Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?|echoing other big money game shows]], , whereas ''SB'' has multiple contestants in an elimination format, much like a spelling bee. ''Don't Forget the Lyrics!'' lasted three seasons on [[FoxFOX]] before being canceled, while ''Singing Bee'' lasted only one season on [[NBC]]. The former went into syndication for a season, and the latter got [[Uncanceled]] for CMT. || ''Singing Bee'', which has outlasted both of ''Lyrics'' ' cancellations.
 
|-
| ''Ferris Bueller'' || ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' || [[Sitcom]] about a [[High School Hustler]]. || Both aired in the very early 90s -- the former on [[NBC]], the latter on [[FoxFOX]]. And they were both an attempt to make a viable show out of the movie ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off|Ferris Buellers Day Off]]''. || ''Parker Lewis'' was generally regarded as being of higher quality, and ultimately got three seasons. ''Ferris'' got one.
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| ''[[Blood Ties]]'' || ''[[Moonlight]]'' || Short-lived [[Vampire Detective Series]]. || The similarities are probably more due to the nature of the genre rather than direct copying. || Neither lasted more than a season. The lessons learned were applied to the later ''[[The Vampire Diaries|Vampire Diaries]]'' to much better success.
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| [[Prime Time Entertainment Network]] || [[Action Pack]] || Big Studio-produced, part-anthologies/part-syndicated networks. trying to emulate the success of [[FoxFOX]]'s launch || PTEN (a joint venture from [[Warner Brothers]] and [[UPN|United Television]]) boasted ''[[Babylon 5]]'' along with ''[[Time Trax]]'' and ''[[Kung Fu]] : The Legend Continues''. [[Universal]]'s Action Pack was led by the one-two punch of ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]] and ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' || PTEN lasted four seasons, with only B5 lasting more than two. Action Pack lasted longer (ten seasons) with a much fuller roster of shows.
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| ''[[WWE|WWF]] [[WWE Raw|Raw]]'' || ''[[WCW|WCW Nitro]]'' || Monday night [[Professional Wrestling]] shows with a focus on sports entertainment over pure wrestling. || It started with Eric Bischoff asking for a Monday night timeslot to compete directly with the WWF, and spawned a constant game of one-upsmanship which saw, among other things, WCW spoiling the WWF's shows on-the-air, WWF starting ''Raw'' 3 minutes early to get the jump on ''Nitro'', WCW responding by starting ''a full hour'' earlier, WWF sending D-Generation X to mingle with the fans outside a ''Nitro'' event and cause trouble, and Eric Bischoff challenging [[Vince McMahon]] to a fight live on Pay-Per-View. Ahh, the [[Monday Night Wars]]... those were great times to be a wrestling fan. || ''Raw'', to the point where McMahon got to bury ''Nitro'' on its last broadcast, setting up the unsuccessful "Invasion" storyline.
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| ''Man vs. Wild'' || ''[[Wild Recon]]'' || See above. || For once, ''Wild Recon'' is actually on a ''different'' network this time -- specifically, [[Animal Planet]], [[Network Decay|for some reason]]. ''Wild Recon'' is also quite a bit closer to ''Man vs. Wild'' than ''Survivorman'' was, especially after ''Man vs. Wild'''s slight [[Retool]]. || ''Wild Recon'' is a new series for 2010, so it's too early to tell, but ''Man vs. Wild'' does have the advantage of being a long-established series.
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| ''[[Wife Swap]]'' || ''Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy'' || Two polar opposite families trade spouses for several days. || [[ABC]] broadcasts ''Wife Swap'' and claims to have done it first, while [[FoxFOX]] aired ''Trading Spouses'' a few weeks before ''[[Wife Swap]]'''s debut in what seems to be a blatant ripoff (though both appeared to rip off a ''[[Chappelle's Show]]'' skit that aired one year earlier.) || ''Wife Swap''.
|-
| ''[[Bewitched]]'' || ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'' || [[Sitcom]] in which a guy tries to live an ordinary life despite having a long-term relationship with [[Magical Girlfriend|a blonde with magical powers]]. || ''[[Bewitched]]'' had Elizabeth Montgomery, Agnes Moorehead and [[The Other Darrin]]. ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'' had JR Ewing and [[Ms. Fanservice|Barbara Eden in revealing clothing]]. Actually, if you like 1960s sitcoms, these are both pretty good. || Both won -- and so did viewers.
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| ''[[Fringe]]'' || ''[[Eleventh Hour]]'' || Two "Science Is Both Good ''And'' [[Science Is Bad|Bad]]" series. || Both did well in the ratings. || Though ''[[Eleventh Hour]]'' was a ratings leader, it just got canned after one season. ''[[Fringe]]'', however, lives to see another season.
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|{{center|''[[House (TV series)|House]]''}} || ''[[Lie to Me (TV series)|Lie to Me]]'' || [[FoxFOX]] dramas featuring eccentric, wisecracking, and disillusioned doctor/detectives based on real people and played by eminent British actors. || Tim Roth [[Not Even Bothering with the Accent|doesn't attempt an American accent]] and ''[[Lie to Me (TV series)|Lie to Me]]'' focuses more on the detective aspect. || ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' has way more awards and higher ratings, while ''[[Lie to Me (TV series)|Lie to Me]]'' was canceled after 3 seasons and did not have nearly the critical acclaim.
|-
| ''[[The Unusuals]]'' || ''[[Southland]]'' || Ensemble cop shows centering on a [[Non-Idle Rich]] rookie. || Series launched within days of each other. ABC's ''[[The Unusuals]]'' takes a quirky, comedic approach, while NBC's ''[[Southland]]'' is a grittier kind of drama. ''Southland'' just got renewed for another season; ''Unusuals'' didn't. Then NBC canceled ''Southland'' before the second season started. || ''Southland'' wins by a mile. Though both series were axed after their first season, TNT picked up ''Southland'' for a second season after NBC dumped it, and it's been going strong ever since.
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| ''[[The First 48]]'' || ''The Squad'' || [[True Crime]] shows [[X Meets Y|merging]] ''[[Cops (series)]]'' and ''[[Homicide: Life On the Street]]'' || ''[[The First 48]]'' covers two cases from different cities like Miami, Dallas, and Memphis. ''The Squad'' follows the Indianapolis PD's Homicide squad exclusively, going more in depth with the cases.
|-
| ''[[Family Matters]]'' || ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]'' || Family [[Sitcom|Sitcoms]] staring black families.||Both shows debuted a year apart from each other. Both have the fathers working in law and had heart attacks, annoying [[Drop in-In Character|drop in characters]], [[Hollywood Nerd|Hollywood nerds]], the mothers' original actors quitting and [[The Other Darrin|being replaced]], babies who developed [[Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome]] and characters that are not in the intermediate family became the most memorable.|| Both are fondly remembered and were very successful, although thanks to stronger characterization ''Fresh Prince'' got more respect critically.
|-
| ''[[Burn Notice]]'' || ''[[Royal Pains]]'' || A man is blacklisted from his profession and moves to an exotic location to sell his services privately. || Essentially the same premise, but substituting spy for doctor. Another aspect the shows share is the wisecracking and incompetent brother of the main character. Both are on the USA Network. || ''Royal Pains'' has been renewed for a second season. Meanwhile, ''Burn Notice'' recently wrapped up its third season, was renewed for a fourth, and has already been picked up for a fifth ''and'' sixth.
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| ''[[Totally Spies]]'' || ''[[Kim Possible]]'' || Cartoon about [[Extraordinarily Empowered Girl|extraordinarily empowered]] [[Teen Superspy|teenage girl superspies]] in [[High School]]. || ''[[Totally Spies]]'' was [[Animesque|more anime-influenced]], while ''[[Kim Possible]]'' stuck with straight-up [[Action Girl]] antics and a strong supporting cast. || Basically a tie. Each show is more popular on its home continent (''Kim Possible'' in America, ''Totally Spies'' in Europe), though Totally Spies ended with an extra season at a later date to its credit in Europe.
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| ''[[The Simpsons]]'' || ''[[Family Guy]]'' || Cartoon about a [[Dysfunctional Family]] with a stupid and obnoxious father, a patient and loving wife, two kids and a baby. || [[Dueling Shows]] made by [[FoxFOX|the same network]]. || ''[[The Simpsons]]'' came first, has [[Long Runners|lasted longer]], and is overall the most successful, while ''[[Family Guy]]'' now typically gets higher ratings than ''[[The Simpsons]]'' (although this can vary from week to week). Parodied on this [http://images.paraorkut.com/img/funnypics/images/f/family_guy_simpsons-12654.jpg Mad Magazine cover].
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| ''[[South Park]]'' || ''[[The Three Friends and Jerry]]'' || Animated comedies centering around 4 boys and rife with [[Comedic Sociopathy]]. || ''South Park'' was aimed at the 18-34 crowd on [[Comedy Central]], while ''The Three Friends and Jerry'' was a kids' show on ABC Family (then known as Fox Family). Trey Parker, the co-creator of ''South Park'', happens to lend his voice to both shows, oddly enough.|| ''South Park'' lasted much, [[Long Runners|MUCH longer]] than ''The Three Friends and Jerry'', which was forgotten as soon as it came.
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