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

* 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]].

* The success of the pithy, sarcastic ''[[Judge Judy]]'' spawned a whole slew of pithy, sarcastic judge shows: ''Judge Mathis'', ''Judge Joe Brown'', [[Playboy]] Channel's ''Judge Julie'' etc. Even the venerable ''The People's Court'' replaced Judge Wapner with a sarcastic, saucy Latina (after brief stints by former New York Mayor Ed Koch and Judge Judy's husband). To be fair, Jerry Sheindlin was a judge in his own right.

* 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 helped kick off a revival of vampire movies, particularly ''Underworld''.

* ''[[Merlin (TV)|Merlin]]'' is quite an astonishingly direct emulation of the premise and format of ''[[Smallville]]'', to the point where most of the characters are even [[Expy|expys]] of the parent show's cast. Not that that's to say it's a bad show, just that it's clearly following the leader.

** Crushers, first introduced by Razer in the second wars though these didn't start to catch on until the 5th season when the weight limit was increased.

** Spinning discs, first used by Hypno-Disc in the 3rd wars and produced heavy amounts of damage, however imitators rarely managed to succeed at this.

** And in [[Eagle Land|America]], it hasn't brought back anything, it's simply ''added'' to the long-running "Friday night [[Sci Fi Channel|Skiffy]]" slot which has been going for at least 15 years...around the time the Saturday evening drama seemed to go away for a bit in England.

* 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.

* ''[[Life After People]]'' became the highest rated program in the history of The History Channel when it aired in January 2008. Just a few months later, The National Geographic Channel aired ''Aftermath: Population Zero'' which was practically the exact same show. ''Both'' shows are practically the [[Adaptation Distillation|television adaptation]] of the explosively popular book "The World Without Us," published in 2007.

* Food Network has started making a large number of culinary-themed reality shows where one contestant is eliminated per show (or per round, in self-contained shows), a la ''[[American Idol]]''. In addition, they now have a new show called ''Chefs vs. City'', which is single legs of ''[[The Amazing Race]]'' with culinary-themed challenges, only two teams, in a single U.S. city, and the prize is "bragging rights."

** As well as the remakes of ''The Bionic Woman'' and ''Knight Rider'', though those didn't do so well.

*** And ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]'', the cancellation of many of these series has ineveitably lead to the death of the Science Fiction Genre on TV.

* ''[[Star Trek the Original Series|Star Trek]]'' and ''[[Lost in Space]]'' both trod heavily, in their different ways, in the footsteps of the film ''[[Forbidden Planet]].''

* ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' inspired a slew of tv shows set in perfect suburban settings, such as ''[[Weeds]]'', ''[[The Gates]]'', and ''[[Pretty Little Liars]]'', being touted as "''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' for teens." While this is a concept that has been around for years, many more premiered when DH did.

** ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' also inspired a series of reality series about actual housewives and their social circles called ''Real Housewives'' (of Orange County, Atlanta, etc.). Most of them run on the [[Rule of Drama]].