Have you ever watched a movie or TV show and heard something said, or seen something done, that’s exactly the same as what somebody else said or did on another show/special/movie?
I’ll give an example. Actually, I had two, but for the life of me, I can’t remember the other one . A long time ago, on an episode of night court, a woman was pregnant. I can’t remember if it was Christine or just someone who appeared on that episode. Anyway, she’s going into labor, and Bull starts cheer leading “Push him out, shove him out, waaaayyy out!” And I’m watching, thinking to myself, hey! That’s a blatant rip-off of a routine from Bill Cosby Himself :mad: .
So, have any of you noticed any rip-offs yourself? And if so, what were they?
I saw a comedian once do a little routine that was word-for-word identical to a story out of the first issue of Fat Freddy’s Cat, a comic book about a pot smoker hippy type and his cat. The punch line was the cat saying, “Wait till he puts on his stereo headphones,” because he (the cat) had just crapped on them in revenge.
Everyone loves Forrest, but why does no one care
That this same plot was used before in a film called “Being There?”
Oh, Gump the magic movie please disappear
Cause stupid is as stupid does, this picture of the year…
Years ago I went to a comedy club in Sydney and sat behind a table of people who, I later discovered, were comedians/writers. For three quarters of the acts that performed this group would discuss who each joke was “stolen” from. It was quite bizarre - a comedian would begin riffing about something and these guys would look at one another and whisper “Cosby…To Russell”.
Well, as every review has pointed out, Nia Vardalos’ new movie Connie and Carla is nothing more than Victor/Victoria and Some Like It Hot put into a blender.
When I was a kid back in the '70s (lo these many years ago!), there was a TV producer named Glen Larson who was often accused of taking successful movies and “adapting” them for television without crediting the original source. Now, far be it from me to level these same accusations, but some examples:
The 1968 film Coogan’s Bluff concerns an Arizona sheriff who goes to New York City to track down a criminal. In 1970, Larson produced McCloud, a show about a New Mexico sheriff assigned to a New York City police precinct.
In 1969, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a big hit about two likable outlaws who try to put their past behind them. In 1971, Larson produced Alias Smith and Jones, a show about about two likable outlaws who try to win an amnesty from the governor by staying out of trouble for a year.
In 1978, Clint Eastwood starred in Every Which Way But Loose as a trucker with a pet orangutan. Larson’s 1979 show B.J. and the Bear was about a trucker and his pet chimpanzee.
But the one that really caused people to comment on the trend was when Larson came out with Battlestar Galactica in 1978, about a group of rebels in a galaxy far, far away fighting against an evil empire. Seems there was a big hit movie about a year earlier that had a very similar theme.
I had an english teacher who told me that there’s been nothing original since Shakespeare.
The most recent one I can think of is Mona Lisa Smile which can be easily (and has been) compared to Dead Poets Society. For all I know the writers had every intention of doing a remake (with a few twists) of dead poets society.
This sort of thing never bothers me though. They lose a few points on originality I suppose but I’m always curious about another artists take on a subject.
This may not be in the same category, but I was once a little shocked and appalled when i realized the panel of one comic book I was reading had literally been photocopied from a rival company’s comic book. And it wasn’t a parody or anything like that. All I can assume is the artist thought it would be too hard to draw a guy in a hospital bed hooked up to tubes and machines and such, so he just swiped someone else’s image. Yeah, it was a cheap ass independent stealing form another cheap ass independent, but still, that seemed awfully lazy and nervy to me.
My least loved rip off; and every show is history has done it at least once. The “very special” Christmas show that turns out to be some sort of version of Dicken’s Christmas Carol.
John Grisham’s A Time To Kill was a blatant rip-off of the movie Anatomy of a Murder.
In Anatomy of a Murder, a popular citizen of a small town attempts to rape the beautiful wife of a soldier. The husband goes out and kills the would-be rapist, and is subsequently put on trial for murder. An idealistic attorney is called upon to defend the husband, and uses the strategy of claiming temporary insanity.
In A Time to Kill, a couple of good-ol-boys in a small town rape and beat a little black girl. Her father goes out and kills the rapists, and is subsequently put on trial for murder. An idealistic attorney is called upon to defend the father, and uses the strategy of claiming temporary insanity.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen either movie, but there were far more parallels between the two than just these.
Several episodes of Quantum Leap were remakes or responses to popular movies. There was a version of “Driving Miss Daisy,” and another that was David Belisario’s response to Oliver Stone’s “JFK.”
. A long time ago, on an episode of night court, a woman was pregnant. I can’t remember if it was Christine or just someone who appeared on that episode. Anyway, she’s going into labor, and Bull starts cheer leading “Push him out, shove him out, waaaayyy out!” And I’m watching, thinking to myself, hey! That’s a blatant rip-off of a routine from Bill Cosby Himself :mad: .