# Different show, but the name's the same **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-show-but-the-names-the-same/570088 "2011-02-04T00:07:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-show-but-the-names-the-same/570088/1 "2011-02-04T00:07:32Z")
ABC’s got a new sitcom debuting soon called\*\* [Mr. Sunshine](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1583638/)\*\*. But they also aired an unrelated sitcom called **[Mr. Sunshine](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090486/)** back in the 80’s. What are some other instances of shows that are pretty much unrelated other than sharing a title? What doesn’t count: Reboots, revivals, remakes, reimaginings of old shows, such as **Battlestar Galactica, Knight Rider, V,** etc. or local adaptations of shows from other countries, such as **The Office, Being Human, Life On Mars** , etc. What does count: If there’s just a change in spelling or punctuation, like the George Clooney NBC drama **[ER](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ER_%28TV_series%29)** and the CBS George Clooney sitcom\*\* [E/R](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E/R)\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-show-but-the-names-the-same/570088/2 "2011-02-04T00:12:12Z")
The new show about a retired boxer, [Lights Out](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights_Out_(2011_TV_series)) coincides in name with a 1940’s horror [show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights_Out_(1946_TV_series)#On_television). ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-show-but-the-names-the-same/570088/3 "2011-02-04T00:17:08Z")
[Lost](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(2001_TV_series)) and [Lost](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(TV_series)) ---
**Author:** ![McReady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@McReady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McReady)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-show-but-the-names-the-same/570088/4 "2011-02-04T00:17:32Z")
I remember _E/R_, with Elliot Gould. Totally forgot that a young George Clooney was in it. There have been two U.S. tv shows called _The Defenders_, one in the early 1960s and one currently in its first season. (Pretty good, really.) Both shows are about lawyers, but different enough that I don’t think it’d be considered a remake rebooting. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-show-but-the-names-the-same/570088/5 "2011-02-04T00:34:04Z")
[Check It Out!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088493/), by the numbers, but reasonably entertaining, sitcom set in a grocery store, starring Don Adams. [Check It Out!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657563/), absurdly bad supposed comedy, spun off from the ironically titled Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, starring John C Reilly. There was also apparently a drama by that title in 2003, but I know nothing about it, and imdb’s got nothing substantial on it. The two I listed above are both airing in Canada (on different channels), right now. It was annoying when I turned on the latter, expecting the former…now I know to look which channel it’s airing on before hitting select. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-show-but-the-names-the-same/570088/6 "2011-02-04T05:18:21Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > [Check It Out!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088493/), by the numbers, but reasonably entertaining, sitcom set in a grocery store, starring Don Adams. > [Check It Out!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657563/), absurdly bad supposed comedy, spun off from the ironically titled Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, starring John C Reilly. > > There was also apparently a drama by that title in 2003, but I know nothing about it, and imdb’s got nothing substantial on it. > > The two I listed above are both airing in Canada (on different channels), right now. It was annoying when I turned on the latter, expecting the former…now I know to look which channel it’s airing on before hitting select. “Check It Out” is also the name of a recurring sketch about two dumb supermarket cashiers, which is part of the show-within-a-show “So Random!” in the Disney Channel show _Sonny With a Chance_. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-show-but-the-names-the-same/570088/7 "2011-02-06T01:57:10Z")
> [@MentalGuy](#): > > [Lost](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(2001_TV_series)) > > and > > [Lost](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(TV_series)) That reminds me that when I first started hearing about Lost on ABC, I somehow thought they’d picked up the failed reality show from NBC (which I’d never watched) so I didn’t really pay much attention to it until one day I saw a commercial and said “hey that hobbit guy’s in it? it’s not reality shit\*? maybe I should watch an ep or two when it starts”. \*not that there’s anything wrong with that ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-show-but-the-names-the-same/570088/8 "2011-02-06T02:42:06Z")
**[The Good Guys](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062567/)**. A comedy about two boyhood friends who still hung out, starring Herb Edelman and a post-Gilligan Bob Denver **[The Good Guys](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1567254/)**. A comedy-drama cop show with a very clever non-linear storytelling technique, starring Colin Hanks and a post-West-Wing Bradley Whitford. **[The Bob Newhart Show](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054522/)** – a variety show **[The Bob Newhart Show](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068049/)** – a classic sitcom ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-show-but-the-names-the-same/570088/9 "2011-02-06T03:00:33Z")
[_The Smothers Brothers Show_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211781/) about an apprentice angel who needs help from his human brother. [_The Smothers Brothers Show_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072563/) which was a 1975 revival of the 1968 _The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour_. \*The Betty White Show \* a 1950s talk-variety show starring you know who, not to be confused with her post-Mary Tyler Moore sitcom.