# Duplicate episodes in different series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [August 1, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900 "2022-08-01T01:44:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/21 "2022-08-01T22:20:55Z")
I don’t know if you mean video-only, but both Jim Davis and Charles Schulz had much smaller-market strips before _Peanuts_ and _Garfield_, and redrew strips/stories from their old series for their new ones. (I think I have seen examples from other artists, too). (eta I remember that _Pogo_ is another one that did that.) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/22 "2022-08-01T22:39:11Z")
_The Bionic Woman_ had an episode “Mirror Image” where Jaime Sommers was replaced with a look-alike (also played by Lindsay Wagner) to infiltrate the OSI. The double is discovered and Jaime poses as her to get intel on the bad guys. The double escapes, there’s the standard “'I’m Jaime!” “No, I’m Jaime!”’ bit, ending with Jaime jumping fifteen feet in the air. Another series produced by Harve Bennett around the same time, _Gemini Man_, recycled the same script practically word-for-word. A couple of differences: the hero’s gimmick was turning invisible, and instead of the double being a smoker as in _Bionic Woman,_ in _Gemini Man_ the double is a chronic gum-chewer. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/23 "2022-08-01T22:43:54Z")
I think every kids show my kids watched in the early 00s had an episode where a character is sad because none of his/her friends remember it’s their birthday. The episode climaxes with dejected character going home to walk into a surprise party held by all the seemingly oblivious friends. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/24 "2022-08-01T22:53:11Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I don’t know if you mean video-only, but both Jim Davis and Charles Schulz had much smaller-market strips before _Peanuts_ and _Garfield_, and redrew strips/stories from their old series for their new ones I’ll allow it. > [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Another series produced by Harve Bennett around the same time, _Gemini Man_, recycled the same script practically word-for-word. I remember _Gemini Man_ - invisible for no more than an hour or he dies, right? ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/25 "2022-08-01T22:57:37Z")
15 minutes per day. It had to do with the molecular integrity of his body – he was invisible all the time except when he wore a nuclear-powered wristwatch that functioned to stabilize his molecules. He could switch off the stabilizer (and thus become invisible) for 15 minutes max. After that, he would start to lose molecular cohesion. Amazing how I can remember a forty-year-old TV show but not remember my wedding day all that well… ---
**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:** [August 2, 2022, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/26 "2022-08-02T01:24:50Z")
Isn’t every Hallmark Christmas movie the same script? ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/27 "2022-08-02T02:22:21Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Isn’t every Hallmark Christmas movie the same script? Not at all. Sometimes it’s the man with a kid and dead wife, sometimes it’s the woman with a kid and dead husband. No similarities at all. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/28 "2022-08-02T02:33:16Z")
[Hallmark Christmas movie templates](https://www.sporcle.com/games/scole9179/these-movies-always-take-place-at-christmas-yet-the-trees-all-have-their-leaves-). No dead spouses, though. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/29 "2022-08-02T02:37:20Z")
An episode of Bionic Woman literally recycles a Six Million Dollar Man script > **[Fly Jaime](https://bionic.fandom.com/wiki/Fly_Jaime)** > > Jaime goes undercover as a flight attendant to protect Dr. Rudy Wells and the top-secret formula that he possesses. This episode is notable for being a virtual shot-for-shot remake of "Survival of the Fittest," substituting the characters of Jaime... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/30 "2022-08-02T02:58:25Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > I don’t know if you mean video-only, but both Jim Davis and Charles Schulz had much smaller-market strips before _Peanuts_ and _Garfield_, and redrew strips/stories from their old series for their new ones > > I’ll allow it. For example, the very first _Pogo_ strips from the original paper and from syndication: [![](https://i.imgur.com/PxXalHy.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/PxXalHy.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/yFTzuvl.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/yFTzuvl.jpeg) (The syndicated strip used the self-hating porcupine bit, too, just a couple of days later.) From: [https://www.amazon.com/Pogo-Complete-Sunday-Strips-Through/dp/1560978694](https://www.amazon.com/Pogo-Complete-Sunday-Strips-Through/dp/1560978694) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/31 "2022-08-02T03:00:57Z")
‘One of the characters is thrown into the future and sees how everybody else falls apart without them’ Used in OTTOMH the 90’s live action Flash the Teen Titans cartoon and Darkwing Duck. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/32 "2022-08-02T03:56:02Z")
It’s hard to determine if this is just lazy writing or a homage but so many children’s shows have an episode where the kids play hooky from school to go do something else, but the entire time they keep encountering either their parents, their teachers, or family friends while they’re trying to enjoy themselves outside and have to wind up hiding the entire time. Then when they get back home exhausted from all their running and hiding one of their classmates shows up and goes “Where were you today?! We had a surprise school fair and it was amazing!” The original 1930s Little Rascals was where I first saw it, but I’ve seen it in children’s TV shows ever since with that exact same plot. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/33 "2022-08-02T04:20:35Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > I think every kids show my kids watched in the early 00s had an episode where a character is sad because none of his/her friends remember it’s their birthday. The episode climaxes with dejected character going home to walk into a surprise party held by all the seemingly oblivious friends. Fawlty Towers episode “The Anniversary” was a similar plot, though it was a Wedding Anniversary rather than a Birthday. And Basil manages to make it more complicated, and more funny. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/34 "2022-08-02T12:56:36Z")
Even into this century! The Middle did this plot. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/35 "2022-08-02T13:22:50Z")
Going back a bit here, but on _Bonanza_ there was an episode called “The Unseen Wound” which was plot point by plot point the same as an episode of an earlier series, _The Rebel_. _The Rebel_ is memorable for me mostly because of a single line. Nick Adams’ character says in some situation “I will never support a man taking advantage of another man.” I choked and said aloud, “You fought to uphold slavery, you asshole!” ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/36 "2022-08-02T13:26:21Z")
Two episodes of _Gemini Man_ were re-edited into the “movie” _Riding With Death_, which became one of the funniest episodes of _Mystery Science Theater 3000_. The two episodes were related only by the dubious distinction that they both featured singer-songwriter Jim Stafford as a guest star. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/37 "2022-08-02T14:23:44Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I don’t know if you mean video-only, but both Jim Davis and Charles Schulz had much smaller-market strips before _Peanuts_ and _Garfield_, and redrew strips/stories from their old series for their new ones. (I think I have seen examples from other artists, too). Many of the early _Doonesbury_ strips were simply redrawn from Gary Trudeau’s days at Yale. I believe the biggest change was taking the Yale symbol off B.D.'s football helmet. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/38 "2022-08-02T15:51:27Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > According to my brother, Disney has a standard script it uses for company related program series, wherein family struggles are resolved by the magic of visiting Disneyland or Disneyworld. Yes, a few years ago it seemed like several ABC sitcoms had a Disneyland/Disney World episode. I definitely remember The Middle and Black-ish, and I’m sure there were others that I’m forgetting. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/39 "2022-08-02T17:10:40Z")
Full House had a Disney World episode that actually took advantage of the fact that one of the characters was Disney relevant (one of the girls boyfriends actually voiced Aladdin in the 90s movie), so she kept seeing him dressed up as Aladdin and doing the same voice around the park. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900/40 "2022-08-02T19:27:17Z")
Going back a ways for these but the “Alias Smith and Jones” episode “Miracle at Santa Marta” and “Run for Your Life” episode “The Man who had no Enemies” had basically the samee plot. Both were written by Roy Huggins. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duplicate-episodes-in-different-series/968900.md?page=3)