# First story with the same plot as Groundhog Day **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2016, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352 "2016-07-08T02:12:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/21 "2016-07-08T19:43:10Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > However, the original 1892 [short story “Christmas Every Day”](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22519/22519-h/22519-h.htm#CHRISTMAS_EVERY_DAY) is very different. It’s just a father inventing a story for his little girl about a little girl whose wish came true to have Christmas every day, and how annoying it was for everyone… There was a _Sesame Street_ special awhile back, with Elmo wishing that every day could be Christmas. Santa (played by Ed Asner IIRC), exhausted by making and delivering toys day after day, finally persuades him that Christmas is more special if it only comes once a year. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/22 "2016-07-08T19:43:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > What’s interesting to me is that neither Holding nor Jameson nor Howell is mentioned in the time loop article. There’s probably too many examples to really collect them all. Groundhog day was a good film, but I’d venture to guess that the sales pitch in Hollywood was something like: “Hey, Bill Murray’s Scrooged sold really well! Let’s see if we can find another way to make him go from being an asshole to being a great guy, by having to revisit his own life over and over.” And then Bill Murray came in and said, “I want a love interest in this one. If you want me to do a remake, at least give me someone cute to fondle!” And thence, the movie was made. I believe its lasting fame has been due to the sci-fi angle. But I’m pretty sure that it’s not a sci-fi film. The “time loop” bears more resemblance to the angel’s work in **It’s a Wonderful Life** than it does to anything sci-fi. It’s pretty clear that the event occurred specifically to him, specifically because he’s an asshole and deserves it (ala A Christmas Carol) and ends specifically when he turns himself around. There’s no attempt to deduce or even consider what caused the time loop, it’s completely accepted as moralist magic and probably best assumed to be an act of God. The writers had no interest in the mechanics of the time loop itself, just creating the circumstances for their Scrooged sequel. But so, if a bunch of non-sci-fi people who didn’t give a damn about originality or mind-bending their audience still came up with the idea of a time loop, then you have to figure that a few thousand writers had also come up with it before - particularly in the sci-fi realm. And, probably, most of them with more interest and investment in the loop. (Again, none of this is to denigrate the movie, which I think is very good. But, like Casablanca, its quality seems to have been despite the writers instead of thanks to them.) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/23 "2016-07-08T19:59:19Z")
Time loops in general are fairly common, but I doubt if there’s a dozen older examples of someone repeating a day over and over. Here’s one more: Frederik Pohl, “The Tunnel Under The World,” _Galaxy Science Fiction_, January 1955. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/24 "2016-07-09T20:11:48Z")
I’d certainly be a customer for a “Time Loop” anthology (containing the Holding, Jameson, and Howell works among others). Considering the continuing popularity of _Groundhog Day_, I bet such a book would be a profitable proposition. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/25 "2016-07-09T22:24:08Z")
Harry Turtledove wrote two stories with the same character. “Forty, Counting Down”, has a computer tech using his computer savvy to travel back to his 21-year-old self and convinces him to step aside while he tries to fix their life. "Twenty-One, Counting Up’, tells the same story from the 21-year-old’s point of view. They were both published in 1999. “Forty, Counting Up” was nominated for a Hugo Award. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/26 "2016-07-10T16:35:20Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > There was a made-for-TV film called \*12:01 \* which came out a short time before _Groundhog Day._ The former accused the latter of copying it, IIRC. And before the made-for-TV movie, there was the [Oscar-nominated short film](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098962/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4) starring **RoboCop** ’s Kurtwood Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/27 "2016-07-12T18:58:34Z")
The 1/1/1939 radio episode of _The Shadow_, entitled _The Man Who Murdered Time_, was about a New Year’s Eve that kept repeating. You can listen to it [on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDTquiIB3vU). ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/28 "2016-07-12T19:46:58Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > [Another bunch of examples.](http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/time_loop) All these entries, and yet not a mention of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s [_All You Need Is Kill_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_Is_Kill) (2004), which was the basis for the Emily Blunt/Tom Cruise movie [_Edge of Tomorrow_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw61gCe2oqI) (2014)? When I described it as _Starship Troopers_ crossed with _Groundhog Day_, my wife knew she wouldn’t be interested. She doesn’t go for sci-fi, and she says _Groundhog Day_ is the only movie she ever walked out on. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/29 "2016-07-12T20:00:07Z")
This thread seems like a lowkey way to throw shade at _Groundhog Day_. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/30 "2016-07-12T20:25:33Z")
> [@Reluctant\_A](#): > > This thread seems like a lowkey way to throw shade at _Groundhog Day_. Not sure about that, I just know that only The Shadow knows! Wha ha ha ha ha ha! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/31 "2016-07-12T22:12:57Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > The 1/1/1939 radio episode of _The Shadow_, entitled _The Man Who Murdered Time_, was about a New Year’s Eve that kept repeating. You can listen to it [on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDTquiIB3vU). Psst. Post #19. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > There’s probably too many examples to really collect them all. I wrote David Langford with all the early examples we found and he said they would modify the Time Loop article. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/32 "2016-08-31T19:18:17Z")
Took me a while to find all the stories and read them, and then research the authors, but I finally have the full article up on my Flying Cars and Food Pills website. [The First Groundhog Day was Christmas](http://www.flyingcarsandfoodpills.com/#!the-first-groundhog-day-was-christm/vswtr) Thanks for all your help everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/33 "2016-08-31T22:14:02Z")
Very enjoyable piece of detective work, there, Exapno! And visually attractive, too–lots of juicy illustrations. Thanks for linking it! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/34 "2016-09-01T00:03:59Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Took me a while to find all the stories and read them, and then research the authors, but I finally have the full article up on my Flying Cars and Food Pills website. > > [The First Groundhog Day was Christmas](http://www.flyingcarsandfoodpills.com/#!the-first-groundhog-day-was-christm/vswtr) > > Thanks for all your help everyone. That’s really great! Is the 2023 copyright date part of the time-bending fun? In a general sense, this theme goes back to the earliest Hindu texts (and later Buddhist ones) – that each of us is condemned to repeat the cycle of life until we get it right and can move on with things. I’m sure I’m not the first one to notice this underlying link. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/35 "2016-09-01T00:53:39Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > That’s really great! Thanks. And thanks to Sherrerd too. > [@](#): > > Is the 2023 copyright date part of the time-bending fun? I never noticed that. I checked and it’s a Wix thing. > [@](#): > > No, not a mistake, that’s how we sign many of our templates (we like the futuristic touch:) However, this info is editable and the idea is that you change it to the present year. It’s custom to change the date with every year that passes. Wonderful. One more thing to do. Shouldn’t they tell people about this? Of course, I’m unusual in using Wix to make a site with dozens of pages. They are mostly aimed at businesses with a page or two of HD pictures. > [@](#): > > In a general sense, this theme goes back to the earliest Hindu texts (and later Buddhist ones) – that each of us is condemned to repeat the cycle of life until we get it right and can move on with things. I’m sure I’m not the first one to notice this underlying link. The device is certainly a specific use of that larger principle, which may be why it seems to strike people so strongly. As I say in my article, the desire to relive special days is a primal one, just as the horror of having to go through a bad one would be. That’s why it’s surprising that the device isn’t more common and that the extant examples are so unknown. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/36 "2016-09-01T01:26:33Z")
12:01PM as others have said. Apparently there is another movie just called '12:01' not 12:01PM > **[12:01 (1993 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12:01_(1993_film))** > > 12:01 is a 1993 American science fiction television film directed by Jack Sholder and starring Jonathan Silverman, Helen Slater, Jeremy Piven, and Martin Landau. It originally aired on the Fox Network in the United States on July 5, 1993. > It is an adaptation of Richard Lupoff's short story "12:01 PM," published in the December 1973 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. The story had previously been adapted into the 1990 short film 12:01 PM starring Kurtwood Smith. > Barry Thomas is ... ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/37 "2016-09-01T15:54:33Z")
Some of you might be wondering why I didn’t use some of the suggestions made here. It’s because I thought that the depiction of reliving the time was the important point, not merely the mention of a time loop. So that knocked out Ursula LeGuin’s “The Darkness Box,” Anthony Armstrong’s 'The Prince’s Birthday Present," Philip K. Dick’s “A Little Something for Us Tempunauts,” and the _Twilight Zone_ episode “Shadow Play,” based on Charles Beaumont’s story “Traumerei,” from _Infinity Science Fiction_, Feb. 1956. The first three mention that their characters relive their days but we see only one iteration. The _Twilight Zone_ episode is interesting and closer. The protagonist is dreaming the world but with the details slightly changed each time. We only see a repetition for a minute at the end of the broadcast. The anguish of the lead knowing that he will be reliving his date with the electric chair is palpable. (I’d say overacted, but how could you overact that?) It gets to the heart of being trapped by fate. I was torn, and still am, whether I should include it. Any advice? Should I put in a paragraph just to mention these? Or is the article long and convoluted enough as it is? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/38 "2016-09-03T20:34:41Z")
In your article you skillfully built suspense by winding down the precursors that happened to have certain crucial elements in common with _Groundhog Day_. But as you intimate, there are plenty of stories that don’t share those particular elements, yet do fall into the general category of ‘stories similar to GD.’ I’d guess that the works you mention (in post #37) are only a few of all the stories that diverge from GD a bit more than do the works you did include in the article. So what I’m trying to say, here, is: How about a second article?!! The element of ‘seeing only one iteration’ is an important distinction from a foundational element of the GD plot (that is, that the protagonist learns from the re-iterations). I would guess that in a lengthier list of stories employing time loops, there would be a natural classification tree that would make for an intriguing article on its own. (Of course I happen to be a fan of classification trees for plots, but I’m scarcely alone in that. I mean, TV Tropes! (etc.)) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/39 "2016-09-04T14:51:49Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > So what I’m trying to say, here, is: How about a second article?!! Oh, hell no! This one took two months. I’m already working on three others, with more stuck in the cue. I might add a paragraph for completists but I’m done here. But thanks for wanting more. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352/40 "2016-09-04T18:49:30Z")
🙂 There really is no end to what might be said on the topic, so, yeah: one does have to call a halt somewhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-story-with-the-same-plot-as-groundhog-day/759352.md?page=3)