# 'Groundhog Day' inspired movies/series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [February 10, 2021, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592 "2021-02-10T10:58:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/21 "2021-02-10T20:23:26Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Also, a novel [The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Fifteen_Lives_of_Harry_August), somewhat similar to Replay above. A man relives his entire life from birth to death over and over again. I was going to mention that. In that genre Vonnegut published _Timequake_ in 1997, but Grimwood was before even _Groundhog Day._ Then again Billy Pilgrim was already “unstuck in time” in _Slaughterhouse-Five_ in 1969. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/22 "2021-02-10T20:28:04Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > From [the TV Tropes entry](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GroundhogDayLoop), I really want to see this: > > Let’s Make a Deal did this on a Groundhog Day episode, no less. After every commercial break, the opening spiels were repeated, and the exact same contestant was brought down to play the exact same deal. However, the deal went farther every time it was played. I found a promo on YouTube. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vS-_MVvSceQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Let’s Make A Deal Celebrates Groundhog Day") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS-_MVvSceQ) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/23 "2021-02-10T20:42:34Z")
I was a fan of a limited series called Day Break (2006) starring Taye Diggs. He plays a police detective framed for murder. He has to relive the day until he not only proves who really did it, but has to make certain other events come out right too. The network cancelled it halfway through its run, and I was mad as hell. They did eventually make the remaining episodes available online. It doesn’t appear to be available for streaming anywhere now but you can still buy it on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/24 "2021-02-10T20:59:40Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > Source Code is not a time loop movie but I think it fits in this category. Isn’t it really? The MacGuffin isn’t the same as Groundhog Day (and it’s deliberately invoked rather than being something that just happens) but it’s a repeat of the same couple of hours over and over until the problem is fixed. The ending is…problematic though. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/25 "2021-02-10T21:48:49Z")
I guess it depends how you define it but for the description of the OP it fits. I agree with you about the ending. If we are doing tv shows here too I will add the most recent Simpsons Treehouse of Horror did a spoof of Russian Doll. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2021, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/26 "2021-02-10T22:07:05Z")
Don’t bother with _Before I Fall_. It is bad, with huge plot holes. The Veronica in a group of Heathers is stuck in a time loop. First time through she is in a terrible automobile accident. She prevents that in future loops, but there is always a loop. Eventually she finds out the cause of the accident–the girl she and the other Mean Girls have been bullying commits suicide by jumping in front of a car. (First time it was their car, other times a different one. She tries to talk suicide girl out of it a couple times, then finally breaks the loop by pushing suicide girl out from in front of the car, getting herself killed (permanently) in suicide girl’s place. And yet, at no time does she try to alert any adults that the girl might be thinking of suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/27 "2021-02-10T22:21:50Z")
Not a perfect fit but I think the old '60s series [_The Prisoner_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061287/) deserves a mention. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/28 "2021-02-10T22:35:13Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I was a fan of a limited series called Day Break (2006) starring Taye Diggs. Fantastic show. Deserved better, but thankful that they made them all available online, one of the earliest (if not the first) to do that. I could just imagine where it might go next - a second season with other characters and a new story, then a third, but with a fourth and final they could’ve all come together and experience the day individually in different ways, having to find each other and figure out a strategy. I guess there’s still meat on the bones of this idea to attempt it again one day. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/29 "2021-02-11T03:18:07Z")
I remember watching that. At some point during the second episode I wondered if it was just a repeat but there definitely were some noticeable differences. As they went on it became a real mind trip. For those who don’t know, this Endless Eight arc of the series was a literal 8-episode arc of the same sequence of events repeating each episode. The episodes vary slightly in their dialogue, POVs of particular scenes, and there is a sense that some characters start noticing something, but it’s _almost_ the same as watching a single episode eight times in a row. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2021, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/30 "2021-02-11T03:58:04Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > I remember watching that. At some point during the second episode I wondered if it was just a repeat but there definitely were some noticeable differences. As they went on it became a real mind trip. It is a bit of a high learning curve to jump into though. A basic plot outline: Haruhi Suzumiya is a very powerful reality warper, who is completely unaware of that but is obsessed with science fiction and fantasy. Her group of friends are secretly SFish characters–an alien android, a time traveler, and a ESPer–who (along with one completely normal guy) try to keep her calm and happy and **normal** lest her moods have a destructive effect on the world and the universe. (It is implied that maybe aliens, time-travelers, and ESPers exist in the first place only because she willed it. Even the first season was weird, intentionally airing the (story arc-dependant) episodes out of chronological order. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/31 "2021-02-13T03:19:53Z")
I just watched the season 5 _The Magicians_ episode “Oops I Did It Again”, where a time loop was involved. Interesting that 1. They figure out they are in a loop early 2. There is reference to Groundhog Day, Russian Doll, Star Trek, et al Brian ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/32 "2021-02-13T04:01:47Z")
One of the episodes of the rebooted Twilight Zone on CBS All Access was like this. Spoilered because it’s not obvious what is going on at first: Season 2, episode 9 “Try, Try” ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/33 "2021-02-13T07:36:58Z")
[Run Lola Run](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130827/) where Lola has twenty minutes to raise 100,000 Deutschmarks to save her boyfriend’s life and keeps repeating failed attempts. Several moments later in the film suggest that she’s reliving the same twenty minutes (rather than just presenting alternate “what if” versions of the story). ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/34 "2021-02-13T08:31:51Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Isn’t it really? The MacGuffin isn’t the same as Groundhog Day (and it’s deliberately invoked rather than being something that just happens) but it’s a repeat of the same couple of hours over and over until the problem is fixed. The ending is…problematic though. Problematic? I thought it was pretty straightforward. I mean any film that deals with time travel and parallel realities can pretty much make it up as they go along but the general concept seems fairly unremarkeable. I really enjoyed it, as I did with “moon” also by Jones and one that deals some some related issues. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/35 "2021-02-13T20:10:28Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Problematic? I thought it was pretty straightforward Problematic in that… He took over the body of another person who presumably ceased to exist at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/36 "2021-02-13T20:45:40Z")
Two not yet mentioned: TV: _The X-Files_, “Monday”, S6E14. Film: _Triangle_, with what appears to be nested loops. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/37 "2021-02-13T22:20:41Z")
I don’t see that as problematic, He entered a parallel world, the inhabitants of which didn’t exist at all until it was created by his actions. He didn’t erase a person, The reality which carried on with him in it after his life-support was turned off could never have existed _without_ him being in it. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/38 "2021-02-13T22:41:47Z")
I still find the same problem in that scenario. Here is an interview with Jones where he gives his interpretation (spoiler tags because the preview has spoilers). [Duncan Jones tells us what really happened at the end of Source Code](https://www.google.com/amp/s/io9.gizmodo.com/duncan-jones-tells-us-what-really-happened-at-the-end-o-5788795/amp) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/39 "2021-02-15T06:31:36Z")
Right now on Hallmark, the wife is watching a 2017 film called _Valentine’s Again_. Something about a gypsy curse making a lady relive the same Valentine’s Day over and over. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592/40 "2021-02-15T16:18:46Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Well, “Boss Level” with Mel Gibson supposedly has the time loop/life is a video game level plot, though I have not seen it yet so cannot say precisely. Dying over and over again, video-game style was basically already in _Rogue Moon_ in 1960. This was very fun, we watched it a couple of weeks ago. Only complaint is that the ending, well, it did not really have a very good one, or it’s set to go straight into BL2. It’s not so widely seen as to have discussion of the ending online… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhog-day-inspired-movies-series/932592.md?page=3)