# I just realized--{blank} and {blank} are basically the same show! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized-blank-and-blank-are-basically-the-same-show/501101 "2009-06-26T19:46:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized-blank-and-blank-are-basically-the-same-show/501101/81 "2009-06-30T21:07:09Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > I have always thuoght of Burn Notice as a revamped MacGuyver, not Magnum, PI. > > MacGuyver never used guns, though, until he got promoted to Lt Colonel. It was more than that he never used guns–Angus was simply useless as a hand-to-hand combatant. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized-blank-and-blank-are-basically-the-same-show/501101/82 "2009-07-01T01:29:51Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > It was more than that he never used guns–Angus was simply useless as a hand-to-hand combatant. Wha? He got into a fistfight in a whole lot of episodes, if I recall. He was a master at using terrain to his advantage 🙂 But generally, you are right, he preferred to set booby-traps and distractions allowing for escape. I think it generally acknowledged teh reality better that one person wasn’t going to fight his way out of most situations. Burn Notice resorts to physical violence a lot more often (and I love it, don’t get me wrong), and I can’t help thinking that someone who had to get physical that often would have gotten himself killed by now in all likelihood. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized-blank-and-blank-are-basically-the-same-show/501101/83 "2009-07-01T01:48:03Z")
Although I never watched it regularly, it took seeing a few episodes of _Step By Step_ before I realized it was an exact copy of _The Brady Bunch_ (including cousin Cody in the Alice role). They even brought in an annoying little child near the end of the show’s run. Anything that premiered within the last year or so on The Discovery Channel is at least 80% _Mythbusters_. I always felt _Danger Mouse_ owed a bigger debt to Maxwell Smart than to John Drake or James Bond, or even Simon Templar. At least now I finally understand why Barney sounded so weird in a few episodes. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized-blank-and-blank-are-basically-the-same-show/501101/84 "2009-07-01T05:01:28Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Ark II and Damnation Alley both had similar vehicles. I used to think that they were the same vehicle – thinking Filmation bought the Damnation Alley rig and redressed it – but no. Ark II was a – Hee – garbage truck. Check out the Wikipedia page. > [@Jragon](#): > > Street Sharks was basically Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles… WITH SHARKS! > . Lord, spare me from all the TMNT comic book knock-offs. Adolescent Radioactive Black-Belt Hamsters…Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung Fu Kangaroos…the list goes on and on. > [@Jilaad](#): > > If you want movies that are the same, Dances With Wolves and The Last Samurai are the exact same movie. Exact. Same. Movie. Actually, if you think about it, Dances WIth Wolves is just like F-Troop. Really. Nice but clueless Captain sent out to the frontier populated with a shifty Sergeant and a friendly Indians… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized-blank-and-blank-are-basically-the-same-show/501101/85 "2009-07-01T07:42:30Z")
_30 Rock_ is a remake of _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_ with Liz as Mary, Jack as Lou, Pete as Murray, Tracy as Ted _Cybil_ was a remake of _Absolutely Fabulous_ with Cybil as Edwina, MaryAnn as Patsy. Only nobody ever told Cybil. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-realized-blank-and-blank-are-basically-the-same-show/501101.md?page=4)