You know the trope where a person ditches his/her group of friends or coworkers and finds themselves a new group - but that new group is freakishly similar to the group they left behind? And usually worse.
For example, let’s say Daphne gets fed up with Scooby and the gang and finds a promising new group of friends. That group would turn out to be comprised of an alpha-type dude, a brainiac girl, a stoner/slacker guy, and a talking animal of some sort, all of whom are slightly off-putting in one way or another. Daphne then comes to her senses and rejoins the original gang, but with new appreciation for their good (or at least familiar) qualities.
I know I’ve seen this a bunch of times, but I can’t think of a single example!
I’m specifically looking for a time this happened in a movie about high school students, but other examples are welcome too.
“Seinfeld” popped into my head, but I forgot about that episode.
The only thing I could remember was the episode where they’re making a show based on Jerry’s life and the actors that they cast to play the main group were “off” versions of the originals. That’s related, I guess, but different.
Not strictly what you’re talking about, but included. If the replacement is permanent, it’s Suspiciously Similar Substitute.
The only example I can think of off the top of my head is a one off joke from Dr. Who. When he had to give up K-9 he shrugs it off, then we see him sign for a crate marked F1-D0.
I thought of the same thing Mike stated upthread. Bizarro Jerry did just this. Tvtropes calls it Bizarro Universe. It states that Superman started it and Jerry has always been a Superman fan, so I assume that’s where he got the idea.
It also mentions Alternate Universe, but that may be a bit different.
Yes, that’s very similar, and I 'm wondering if there are more examples of a group meeting a weirdly similar group than one person leaving a group and joining another group that is weirdly similar.
And now I know why it was bugging me so much that I couldn’t think of any examples of any group that was weirdly similar to the main group - I just saw Shaun of the Dead for the first time last week! (That was a group-meets-group scenario, but at least fits the broader theme)
If anybody knows of any teen movies (or anything else) with this related trope, please share.
Also, Big Bang Theory is pinging my mental radar, which is weird because I’ve never seen the show - just a clip or two here or there - but I seem to remember a faux-Sheldon. Am I hallucinating it? And something like this had to have happened on How I Met Your Mother, right? If not they should have. It’s a cliche, but always good for a laugh.
I think the thing that differentiates this from Suspiciously Similar Substitute is that the weirdly similar group is pretty much always played for a laugh. The Suspiciously Similar Substitute may or may not be.
Alternate Universe is definitely different, but always fun. (Fringe gets bonus points for the names: Olivia/Fauxlivia and Walter/Walternate. ) I suppose it would fit if the weirdly similar group happened to come from an alternate universe, though.
) I suppose it would fit if the weirdly similar group happened to come from an alternate universe, though.