History FollowTheLeader / LiveActionTv

* The success of ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'', plus he press that went into its movie featuring a CrisisCrossover with every rider ever lead to later instalments of Franchise/KamenRider, along with Franchise/SuperSentai and Franchise/UltraSeries featuring returning actors and items based on legend heroes.

* The success of ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'', plus he press that went into its movie featuring a CrisisCrossover with every rider ever lead to later instalments of Franchise/KamenRider, along with FranchiseSuperSentai and Franchise/UltraSeries featuring returning actors and items based on legend heroes.

** In 2020, the show produced the special ''Elmo's Playdate'' as a response to the UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic. It was so successful that other specials aimed at families would be produced in response to this, including ''The Disney Family Sing-Along'' (which did well enough to get a sequel), the ''Series/DangerForce'' episode "Quaran-kini", ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse The Loud House and]] [[WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes Casagrandes Hangin' At Home]]'', ''Group Chat With Annie and Jayden'', ''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants The Stars of [=SpongeBob=] Fan Favorites]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Won’t You Sing Along with Me?]]''. It also may have lead to a ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' PublicServiceAnnouncement on handwashing being inserted into ''One World: Together At Home''. Even ''Sesame Street'' themselves did more specials after the success of ''Elmo's Playdate'', including ''The [=ABC's=] of COVID-19'', ''Elmo's World News'' and Abby Cadabby appearing during the aformentioned ''One World'' concert.

* ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' spawned a whole raft of nighttime soaps, with its own spinoff ''Series/KnotsLanding'' and ''Series/{{Dynasty}}'' being the most successful. Then there was ''Flamingo Road'', ''Secrets of Midland Heights'', ''Berrenger's'', ''Kings Crossing''...

* Following the news that Marvel would be creating high-budget shows based on their library of characters (''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'', 'Series/{{WandaVision}}'', [[Comicbook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]], Comicbook/SheHulk and Comicbook/MoonKnight) for the Creator/DisneyPlus streaming platform, WB announced plans to produce high-budget series based on Franchise/GreenLantern and Comicbook/JusticeLeagueDark for Creator/HBOMax, Disney+'s direct competitor.

* Following the news that Marvel would be creating high-budget shows based on their library of characters (Comicbook/TheFalcon and [[Comicbook/BuckyBarnes Winter Soldier]], Comicbook/ScarletWitch and Comicbook/TheVision, [[Comicbook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]], Comicbook/SheHulk and Comicbook/MoonKnight) for the Creator/DisneyPlus streaming platform, WB announced plans to produce high-budget series based on Franchise/GreenLantern and Comicbook/JusticeLeagueDark for Creator/HBOMax, Disney+'s direct competitor.

*** ''Jackass'' itself was derived in part from the character of Super Dave Osborne, a {{parody}} of 1970s stuntmen like Evel Kneivel, played by comedian Bob Einstein. Einstein himself detests ''Jackass'', pointing out in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa-Otn02mtY this interview]] that ''Jackass'' is tragically easy to imitate, while the stunts he pulled were a lot harder for viewers to copy.

* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' was such a runaway hit in its US broadcast on the cable network Noggin that the channel's teen programming block, The-N, was spun off into its own channel. The-N has spent its entire existence making (or getting the rights to) shows that repeat the formula: a SoapOpera DysfunctionJunction of teenage (or slightly older) StarCrossedLovers whose love is threatened by either NoGoingSteady or a LoveTriangle, InAWorld where AdultsAreUseless and a FamilyUnfriendlyAesop is around every corner, and [[NothingIsTheSameAnyMore everything changes constantly]]. The-N even marketed them this way, with ''Degrassi'' actors guest-starring in them and CrossOver commercials with characters from multiple shows. None of them gained the mega-popularity of ''Degrassi.'' They ranged from ''Series/SouthOfNowhere'', (''Degrassi'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Series/BeverlyHills90210''...[[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries in America!]]), which managed a cult following, to ''Whistler'' (''Degrassi'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] watered-down ''Series/TwinPeaks''), which was poorly promoted and barely noticed outside of Canada, to ''Beyond The Break'' (''Degrassi'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'', complete with a former ''Baywatch'' actor), which was exactly as cheesy and ridiculous as expected.

** In 2020, the show produced the special ''Elmo's Playdate'' as a response to the UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic. It was so successful that other specials aimed at families would be produced in response to this, including ''The Disney Family Sing-Along'' (which did well enough to get a sequel), the ''Series/DangerForce'' episode "Quaran-kini", ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse The Loud House and]] [[WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes Casagrandes Hangin' At Home]]'', ''Group Chat With Annie and Jayden'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants The Stars of [=SpongeBob=] Fan Favorites]]''. It also may have lead to a ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' PublicServiceAnnouncement on handwashing being inserted into ''One World: Together At Home''. Even ''Sesame Street'' themselves did more specials after the success of ''Elmo's Playdate'', including ''The [=ABC's=] of COVID-19'' and Abby Cadabby appearing during the aformentioned ''One World'' concert.

*** ''Jackass'' itself was derived in part from the character off Super Dave Osborne, a {{parody}} of 1970s stuntmen like Evel Kneivel, played by comedian Bob Einstein. Einstein himself detests ''Jackass'', pointing out in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa-Otn02mtY this interview]] that ''Jackass'' is tragically easy to imitate, while the stunts he pulled were a lot harder for viewers to copy.

* The success of the pithy, sarcastic ''Series/JudgeJudy'' spawned a whole slew of pithy, sarcastic judge shows: ''Judge Mathis'', ''Judge Joe Brown'', Magazine/{{Playboy}} Channel's ''Judge Julie'' etc. Even the venerable ''The People's Court'' replaced Judge Wapner with sarcastic, saucy Latina Judge Marilyn Milian (after brief stints by former New York Mayor Ed Koch and Judge Judy's husband). To be fair, Jerry Sheindlin was a judge in his own right.
** The ''People's Court'' revival was originally planned as a vehicle for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson_trial Lance Ito]], who wisely declined.

* Following the news that Marvel would be creating high-budget shows based on their library of characters (Comicbook/TheFalcon and [[Comicbook/BuckyBarnes Winter Soldier]], Comicbook/ScarletWitch and Comicbook/TheVision, [[Comicbook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]], Comicbook/SheHulk and Comicbook/MoonKnight) for the Creator/DisneyPlus streaming platform, WB announced plans to produce a high-budget Franchise/GreenLantern series for Creator/HBOMax, Disney+'s direct competitor.

** In 2020, the show produced the special ''Elmo's Playdate'' as a response to the UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic. It was so successful that other specials aimed at families would be produced in response to this, including ''The Disney Family Sing-Along'' (which did well enough to get a sequel), the ''Series/DangerForce'' episode "Quaran-kini", ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse The Loud House and]] [[WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes Casagrandes Hangin' At Home]]'' and ''Group Chat With Annie and Jayden'', and also may have lead to a ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' PublicServiceAnnouncement on handwashing being inserted into ''One World: Together At Home''. Even ''Sesame Street'' themselves did more specials after the success of ''Elmo's Playdate'', including ''The [=ABC's=] of COVID-19'' and Abby Cadabby appearing during the aformentioned ''One World'' concert.

** In 2020, the show produced the special ''Elmo's Playdate'' as a response to the UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic. It was so successful that other specials aimed at families would be produced in response to this, including ''The Disney Family Sing-Along'' (which did well enough to get a sequel), the ''Series/DangerForce'' episode "Quaran-kini", ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse The Loud House and]] [[WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes Casagrandes Hangin' At Home]]'' and ''Group Chat With Annie and Jayden'', and also may have lead to a ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' PublicServiceAnnouncement on handwashing being inserted into ''One World: Together At Home''. Even ''Sesame Street'' themselves did more specials after the success of ''Elmo's Playdate'', including ''The [=ABC's=] of COVID-19'' and Abby Cadabby appearing on the aformentioned ''One World'' concert.

** In 2020, the show produced the special ''Elmo's Playdate'' as a response to the UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic. It was so successful that other specials aimed at families would be produced in response to this, including ''The Disney Family Sing-Along'' (which did well enough to get a sequel), the ''Series/DangerForce'' episode "Quaran-kini'', ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse The Loud House and]] [[WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes Casagrandes Hangin' At Home]]'' and ''Group Chat With Annie and Jayden'', and also may have lead to a ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' PublicServiceAnnouncement on handwashing being inserted into ''One World: Together At Home''. Even ''Sesame Street'' themselves did more specials after the success of ''Elmo's Playdate'', including ''The [=ABC's=] of COVID-19'' and Abby Cadabby appearing on the aformentioned ''One World'' concert.

** It also inspired a lot of WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld series. ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', ''Series/{{Roswell}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' being chief among them.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' was followed by a slew of modern-day MonsterOfTheWeek fantasy series (''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', ''Series/{{Reaper}}'', and a number of others) as well as helping to spark a resurgence of action series with [[ActionGirl female leads]], though arguably the somewhat earlier ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' was more of a trendsetter in that field.

** It also helped kick off a revival of vampire movies, particularly ''Underworld''.
** ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' followed the trend of "special human girl and vampire fall in love" but [[ComicallyMissingThePoint tragically misses the point]] where Angel and Buffy [[spoiler: realize that their relationship will never work out and end it]].
** It even influenced ''cartoons'' -- ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' is clearly modelled after Buffy's basic plot structure, and the heroine is even a cheerleader.

* ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' is quite an astonishingly direct emulation of the premise and format of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', to the point where a few of the characters are even {{expy}}s of the parent show's cast, at least to begin with. It quickly developed its own identity, however, something helped by the setting and the stakes -- where even a young and HotBlooded Superman adheres to ThouShaltNotKill, Merlin himself racks up an absolutely horrendous body count without even blinking twice.

* Probably the most incredible chain of such events: ''Series/TheSopranos'' was ''Goodfellas'': The Series. ''Series/{{Deadwood}}'' was "''Series/TheSopranos'' in the Old West", ''Series/{{Rome}}'' was "''Series/{{Deadwood}}'' in Ancient Rome", and ''Series/TheTudors'' was "''Series/{{Rome}}'' in Tudor England". Surprisingly, the quality of all of these shows vary only from good to excellent. Then the trend became "gritty expensive TV series in a historical setting with lotsa blood, sex and DeliberateValuesDissonance" including ''Series/MadMen'', ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'', ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'', ''Series/ThePillarsOfTheEarth'', ''Series/TheBorgias'', ''Series/{{Camelot}}'', ''Series/GameOfThrones''...
** For a more specific example, ''The Sopranos'' was very influential in popularizing the ByronicHero trope for the main character in television, i.e. a complex, morally ambiguous character who's charismatic and has sympathetic and humanizing qualities, but who is also deeply flawed and commits many horrible deeds thanks to their deep character deficiencies, which are criticized by the show. Notable examples include ''Mad Men'' (whose showrunner worked on The Sopranos) and ''Breaking Bad'' (with Bryan Cranston stating that without Tony Soprano, Walter White would not exist).

* Creator/{{USA|Network}} released ''Series/{{Psych}}'', a series about a hyperobservant amateur who solves crimes by pretending to have psychic powers. Shortly after it became a hit, CBS released ''Series/TheMentalist'', a series about a hyperobservant solves crimes by pretending to have psychic powers. In fairness, the show is a lot angstier.

** It's been pointed out that both shows, along with several others, including the aforementioned ''Monk'', ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'', and even ''Series/{{House}}'' and ''Series/{{Life}}'' are all really based off of ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes''; an extremely intelligent yet quirky detective solves mysteries by noticing the little details. The only things that ''Psych'' and ''The Mentalist'' specifically have in common are the "fake psychic" thing and being set in California, and both shows use both of those elements very differently.

*** Not sure how it goes in the States, but in Australia, there seems to be a legal requirement for reviewers to describe ''Burn Notice'' as "'''''The A Team''' for grownups'''".

* The success of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' may have led to ''Literature/TheVampireDiaries'' [[Series/TheVampireDiaries being produced for television]]. (It's a preexisting franchise example, since it's based on a series of books that preceded ''Twilight''.)
** It may have also influenced the MTV show ''Series/TeenWolf'', based on an [[TheEighties eighties]] [[Film/TeenWolf film of the same name]]. While the original movie was a comedy starring Creator/MichaelJFox, the show has "a greater emphasis on [[HotterAndSexier romance]], [[DarkerAndEdgier horror]] and werewolf mythology" and has a lead that more closely resembles Creator/TaylorLautner.
** ''Series/TheSecretCircle'', about a band of teen witches, might also count, and Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/DarkShadows''.

* The success of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' led to a small but noticeable number of new shows, although mostly historical rather than fantasy: ''Series/{{Vikings}}'', ''Series/MarcoPolo'', ''Series/{{Reign}}'', and ''Series/TheWhiteQueen'' (which gets bonus points for being a retelling of the actual historical events that inspired ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' in the first place). It has also led to a large number of epic fantasy book series getting optioned for series adaptations.

-->'''Earl:''' "This is why TV stinks. One show's a hit, they make 50 more just like it, with the same characters and the same premise."
-->'''Baby''': "Don't have a cow, man!"

* Netflix's ''Making a Murderer'' pretty much provoked an explosion of "True Crime" documentaries and biographies on television (which was already gaining traction through the podcast ''Serial'' and HBO's ''The Jinx''), reacquainting people with the most notorious of murder cases such as the O.J. Simpson trial and the killing of [=JonBenet=] Ramsay. The female-centric Oxygen network even [[NetworkDecay revamped its original format]] to take advantage of this trend.

* TLC has the medical GrossoutShow ''Dr. Pimple Popper'' about a dermatologist. A few months later, A&E began airing ''The Toe Bro'', which is a similar show about a foot specialist.

* ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' became rather sad in its third season, as it started following any leader that presented itself, with episodes that were little more than cheap ripoffs of the movies ''Film/{{Twister}}'', ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'', ''Film/{{Tremors}}'', ''Franchise/JurassicPark'', and ''Film/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau''.

* ''Film/Batman1989'' inspired the short-lived ''Series/TheFlash1990'' on CBS as is obvious from both the general tone of the show and Danny Elfman's recycled score.

** After ''Lost'''s finale, a slew of new shows have started claiming to be "the next Lost" in order to round up the Lost fans looking for something new to watch. ''Series/FlashForward2009'', ''Series/{{V|2009}}'', and ''Series/TheEvent'' have both tried rather unsuccessfully to take Lost's place and new programs ''Series/StargateUniverse'', ''Riverworld'', and ''Series/TerraNova'' made the attempt as well.

* Following the news that Marvel would be creating high-budget shows based on their library of characters (Comicbook/TheFalcon and [[Comicbook/BuckyBarnes Winter Soldier]], Comicbook/ScarletWitch and Comicbook/TheVision, [[Comicbook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]], Comicbook/SheHulk and Comicbook/MoonKnight) for the Creator/DisneyPlus streaming platform, WB announced plans to produce a high-budget Comicbook/GreenLantern series for Creator/HBOMax, Disney+'s direct competitor.

* After ''Series/HotInCleveland'' became a runaway hit, TV Land has been attempting to have lightning strike twice, creating a string of three-camera sitcoms featuring classic sitcom and Film veterans. ''Retired at 35'' (George Segal, Jessica Walter), ''Series/HappilyDivorced'' (Creator/FranDrescher, Rita Moreno), ''The Exes'' (Kristen Johnson, Wayne Knight, Donald Faison). It's contributed to TV Land's NetworkDecay (instead of showing classic sitcoms, it shows new sitcoms with classic sitcom ''actors''), but they've been well received for the most part, so [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools no one's really complaining too much.]]

* The ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' episode "Dirty Dancing" has an in-universe example where the TV line-up consists of nothing but shows involving [[BumblingDad idiot fathers]], following the success of the show "Totally Ineffectual Dad". It also includes a Main/TakeThat to critics who accused ''Dinosaurs'' of being a knock-off of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':

* In 2002 Creator/AnimalPlanet began the ''Series/PuppyBowl'', a puppy-based show on Superbowl Sunday. In 2005 it added a kitten half-time show. Hallmark Channel however has an entire ''Kitten Bowl'' dedicated to kittens, which began in 2014. Creator/NationalGeographicChannel's nature-based spinoff channel, Creator/NatGeoWild, began the ''Fish Bowl'' in 2015, which is nothing but fish swimming in a bowl. In 2018 Animal Planet followed ''itself'' by also producing the Dog Bowl, which is the Puppy Bowl but for older dogs (and is presented by the Puppy Bowl). It should be noted in this case that Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad: kittens, fish, and older dogs all have their fans, and given the whole point of all these shows is to promote adopting animals from shelters instead of buying from breeders or stores, it's not a ''bad'' thing that there are imitators.

* The aforementioned ''Series/{{Titans}}'', a DarkerAndEdgier superhero show released on the Creator/DCUniverse streaming service, was also clearly inspired by the success of the DarkerAndEdgier Marvel shows created for the Creator/{{Netflix}} streaming service, such as ''Series/{{Daredevil}}'' and ''Series/JessicaJones''.

* After ''Series/HotInCleveland'' became a runaway hit, TV Land has been attempting to have lightning strike twice, creating a string of three-camera sitcoms featuring classic sitcom and Film veterans. ''Retired at 35'' (George Segal, Jessica Walter), ''Series/HappilyDivorced'' (Creator/FranDrescher, Rita Moreno), ''The Exes'' (Kristen Johnson, Wayne Knight, Donald Faison). It's contributed to TV Land's NetworkDecay (instead of showing classic sitcoms, it shows new sitcoms with classic sitcom ''actors''), but they've been well received for the most part, so [[TropesAreNotBad no one's really complaining too much.]]

* In 2002 Creator/AnimalPlanet began the ''Series/PuppyBowl'', a puppy-based show on Superbowl Sunday. In 2005 it added a kitten half-time show. Hallmark Channel however has an entire ''Kitten Bowl'' dedicated to kittens, which began in 2014. Creator/NationalGeographicChannel's nature-based spinoff channel, Creator/NatGeoWild, began the ''Fish Bowl'' in 2015, which is nothing but fish swimming in a bowl. In 2018 Animal Planet followed ''itself'' by also producing the Dog Bowl, which is the Puppy Bowl but for older dogs (and is presented by the Puppy Bowl). It should be noted in this case that TropesAreNotBad: kittens, fish, and older dogs all have their fans, and given the whole point of all these shows is to promote adopting animals from shelters instead of buying from breeders or stores, it's not a ''bad'' thing that there are imitators.

* In the 1980s, British television Creator/{{Granada}} began a [[Series/SherlockHolmes series]] of incredibly faithful adaptations of the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' stories, starring Creator/JeremyBrett as Holmes. After its success, it was eventually followed by a [[Series/{{Poirot}} series]] of incredibly faithful adaptations of Creator/AgathaChristie's Literature/HerculePoirot stories, starring Creator/DavidSuchet as Poirot and series of similarly faithful adaptations of Christie's Literature/MissMarple stories. This particular case is arguably a [[TropesAreTools Tropes Are Not Bad]] example, since all three series and their stars are largely acclaimed as being definitive adaptations.

* Following the news that Marvel would be creating high-budget shows based on their library of characters (Comicbook/TheFalcon and [[Comicbook/BuckyBarnes Winter Soldier]], Comicbook/ScarletWitch and Comicbook/TheVision, Comicbook/MsMarvel2014, Comicbook/SheHulk and Comicbook/MoonKnight) for the Creator/DisneyPlus streaming platform, WB announced plans to produce a high-budget Comicbook/GreenLantern series for Creator/HBOMax, Disney+'s direct competitor.

* Following the news that Marvel would be creating high-budget shows based on their library of characters (Comicbook/TheFalcon and [[Comicbook/BuckyBarnesfor Winter Soldier]], Comicboko/ScarletWitch and Comicbook/TheVision, Comicbook/MsMarvel2014, Comicbook/SheHulk and Comicbook/MoonKnight) for the Creator/DisneyPlus streaming platform, WB announced plans to produce a high-budget Comicbook/GreenLantern series for Creator/HBOMax, Disney+'s direct competitor.