History Main / OddballInTheSeries

* ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' is the only movie in the ''Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries'' in which Ethan Hunt and his team don't end up having to [[SternChase go on the run from the government]] and try to accomplish the mission while [[InspectorJavert wrongly considered]] [[RogueAgent rogue]] at some point. The action direction by Creator/JohnWoo is also different from the setpieces of the rest of the series, being the only film where Hunt does GunFu.

* ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'', the second film in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse god, is a massive oddball in that series:

* ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'', the second film in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, is a massive oddball in that series:

** "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" is the only ''Simpsons'' ClipShow episode that doesn't have the Simpson family sitting around and remembering past adventures. Notably, the producers tried to avoid the usual clip show tropes as much as possible, with the inclusion of previously-unreleased deleted scenes and the rare ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'' shorts (which, pilot short aside, aren't even available on DVD outside of this clip show). As [=McClure=] points out, Act Two's DeletedScenes montage is arguably a DefiedTrope.

** 1980's ''Series/UltramanEighty'' had its first half as an oddball, being just as focused on Takeshi's life as a teacher and his relationships with staff and students as on his battles with kaiju. However, ratings dipped in the mid-tens, causing the rest of the series to be retooled into a far more standard Ultra show. Producer Noboru Tsuburaya [[DoingItForTheArt specifically meant]] to use the first half as an attempt at a school dorama as well as a tokusatsu, and he later said the second half of the series was an OldShame for him due to not living up to his original vision, and the first half of the show only got a resolution in ''Series/UltramanMebius'' some 26 years later.

** "Treehouse Of Horror II" is the only WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror special where the individual segments don't have onscreen titles. In this episode, the FramingDevice is Lisa, Bart, and Homer have candy-induced nightmares, so the episode guide only refers to the segments as "Lisa's Nightmare", "Bart's Nightmare", and "Homer's Nightmare".

** "Treehouse Of Horror XXXII" is the first, and so far, only Treehouse Of Horror episode to include more than 3 segments, featuring 5 segments in total.

* The first FIFA Women's Cup in 1991 carried the rather wordy title of "1st FIFA World Championship for Women's Football for the M&Ms Cup" and saw matches last 80 minutes rather than the normal 90. (Wins were also worth two points rather than three, but the men's version didn't introduce it until 1994.)

* Many of the ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'' [[WesternAnimation/{{Barbie}} animated films]] are set in some sort of historical time period, involve princesses and magic, etc. Then comes 2006's ''Film/TheBarbieDiaries'', with a modern-day setting (and Barbie being herself, not playing another role as an [[AnimatedActors actress]]) and a plotline involving high-school angst. At the time it stuck out rather obviously from the others, which is now even more amplified (even despite the franchise continuing to alternate between old-style films and newer-style ones) as the UncannyValley CGI animation (not provided by the usual people at Creator/MainframeEntertainment) aged like milk. (This may explain, along with [[ScrewedByTheLawyers music licensing issues]], why this film [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes hasn't been reissued on DVD]].)

* ''Literature/RingForJeeves'' in the Literature/JeevesAndWooster series by Creator/PGWodehouse - the novel features only Jeeves as a character (Bertie Wooster is absent), it is the only Jeeves and Wooster novel told in the third person (Bertie being narrator of all the other books and stories) and the story is set in the post-WWII Britain instead of the usual vague GenteelInterbellumSetting. There are quite unpleasant implications for the upper class protagonists, who have to actually [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome start to work for a living]]. It is quite funny, just [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks different from the classical Wodehouse]], into whose signature StrictlyFormula novels reality intrudes quite disturbingly.[[note]]Wodehouse freely admitted he was writing basically "musical comedies without music", and some of his fans even in the 1930S acknowledged that many elements of his humour and settings were more like taken from [[TheEdwardianEra early 1910s]].[[/note]]

Some media, such as ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' or ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', are known for being long-running series with multiple incarnations. Within these series, there is always at least one installment that is drastically different to the rest. Most of the time, this installment will be considered the BlackSheep of the group.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has Season 6, which is the only one where [[TheyKilledKennyAgain Kenny]] remains dead for the whole season (after his death in the aptly named "Kenny Dies" from Season 5), except the season finale, "Red Sleigh Down," where he returns to life, despite the original intention of him being KilledOffForReal. Stan, Kyle and Cartman spend much of the season coping with his death, and seeking the right replacement for him, which result in Butters filling in for Kenny for the first five episodes, and then Tweek for the next six episodes. Neither Butters nor Tweek were working out for the gang, so the remainder of the season had Kenny partially return by having his spirit possess Cartman, after he inadvertently drinks his ashes, mistaking them for chocolate milk mix. After a few episodes, Kenny's spirit is exercised from Cartman, and Kenny himself returns to life, without any apparent explanation, in the aforementioned season finale.

** ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle'' sticks out like a sore thumb, thanks to its lack of songs, rather cynical (and sometimes downright mean-spirited) tone, and its pop-culture ridden writing, partially due to it attempting to capitalize on the FracturedFairyTale genre made popular by ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}''.

* [[Creator/JohnLeCarre ''A Murder Of Quality'']] is the only book in the George Smiley series that isn't a spy thriller. It's a murder mystery that Smiley investigates after he retires from the Circus.

** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' is the sole series that mostly takes place in the Beta Quadrant, and all the main heroic characters are civilians (i.e. none of them are active Starfleet officers).

* ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' is the oddball for the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' movie series. Whereas every other movie is set in the 23rd century and features Captain Kirk & company flying around the galaxy on the Starship ''Enterprise'', this movie takes place almost entirely in the mid 1980's, on Earth, with the crew being FishOutOfWater, trying to literally "Save The Whales" (and hence becoming the {{Trope Namer|s}} for SpaceWhaleAesop). The crew is also not flying on the ''Enterprise'' as it was destroyed in ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' and they are instead using a hijacked Klingon Bird of Prey; the ''Enterprise'' only appears at the very end when a new one is built and assigned to the crew as a reward for saving Earth. And it's the only ''Star Trek'' movie where EverybodyLives; the only times we see weapons used are Chekov trying and failing to stun his FBI interrogators, and Kirk welding a door shut.

* ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' is the only movie in the ''Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries'' in which Ethan Hunt and his team don't end up having to [[SternChase go on the run from the government]] and try to accomplish the mission while [[InspectorJavert wrongly considered]] [[RogueAgent rogue]] at some point.

* ''LightNovel/WashioSumiIsAHero'' was adapted into the first half of the second season of ''Anime/YukiYunaIsAHero'' as ''Washio Sumi Chapter''. Unlike the first season and the latter half of the series ''Hero Chapter'', characters besides the main team are minor characters. The rest of the anime has InvisibleParents but ''Washio Sumi Is A Hero'' doesn't. It also has a few named male characters (unlike ''Yuki Yuna Is A Hero'''s female ChromosomeCasting).