History Main / RecycledScript

* ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'': In the Season 1 episode "Wig", Lamput masquerades as long hair on Slim Doc's head, leading to Fat Doc thinking Slim is a woman and immediately developing a crush on him. The Season 3 episode [[RecycledTitle also called "Wig"]] has the same premise, except it's fleshed out to work as a longer episode compared to the 15-second-long Season 1 "Wig", giving Fat Doc much more time to actually interact and do stuff with his newfound love. [[spoiler:It also changes the ending; Fat Doc never discovers he's been in love with Slim Doc the whole time in the Season 3 episode.]]

Related to, but not to be confused with StrictlyFormula, where each individual episode plot seems the same, with minor variations. See also FleetingDemographicRule, RecycledPremise, and SameStoryDifferentNames. Compare YoYoPlotPoint, where a particular arc or plot point repeats itself, and TheRemake, which is a movie that explicitly recycles the script of an older movie. Also compare with the similar WholePlotReference; the difference between the two tropes is that this one indicates a direct link (such as the same writer, production company or series reusing an idea) between the original and the copy.

* Much of what made ''Film/GhostbustersII'' unpopular on release was that it was, for the most part, just the original ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' again. Both stories involve an ancient entity who possesses someone close to Dana Barret so that they can use her to free themselves, the Ghostbusters butting heads with the mayor and a sleazy official who hates them, and the climax has them facing off against the entity in a big gothic building, along with a giant symbol coming to life and rampaging across New York. What made it particularly evident was that a lot of plot points from the first film had to be [[SequelReset reset]] to make the sequel work: ghosts are claimed to be hoaxes, despite them having spent half the last film on the warpath, to justify the Ghostbusters being on hard times and having to win the public over again, and Dana breaks up with Venkman just so she can fall in love with him again.

** The series is very fond of the scenario where someone has to be proven innocent in the final case after believing themselves to have commited AccidentalMurder in their childhood. Counting the spinoffs, this has happened five times -- Edgeworth and Ema in the first game[[note]] Edgeworth's case was originally the final case, while Ema's was added in an UpdatedRerelease[[/note]], Athena in ''Dual Destinies'', John Marsh (the only one who is still a child) in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations2'' and Espella in ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVsPhoenixWrightAceAttorney''. Each character is proven innocent when it turns out that the real killer has been setting them up as their FallGuy.

* ''Film/DadsArmy1971'' copies the plots of some episodes from [[Series/DadsArmy the series]], such as "The Man and the Hour" and "The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones".

* The Website/GoAnimate "X Gets Grounded" videos have such a high level of this within them (likely due to the website's users simply wanting to make their own version of another person's grounded video while neglecting to put their own spin on it) that [[RecycledScript/GoAnimate there's a whole page dedicated to these frequently repeated plot-lines]].

* DC creative has been, in various ways, trying to undo ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' for decades. The first major attempt was ''ComicBook/{{The Kingdom|DCComics}}'', which introduced the concept of Hypertime, the first attempt at the "All stories are canon somewhere" approach. Hypertime, however, was only a minor concept and not a company-wide event, which meant the few writers that understood it could use it while everyone else ignored its existence. When Hypertime failed to catch on, the next attempt came during ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', which established only 52 alternate universes rather than the "infinite" which had existed before. ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'' once again establishes a truly "infinite" multiverse where every story that's ever been published happened on some Earth, somewhere. However, when ''that'' didn't take, a similar plot point recurred in ''ComicBook/DarkKnightsDeathMetal'', ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'', and ''ComicBook/DarkCrisis''. It's become a joke in the fanbase that the multiverse being restored is one of those things that just happens nowadays.

* DC creative has been, in various ways, trying to undo ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' for decades. The first major attempt was ''ComicBook/{{The Kingdom|DCComics}}'', which introduced the concept of Hypertime, the first attempt at the "All stories are canon somewhere" approach. Hypertime, however, was only a minor concept and not a company-wide event, which meant the few writers that understood it could use it while everyone else ignored its existence. When Hypertime failed to catch on, the next attempt came during ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', which established only 52 alternate universes rather than the "infinite" which had existed before. ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'' once again establishes a truly "infinite" multiverse where every story that's ever been published happened on some Earth, somewhere.

* The Davy Jones plot in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'' has more than a few similarities to the Barbossa plot in [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl the first movie]]. Both of them involve a battle against a tyrannical pirate captain from Jack Sparrow's past who rules over a crew of undead pirates who were rendered immortal by an ancient curse, with both sides squabbling over [[MacGuffin the supernatural treasure]] that can finally lift the curse, and one of the main trio ending up as a captive on his ship. That might have been why the filmmakers added Cutler Beckett and the extended Pelegostos Tribe section; if the movie had been ''only'' the battle against Davy Jones, the similarities would have been even more distracting.

* Was common practice at DC Comics in the 1950's-1960's (though almost exclusively in Franchise/{{Superman}} titles edited by Mort Weisinger) because the audience was mostly children, and [[FleetingDemographic turned over fast]]. Two characters in the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', [[ComicBook/{{Valor}} Mon-El]] and Star Boy, first appeared in rewritten stories of this sort. See FleetingDemographicRule.
* ComicBook/GreenArrow started off his existence as a Franchise/{{Batman}} expy and in addition to giving GA an array of "Arrow" gadgets similar to Batman's (Arrowcave, Arrowplane, etc.) some Batman scripts were recycled.

* The first Franchise/{{Batman}} story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" is a recycling of the plot of Literature/TheShadow story "Partners in Peril".

* One common criticism of the ''Franchise/XMen'' books under ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel is that it's a much more poorly-executed rehash of the Decimation era, with mutants once again facing extinction.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' lifted several set-pieces and some plot points from both of its {{UsefulNotes/MSX2}} predecessors, ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'', especially from the latter. Some of the events in ''Metal Gear Solid'' that were borrowed from previous games include:

* ''Film/JonahHex'''s plot, "During the Reconstruction, an evil ex-Confederate bent on destroying the Union creates a super-weapon, leading President Grant to send the only man who can stop him." And in this version we dont even get the damn [[Film/WildWildWest giant mechanical spider.]]

** ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheHauntsOfEvil'' and ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaInTheWanNyanSpacetimeOdyssey'' both have Nobita becoming an owner to a new pet puppy, only to find out there's more to his new pet than meets the eye. The gang then takes on the main villain, which turns out to be an andromorphic animal and a FatBastard (respectively a BullyBulldog and a FatCat), with a ChekhovsGun resolving the plot (Doraemon's Anticipating Promise Machine and Nobita's Kendama Toy). Both movies also have an emotional ButNowIMustGo ending with Nobita and friends bidding the new puppy (which turns out to be sentient and andromorphic in both cases) farewell.
** ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheAnimalPlanet'' and ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheWingedBraves'' tells the same GreenAesop-themed story, with the gang visiting a world of sentient, andromorphic animal / bird-people, disguising themselves with Doraemon's gadgets (respectively the Animal Headgear and Bird Caps) only to reveal themselves to their animal friends that they're humans.

** Even ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' wasn't safe. Throughout the show, there were Quickies, which were generally old ''Garfield'' and ''U.S. Acres'' strips adapted into animation. In Season 2, a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeNTg0NP_Go Quickie]] based on [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1988/ga880124.gif this strip]] was made. In Season 6, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7cW6sx4Iis the exact same strip was made into a Quickie again]]''. To its credit, however, it ''is'' a bit more faithful to the original source material (Jon doesn't say the word "nice", and Garfield actually claws Jon's pant legs).