History ReplacementGoldfish / LiveActionTV

*** Something similar happens in the episode ''Silicon Avatar'' with scientist, Dr. Kila Marr, who's son died on Omicron Theta -Data's home world- during the attack of the xcrystaline Entity. She goes from open hostility towards Data due to him looking exactly like Lore - who aided the Entity, towards seeing him as the last remnants of the child she lost, even going so far as to request he read her son's diaries... in ''his'' voice (Data, being the EmotionalEmotionlessPerson he is, doesn't realise the psychological ramifications of this until it's way too late.)

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd "Journey's End"]]: [[spoiler:Rose must return to the alternate universe she was trapped in for two years, the Doctor gives her a replacement copy created when he transferred his regeneration energy into his severed hand, and Donna touched it, creating a second Doctor.]]
** The fourth series finale, with Rose earning the half-human Handy (Doctor 10.5) as a consolation prize. This one is a bit tricky and overlaps a bit with DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest, since it is explicitly stated in-series that 10.5 truly ''is'' the Doctor as much as any regeneration is, but the two will diverge from this point on.
** Although her status as a love interest (not only that, but his wife) predates the arrival of Clara Oswald by several seasons, the return of River Song in "The Husbands of River Song" cast her in this role, given that only a few weeks earlier the series brought the Doctor's three-season-long relationship with Clara to a bittersweet conclusion.

** Well, it actually sort of did start out that way, since it was built by Warren to be Spike's DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest for Buffy who rejected his advances. Ironically [[spoiler:after Buffy's death]] Spike can't stand to look at the Buffybot, and is disgusted when it obeys its earlier programming and tries to flirt with him.

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': J.D. and Turk are very attached to their [[CompanionCube stuffed dog Rowdy]], which Carla hates. As a favor to Turk to make up for hurting his feelings by insulting the dog, she offers to get him cleaned. On the way home, she loses the dog by not tying it to the top of her car securely enough. She then attempts to find a replacement.
** And then the ruse falls apart when the real Rowdy is found... and J.D. and Turk are ''thrilled'' because now they can both have one.

*** And in ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'', [[spoiler: B4 is clearly set up to become one for Data.]]

** Also another sketch, in a parody of the film Rebecca, the trope itself is flipped on its head when the [[ExecutiveMeddling main character is changed]] to be Rebecca herself, and the context of the film becomes her dealing with the knowledge that Mr. de Winter is anticipating replacing her in the future.

** The recently widowed Scott latches onto Katherine Bell, an old friend of his late wife, ignoring all signs that she's up to no good. Not until best friend Lucy produces undeniable evidence that she's a scam artist does he finally admit that he's been projecting his memories of his late wife onto her. Unusually for this trope, the two women looked nothing alike.

* In ''Stalked By My Neighbor'' (a LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek), a man becomes obsessed with the GlamourousSingleMother who has moved into his neighborhood, seeing them as God giving him back the wife and daughter he lost in a car accident a year ago and himself as this for her husband, who she also lost in a car accident a year prior. [[spoiler: Yes, it was the same accident, and yes the man was indirectly responsible--his wife and daughter were fleeing his controlling ways and he was chasing them.]]

* 'Series/TheOrville'': After the Xelayan security chief Alara Kitan leaves the crew to reconnect with her family, Mercer requests another Xelayan to replace her. Talla Keyali is for all intents a slightly older, more experienced version of Alara. Given how he clearly enjoyed seeing Alara put her SuperStrength to use, he may be a bit of an AmazonChaser.

** Also in the Doctor Who episode Journey's End, when [[spoiler:Rose must return to the alternate universe she was trapped in for two years, The Doctor gives her a replacement copy created when he transferred his regeneration energy into his severed hand, and Donna touched it, creating a second Doctor]]
*** Not to mention, the whole ending of "Doomsday", where Jackie becomes alternate-Pete's replacement for alternate-Jackie, and alternate-Pete becomes Rose and Jackie's replacement for Pete, and Mickey becomes the replacement for Ricky (alternate-Mickey).
** Also, in the Doctor's Daughter, Jenny could be seen as a replacement goldfish to his family on Galifrey, which he remarked had died previously. Though as far as the Doctor knows, he's lost Jenny as well, so not much of a replacement.
** In the case of the First Doctor, he picks up Vicki, an orphaned young girl, immediately after losing his granddaughter Susan, and treats her like a surrogate. A couple of stories after Vicki leaves he picks up Dodo, who he takes an immediate liking to on account of her physical resemblance to Susan, despite her [[TheFool unusual stupidity]].
** The trope is frequently invoked any time the Doctor gets a new companion. The Doctor either expressly says he needs someone else with him or [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial denies that the new companion is replacing the old]]. This trope is usually averted or subverted when the Doctor develops a genuine relationship with the new companion.
*** On two occasions the new companion has directly pushed back at being compared to a previous occupant of the TARDIS. Martha Jones became frustrated at the Tenth Doctor's continual invoking of Rose Tyler (who had been lost in a parallel universe). Clara Oswald says outright she doesn't want to be competing with a ghost when the Doctor indicates that she reminds him of a friend (actually a future "echo" of Clara named Clara Oswin Oswald) who had died.

** In the episode "Man on the Street" (1x06), an Internet billionaire, Joel Mynor, uses Echo as a replacement for his dead wife Rebecca, but only once a year - the anniversary of her death in a car crash on her way to the new house Joel bought when he finally hit it big in business. Later, toward the end of "A Love Supreme" (2x08), Echo - who now can control the 40 personalities in her brain - briefly becomes "Rebecca" for the last time to give her blessing to Joel's remarriage.
** In the episode "Instinct" (2x02), another Rich Dude rents Echo as a longer-term replacement for his wife and mother of his infant child; again, the client's wife had died too young (in this case, of complications from the birth).

* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'': In the episode "Saving Face," a wealthy couple have a new kid to replace their treasured son, whom they view as having possessed MartyStu levels of perfection. Their daughter is perpetually TheUnfavourite her entire life and eventually resorts to crime in her desperation to gain her parents' approval.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': In the episode "Locum", a couple is revealed to have adopted a orphan girl simply because she looked almost identical to their biological daughter who was lost years before. To make the newly adopted kid look as much like their lost child as possible, the parents (mostly the mother) forced the 8-12 year old to wear the girl's clothes, dye her hair, and even get a nose job. The kicker? [[spoiler:The biological daughter is found by the police alive and, at the end of the episode, is returned to her parents as the replacement daughter watches on.]]

* ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley'': In the British comedy series, Alice (the vicar's assistant) had a reincarnating budgie named Carrot. She never realized until the vicar told her that her mother kept buying her new budgies after each one died, [[TheDitz even though the budgies looked completely different]].

* ''Series/KingOfQueens'': Unbeknownst to Doug, it's the reason his childhood dog is still around.

** Also another sketch, in a parody of the film ''Literature/Rebecca'', the trope itself is flipped on its head when the [[ExecutiveMeddling main character is changed]] to be Rebecca herself, and the context of the film becomes her dealing with the knowledge that Mr. de Winter is anticipating replacing her in the future.

** Also another sketch, in a parody of the film [[Literature/Rebecca]], the trope itself is flipped on its head when the [[ExecutiveMeddling main character is changed]] to be Rebecca herself, and the context of the film becomes her dealing with the knowledge that Mr. de Winter is anticipating replacing her in the future.

** Also another sketch, in a parody of the film Rebecca, the trope itself is flipped on its head when the [[ExecutiveMeddling main character is changed]] to be Rebecca herself, and the context of the film becomes her dealing with the knowledge that Mr. de Winter is anticipating replacing her in the future.

*** It ends up working out decently well for her; not only does he prevent her from being taken prisoner with Tuvok and B'Elanna, the man's devotion to Janeway and his desire to rescue his [[spoiler: also dead]] wife from the prison where the ''Voyager'' crewmembers were being held ends up being what allows Janeway to complete her mission.

** To make things worse, first off, she was born after the son's death, so she was TheUnfavorite to a brother who had been dead her whole life and had never met herself. Second, and perhaps even more horrifying, is the fact that she had been conceived for the sole purpose of being a tissue donor for her brother. And she'd known this for most of her life, having done the math.

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': Dewey did this in one episode with, indeed, a goldfish. SubvertedTrope, since Dewey kept replacing the goldfish in order to fool his parents into believing he could reliably care for a pet so he could have a dog.

* ''Series/KingofQueens'': Unbeknownst to Doug, it's the reason his childhood dog is still around.