Line #100 Main/AdaptationDecay


1	%% Image Pickin' thread did not produce a replacement image for this page. Link: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1313919039040159700
2	%% See Image Links page for examples.
3	%%
4	->''"It's a Japanese card game based on a cartoon based on an ancient religion based on a candy bar."''
5	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', on "[[{{Phonymon}} Battle Ball]]"
6
7	The gradual distortion or even disintegration of a world and its characters during its odyssey from original source material to movie to TV movie then to television series then to video game and finally to licensed derivative work. The dramatic equivalent of photocopying a photocopy of a photocopy. The adaptation does not need to be subjectively ''worse'' than the original. It only needs to be ''different''.
8
9	Every step away from the original property involves new input from multiple directions which dilutes and changes the flavor and behavior of the story. Adaptation Decay can sometimes be minimized, and each generation of the process will remain reasonably faithful to the original. On the other hand, a strong example of the trope would result in an InNameOnly adaptation, for better or worse.
10
11	{{Anime}} frequently features some degree of Adaptation Decay, since many series are based on either manga or video games, which are subject to less censorship than TV shows. More JustForFun/{{egregious}} examples include dropping or adding characters. Additionally, when an anime series is brought to the United States, it may suffer [[{{Macekre}} further decay]] if it is being translated with an eye toward broadcast markets -- dialogue may be arbitrarily changed or censored, and entire plotlines may be removed.
12
13	!!This page is for Administrivia/InUniverseExamplesOnly. For RealLife examples of Adaptation Decay, please go to one of these subtropes: [[index]]
14
15	* AdaptationInducedPlotHole
16	* AdaptationInspiration
17	* AdaptedOut
18	* AnimatedAdaptation, taking into account the AnimationAgeGhetto
19	* AudienceAlienatingPremise
20	* BloodierAndGorier
21	* {{Bowdlerise}}
22	* CharacterDerailment
23	* ContinuityLockOut
24	* DarkerAndEdgier
25	* DeathByAdaptation
26	* {{Disneyfication}}
27	* DubInducedPlotlineChange
28	* EditedForSyndication
29	* ExecutiveMeddling
30	* {{Flanderization}}
31	* TheFilmOfTheBook
32	* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion
33	* HardToAdaptWork
34	* HotterAndSexier
35	* HumanFocusedAdaptation
36	* InNameOnly
37	* KinderAndCleaner
38	* LighterAndSofter
39	* LiveActionAdaptation
40	* LostInImitation
41	* {{Macekre}}
42	* NoOriginStoriesAllowed
43	* OldGuardVersusNewBlood
44	* PanderingToTheBase
45	* PolishTheTurd
46	* PortingDisaster
47	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames
48	* RaceLift
49	* TheRemake
50	* RevisedEnding
51	* RuderAndCruder
52	* TheShowOfTheBooks
53	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks
54	* VideoGameMoviesSuck
55	* YoungerAndHipper
56
57	[[/index]]
58
59	Distantly related to {{sequelitis}}.
60
61	''Note: if you see an example of this on a work's YMMV page, please remove it. If it is in-universe example, then please move it to the main page.''
62
63	----
64	!!Examples of fictional references to Adaptation Decay:
65
66	[[foldercontrol]]
67
68	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
69	* In ''Manga/FrankenFran'', a movie was made based on a previous patient of Fran's, a dog whose brain got put into a human's body. Among other things, the dog was now a pretty boy instead of an ugly balding man, the dog's owner was turned from a little girl to a young woman, LittleMissBadass Veronica was turned into TheBigGuy, the dog and his owner ''[[{{Squick}} have sex]]'', and the story was given a happy ending where the woman's leukemia was mysteriously cured by ThePowerOfLove. Compare that to the real events, where the girl died of pleurisy and the dog waited for her at the hospital [[UsefulNotes/{{Hachiko}} until his own death]]. Veronica ends up throwing a chair at the screen and declaring the movie crap.
70	* Deliberately done in ''Anime/ExcelSaga.'' The anime was never supposed to stay very true to the [[Manga/ExcelSaga original manga]], which is far more tame than the hilarious monstrosity that is the anime. While the manga focused on mocking the recession Japan was going through at the time while using quirky humor, the anime focused on all-out wackiness using the same characters and setting. This trope is used as a RunningGag by the anime, where, OnceAnEpisode, the AuthorAvatar of the original author Koshi Rikdo is forced in increasingly violent ways to give his approval to transform his creation into a different genre entirely, creating an anime that cheerfully [[AffectionateParody mocks every genre it touches]].
71	* The second episode of ''Anime/CromartieHighSchool'' opens with Takashi talking about how fans constantly complain about design changes and voice acting whenever a manga is adapted into an anime, and then his appearance transforming into the blond, [[GenderFlip female]] Piyoko from ''Anime/DiGiCharat'', along with her VerbalTic of ending sentences with "pyo", then transforming again into a very sketchy, unanimated, version of himself.
72	* Invoked in-universe in ''Anime/AquarionEVOL'' with the movie [[ShowWithinAShow "Skies of Aquaria"]], a "Hollywood" version of the events and legend in [[Anime/GenesisOfAquarion the first anime]].
73	* Also invoked in-universe in ''Anime/Gundam00AWakeningOfTheTrailblazer'' with the movie [[ShowWithinAShow "Celestial Being"]], a "Hollywood" version of the events of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' with a ''lot'' of liberties taken. This gets taken to the extreme in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ 3: Hell Chapter'', which inserts [[Anime/ShinMazinger Mazinger Z]], [[Manga/GetterRobo Shin Getter Robo]], [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Gurren-Lagann]], [[Anime/{{Gigantor}} Tetsujin 28-Go]] (even though he wasn't ''in'' that particular mission) and an army of [[Anime/MacrossFrontier VF-25s]]. Koji is excited that Mazinger Z was depicted as a ''200 meter tall giant of light''. The other heroes are... less than thrilled.
74	* In an episode of the Buu Saga of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', a movie representing Cell's defeat at the hands of Mr. Satan is shown before the tournament. However, not only is it untrue (It was actually the Z Fighters who beat Cell), but it is embarassingly ridiculous. Only Goku was entertained, and even then, only because he considers it SoBadItsGood.
75	* In ''Manga/TheDaughterOfTwentyFaces'', Shunka approaches one of her friends to draw a manga based off the adventures of the Bishoujo Detective Girls (a group she is a part of). Upon reading the finished product, Shunka is annoyed to find that the artist has inserted a fictitious LoveTriangle in order to make the story more appealing to publishers.
76	* Discussed in-universe in ''Anime/{{Shirobako}}'', when the production staff of Musashino Animation talk about what happened to ''Sailor Suits and [=F3s=]'', a manga by Takezou Nogame that had been animated earlier, while they're working on another Nogame series (Third Aerial Girls' Squad) The fairly serious sports manga was retooled into a GagSeries, with its battle-hardened ActionGirl protagonist being turned into a vapid moeblob. The ratings were so poor Nogame's reputation was affected even though he had little role in the production. The experience of working on it also turned production assistant Daisuke Hiraoka, a fan of the original manga, into the burnt-out cynic hired by [=MusAni=].
77	* At one point in ''Manga/{{Ojojojo}}'', [[TheOjou Haru]] has her father finance the anime adaptation of a manga that Akane showed her, only for both of them to be disappointed when it doesn't capture the feel of the original work.
78	* One of the villains of ''Manga/EdensZero'' ends up becoming FriendlyEnemies with Rebecca after being won over by her cosplay of a [[ShowWithinAShow children's anime]] he is [[PeripheryDemographic quite passionate about]]. Later, when they're forced to fight each other, Rebecca [[CallingYourAttacks names her finishing move]] after an attack from the manga version that was subjected to an AdaptationNameChange in the anime, prompting them both to agree that they liked the manga better anyway.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Comic Books]]
82	* ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'': In one issue, a [[BrownNote suicide-inducing meme]] is rendered harmless when it's told to a screenwriter, who acknowledges that "it's very good, but [[ExecutiveMeddling it needs something]]", and rewrites it.
83	* ''ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel\|MarvelComics}}'': There is an InUniverse TV show about the title character. The real Carol Danvers is pissed off to discover that her TV counterpart has undergone intense {{Chickification}}, including a costume with heels, a NavelDeepNeckline, and [[StrangledByTheRedString a tacked-on romance with a male superhero]].
84	* ''ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}'': There's an issue where ComicBook/HarleyQuinn attempts to sell Selina's life story to a group of film execs, who promptly suggest a bunch of unnecessary changes (such as {{Race Lift}}ing Harley into an Asian teenager and making Selina [[YoungerAndHipper a young spy]]). The story ends with an enraged Harley killing the execs and storming out of the room.
85	* ''ComicBook/DamageControl'': One story arc featured a Hollywood producer who wanted to make a movie about the company. The results were... ''less-than-faithful''.
86	* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': The story "[[https://inducks.org/story.php?c=D+2015-132 Faithful to the Original]]" has Huey, Dewey and Louie trying to do a school research about a book titled "The Seven Brothers". They try to read the book, but halfway through they get bored so they try searching for some kind of adaptation that eases them. To their surprise they discover that in fact the book got adapted in multiple medias, but all of them are ''very different'' from the original version: among other things, the comic book adaptation changes the setting to a WizardingSchool, [[AllMusicalsAreAdaptations the musical version]] is an InNameOnly version about seven businessmen trying to save their company from bankrupt and the movie version is set on a space station (and [[GenderFlip turns the main characters into six brothers and one sister]]), and most of the adaptations also seem to add a monkey playing with a yo-yo as a PluckyComicRelief character. Unable to do a proper research on the book, the three ducklings decide instead to make one about ''all the adaptations'' to analyze how the same story can be altered in multiple ways to adapt to modern audiences. Their research gets a great vote, and after the matter they discover that all the adaptations they saw were in fact inspired by a research on the same book WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck made as a kid where he made up random stuff because he was bored of the book.
87	* ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': An issue of ''ComicBook/Guardians3000'' implies there's a version of the 2014 movie in the Marvel Comics universe. Peter Quill's only comment is a bemused "it takes a few liberties".
88	* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'': All of the in-universe adaptations of the life of 1930s pulp hero The Lobster are said to be ''massive'' examples of this, ''utterly'' rife with StylisticSuck. Worst of these are a series of Mexican movies in which he is not only given the name "Lobster Johnson" (the last name taken from the PulpMagazine version's secret identity), but is also portrayed as a MaskedLuchador. [[CultClassic Hellboy still enjoys the stuff, though.]]
89	* ''Creator/IDWPublishing'''s original Transformers continuity (running from 2005 to 2018) has the 2018 Annual titled "Thundercracker in: "Starscream: The Movie"", which provides a few examples:
90	** Even before Starscream approaches him, Thundercracker is working on a biopic of the deceased G.I.Joe agent Chuckles, where he imagines Chuckles (resembling his traditional Hawaiian shirt-wearing self rather than the DarkerAndEdgier version of the IDW comics) dramatically faced off with Cobra Commander before [[HeroicSacrifice redirecting COBRA's nuclear missiles into destroying COBRA's island base]]. In truth, Chuckles had already killed [[LegacyCharacter the Cobra Commander of the time]] and was actually confronting Xamot Paoli, who had cruelly forced him to murder his lover Jinx to maintain his cover before revealing his cover was already blown and murdering Jinx was AllForNothing. The missiles destroying the island was [[TakingYouWithMe a last act of spite]].
91	** Starscream commissions Thundercracker (a budding author and filmmaker since the end of the Autobot-Decepticon war) to make a biopic about him to bolster his popularity. Thundercracker has his doubts over the veracity of some of the stories Starscream mentions, like the time he saved [[ButtMonkey Scrounge]] from being brutally beaten by [[AntiHero Impactor]], [[ByTheBookCop Ultra]] [[ConsummateProfessional Magnus]] and [[KnightInSourArmor Ironhide]], or how he claims to have tried to stop Megatron from shooting down Air Force One and killing the POTUS (the latter being especially galling considering Starscream himself is the one who shot Air Force One down).
92	** After Thundercracker does some research, he rewrites the script to be a more honest retelling of Starscream's life... though he does take a ''few'' liberties, like a confrontation with Megatron...
93	--> "You're what made me what I am, Megatron. The whole time I was a [[EliteMooks Seeker]], what I was ''really'' seeking... was [[HoYay your love]]."
94	** Notably, when Thundercracker shows Starscream the finished film, Starscream is [[ActuallyPrettyFunny amused enough]] to observe it was [[DamnedByFaintPraise "delightful but irrelevant"]], especially since Thundercracker paints him as a flawed individual who nevertheless truly believes that he's doing the right thing. He points out that the film no longer serves its intended purpose ([[CharacterDevelopment since as part of the ongoing main story he'd confessed to his many, many crimes and had himself arrested]]), but Thundercracker insists on airing it anyway.
95	* An old ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' strip showed a writer submitting a film script about a teenage boy who gets into trouble with the law but learns better. At the end of a ludicrous series of rewrites at the behest of various studio execs, his script has morphed into "Cinderella".
96	** Another strip titled "Book! Movie!" demonstrates the process with TheFilmOfTheBook, including AdaptationalAttractiveness, {{Bowdlerization}} and other changes to fit the then active [[UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode Hays Code]].
97	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Several times, it's mentioned that the Marvel Comics universe version of Marvel Comics prints Spidey comics... but since they've no idea who he actually is, they take some liberties. Like portraying him as a supervillain. And those are the nicer ones.
98	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' ComicBook/WonderWoman2006 Vol. 3]]: Creator/GailSimone's run has a story about Hollywood making a ''terrible'' movie based on the title character's life. [[spoiler: It eventually turns out the whole movie is actually the pet project of a supervillain who had [[KillAndReplace killed the producer and stolen her identity]].]]
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Fan Works]]
102	* Parodied by ''Creator/HarryPartridge'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w here]] with a SaturdayMorningCartoon version of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''.
103	** Another one by ''El Cid'' ([[Film/ElCid not that one]]), with ''Watchmen'' mixed with ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants'', can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ2AdNH4_So here]].
104	* ''Fanfic/BringMeAllYourElderly'' has the Gaang be baffled at how different their movie selves are from them.
105	* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk9oa_PiXAk The Brothers Mario]]'' is a ''[[InvokedTrope deliberate]]'' attempt at this, in the style of a parody, turning Mario and Luigi into standard BrooklynRage action heroes and Bowser into a ScaryBlackMan heading a [[TheCartel drug cartel]]. It [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw7CKnfk4JY&feature=relmfu got a sequel]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpZUHNvFubg and its own theme song]].
106	* ''Fanfic/TheNorthRemembers'' has Arya Stark watching a Braavosi play about the events in King's Landing which led to the War of the Five Kings. The play itself exhibits blatant BlackAndWhiteMorality (with its own DeliberateValuesDissonance), where Jaime is a comic-relief character who becomes religious at the end, and Ned Stark is executed not because he discovered the illegitimacy of Cersei's children, but because he considered Cersei too weak to rule because she was a woman. At the end, the Lannisters are either dead or publicly humiliated.
107	* Invoked in ''WebVideo/VaguelyRecallingJoJo'', as the fan doing the recalling of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' can't remember all of the details.
108	* ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse:'' One story has the Element Bearers watching a play about their first adventure. It's terrible, getting damn near every aspect of them completely wrong (Raindrops is an idiot, Cheerilee is a ninja, Ditzy's a secret agent, Lyra's girlfriend is completely adapted out). The part that astounds Trixie is that on occasion, the writer actually gets parts of the story ''right''. But the special effects are decent.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
112	* The aptly named movie ''Film/{{Adaptation}}'' portrays a highly self-referential example of this.
113	* In ''Film/SavingMrBanks'', P.L. Travers makes it her mission to prevent this from happening to Creator/WaltDisney's film adaptation of her ''Literature/MaryPoppins'' novels.
114	* Towards the end of ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'', the supporting character Michael Comeau says "[[LampshadeHanging The comic book is always better than the movie]]". He can also be overheard saying that the first album is never as good as "the first" album. Comeau's a satire of the people who are into a given social scene for the social aspect, rather than caring about the subject that supposedly unites everyone there.
115	* The Japanese film ''Welcome Back, Mr. [=McDonald=]'' is about the live production of a radio play. Problems with the actors, sound effects, and advertisers result in them deviating from the script to the point that they are completely rewriting it every commercial break, much to the original author's distress. Needless to say, the final product ends up having very little in common with her original story.
116	* The 1986 Alan Alda comedy ''Film/SweetLiberty'' is about a history professor struggling with a film adaptation of a book he wrote on the Revolutionary War. As the film's director explains (while Alda's character is complaining about yet another historically inaccurate change they have introduced), historical accuracy is not important to the movie-making process; the only rules for a successful movie are: 1. Defy Authority, 2. Blow Things Up, 3. Take Your Clothes Off.
117	* In ''Film/TheWitchesOfOz'', Ilsa plans to make Dorothy's child-friendly books into HotterAndSexier movies. She's ''not'' pleased.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Literature]]
121	* In Creator/NeilGaiman's short story "The Goldfish Pool", a young writer struggles to adapt one of his novels to film. Due to ExecutiveMeddling, he is forced to discard the title, plot, characters, themes and even genre of his original book, ultimately changing it from a psychological horror story into a romantic comedy.
122	* The Creator/AgathaChristie novel ''Mrs [=McGinty's=] Dead'' includes a playwright adapting one of AuthorAvatar Ariadne Oliver's books about Sven Hjerson, an elderly, Finnish, vegetarian, CelibateHero detective. The playwright doesn't like the idea of him being a vegetarian, thinks he has to have a [[TokenRomance love interest]], which means he can't be elderly, and decides he isn't even a Finn any longer, he's in the Norwegian resistance.
123	* Briefly seen in the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures novel ''Lucifer Rising'', when Literature/BerniceSummerfield sees the end of a 22nd century holo-drama in which a beautiful computer expert defeats the Martians and claims the handsome museum curator. She is surprised to realise that this is meant to be the Martian invasion of 2090... just as the readers are surprised to realise it's meant to be 1969 serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E5TheSeedsOfDeath The Seeds of Death]]", in which the computer expert is an EmotionlessGirl and the museum curator is an elderly eccentric. And there's apparently no mention of the Doctor's involvement either.
124	* The various film adaptations of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' in ''Literature/JohnnyAlucard'' take massive liberties with the source text (which itself makes a massive deviation from what "really" happened in the ''Literature/AnnoDracula'' universe). The title film in "Francis Ford Coppolla's Dracula" was made instead of ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' and is simply that film with the names and locations changed. In "The Other Side of Midnight", [[spoiler:John wants as many versions of ''Dracula'' out there as possible as part of a PostModernMagik ritual to get everyone to ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve in the Count; it doesn't matter if most of them are any good or not]].
125	* In the short story ''Blood Sacrifice'' by Creator/DorothyLSayers, the protagonist is the author of a play. He's come to loathe the lead actor for demanding so many changes to the plot that it's hardly recognisable as the same story.
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
129	* An episode of ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' involves a double example of this: Jake feigns having read ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' (his book report assignment), while Charlie feigns having read the ''Oshikuru'' comic book (the AnimatedAdaptation of which he's writing the theme song). In the OhCisco moment, after a {{montage}} of Jake trying to help Charlie understand his source material, we get to watch Alan, Jake, and Charlie watch the premiere of ''Oshikuru''. The show uses the exact same theme Charlie had originally written with a LighterAndSofter twist. Jake voices his incredulity, while Charlie simply says, "[[ExecutiveMeddling The network liked it]]."
130	* An episode of ''Series/{{Blossom}}'' once demonstrated almost instant Adaptation Decay in action: Nick once had a chance to pitch a TV show concept about his family life to a pair of network execs. The concept was called "Rosie", and was essentially a recursive version of ''Blossom''. By the time the network execs got done with it, though, "Rosie" had transformed from a gentle family comedy to a detective show starring chimpanzees.
131	* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' also demonstrated this in an hour-long ep, where Christine Applegate's talk show went from being an edgy local cable show... into a show with [[{{Disneyfication}} practically no bite at all]] when a network picked it up. Example: heavy metal guitarists yelling "Sex!" replaced with nice accordionists saying "Book."
132	* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' played around with this type in the ''[[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Dino Thunder]]'' episode "Lost and Found in Translation". In it, the Rangers discover a Japanese television show which seems to be based off of their adventures (which is really an episode of ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'', the show used to create ''Dino Thunder''). Conner is initially upset with the show for, in his opinion, making a mockery of both the Rangers and America, but by the end of the episode he learns AnAesop about diversity.
133	* Mercilessly parodied in the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episodes featuring the ShowWithinAShow ''[[XtremeKoolLetterz Wormhole X-Treme!]]'', a television program based loosely on the "actual" events of the Stargate program which is allowed to go ahead by the powers-that-be in order to act as a cover for the real thing. Each episode that features ''Wormhole'' takes liberties with the original source material for laughs, and [[LampshadeHanging hangs numerous lampshades]] on various plot holes and inconsistencies in previous ''SG-1'' episodes.
134	* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Hollywood AD" centred around a film being made based on Mulder and Scully's work. The BigBad is an insane bishop using a magical artifact to take over the world, his henchmen are gun-toting zombies, Mulder (played by Garry Shandling!) cracks cheesy one-liners during fight scenes and there is a romantic subplot between the two agents.
135	* In the ''Series/{{iCarly}}'' episode "iCarly Saves TV", the trio are offered the opportunity to turn their webshow into a syndicated television series. By the end of the episode, Freddy had been replaced by a zany mascot, the DeadpanSnarker sidekick was replaced by an obnoxious child star, and when Carly quit, she was replaced by a sitcom family, and they changed the title. Yet the network considered it the same show, despite not ''even'' being InNameOnly.
136	* In ''Series/{{Californication}}'', Hank Moody wrote a book called ''[[Music/{{Slayer}} God Hates Us All]]''. The movie adaptation became a romantic comedy called ''[[Music/{{Queen}} Crazy Little Thing Called Love]]''. Hank seduces the director's wife to get revenge and later gets into a public brawl with him. His daughter points out that the transition shows his work reflected his deeply-buried idealistic side when trying to sweet-talk him.
137	* One of ''Series/{{Angel}}'''s adventures was adapted into an in-universe movie. Angel is a cop played by Nicolas Cage, Wesley was his partner, Spike is his [[GenderFlip female love interest]], and [[spoiler: Fred is a short-haired butch badass.]] [[{{Defictionalization}} IDW Comics released a comic adaptation of this movie]].
138	* The basic plot of ''Series/{{Episodes}}''. Husband and wife team Sean and Beverly Lincoln are the creators of ''Lyman's Boys'', an award-winning BritCom about a BoardingSchool headmaster, and agree to make a TransatlanticEquivalent providing Richard Griffiths still stars, and nothing gets changed. The US version turns out to star Matt [=LeBlanc=] as a hockey coach, and is called ''Pucks!''
139	* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' almost avoided this when Jerry and George got their sitcom pilot based on themselves, but they didn't get the green light until they added the guy-sentenced-to-be-his-butler-because-he-had-no-auto-insurance, so Jerry has an indentured butler.
140	* Lampshaded in the opening number of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' when Brooke Shields was the celebrity guest and they were doing a production of Literature/AliceInWonderland.
141	--> "Don't be surprised if you meet [[Literature/PeterPan Captain Hook]], 'cause our version won't always follow the book."
142	* Happens twice in ''Series/ElleryQueen'':
143	** In "The Adventure of the Comic Book Crusader", Ellery is not pleased with a comic book series about him.
144	** In "The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario", the script based on Ellery's novel is said to be not only horrible, but getting worse with each revision.
145	* Happens twice in ''Series/{{Community}}'', too:
146	** ''Series/{{Cougar Town}}'''s British predecessor, Cougarton Abbey (not [[Series/DowntonAbbey the other one]]) gives Abed his own HeroicBSOD.
147	** JustForFun/InspectorSpacetime (not [[Series/DoctorWho the other one]]) gets an American adaptation which, courtesy of Pierce, is so bad he bypasses the Heroic BSOD and goes straight for the hate.
148	* In ''Series/TheAffair'', Bruce despises the movie adaptations of his books because they make a mess with his material, so he just gives nominal support, [[MoneyDearBoy cashes the checks]] and shows up at the premieres.
149	* In ''Series/AsTimeGoesBy'', Lionel writes a miniseries based on his and Jean's romance when they were young. The American producers proceed to make a travesty of it, laying on every English stereotype in the rewrites, hiring terrible actors, poor production values, everything.
150	* ''Series/TheSketchShow'': In one sketch Tim is reading a book in the theater with Lee and Jim sitting next to him. When they ask him what he's doing, he says that the book is better than the film based on it.
151	[[/folder]]
152
153	[[folder:Music]]
154	* According to Music/LesLuthiers, the ''Las Majas Del Bergant?'' zarzuela (a Savoy Opera about a Spanish ship whose crew is attacked by pirates) is based on a novel... about a Bulgarian lumberjack and his parrot. The only character left from the original novel was the parrot. This is forgivable, considering that Les Luthiers are a comical group and ''Las Majas del Bergant?'' is one of their most hilarious performances.
155	* [[Music/SherylCrow There Goes The Neighborhood]]:
156	-->This is the movie of the screenplay of the book about a girl who meets a junkie.
157	-->The messenger gets shot down just for carrying the message to a flunkie.
158	-->We can't be certain who the villans are 'cuz everyone's so pretty
159	-->But the afterparty's sure to be a wing-ding as it moves into your city
160	* The Creator/JerryLewis song "The Book Was So Much Better Than the Picture" has Lewis complaining about the changes the movie made to the book, including the title ("Don't see why they had to go and change the title, it was hard enough to recognize the thing!"), the plot ("In the story, she was plotting a murder, but instead, I watched her murdering the plot!") and the characters ("The man who was a cook was a lifeguard in the book, on top of that his part was poorly played!"). The book's author was not happy about the changes either, as "when [he] saw the picture [...] he [[DrivenToSuicide shot himself]] right in the mezzanine!"
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:New Media]]
164	* ''Website/TheOnion'' mercilessly parodies this with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBM3j7x4Lcw "'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Made Into Feature Film."]]
165	* The main focus of the "Adaptation Sickness" episode of ''WebVideo/FoldingIdeas''. {{Pragmatic Adaptation}}s (or adaptations in general) that worked, sometimes better than the original, are also discussed. The example of a bad adaptation given is the Scifi Channel's TV version of ''Series/{{Earthsea}}''.
166	[[/folder]]
167
168	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
169	* ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'''s cheesy "I can't believe it's not ''Franchise/GIJoe''!" cartoon series from the early '90s was later referenced in a sourcebook as a poorly reviewed anti-Clan [[PropagandaMachine propaganda holovid]].
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Theatre]]
173	* The show-within-a-show in ''Film/TheBandWagon'' starts off as a musical adaptation of the Faust legend. Decay and StylisticSuck rapidly ensue.
174	[[/folder]]
175
176	[[folder:Video Games]]
177	* Played for laughs in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', with the Super Luigi series of books. According to them, Luigi went on a grand and epic adventure that rivals the one Mario is going on. By asking Luigi's various sidekicks, you find out that they're actually a lot less impressive than they're made out to be.
178	* A plot point in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', as due to [[ShroudedInMyth the legend]] of the Champion of Kirkwall being constantly embellished with each retelling, Cassandra is forced to track down Varric, the originator of the tale, to find the truth about who Hawke ''really'' was and what ''really'' happened at the Gallows. Varric is also shocked to learn that in some retellings, Hawke has been {{Flanderized}} from the RightManInTheWrongPlace, to the BigBad who masterminded every calamity suffered within Kirkwall as a means to acquire power and cause the downfall of the Chantry.
179	* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'', there's Godot's theme music ''~ The Fragrance of Black Coffee'' which is so stylish, chic and badass at the same time, a shout-out to jazz music. Any player would have thought that the "ungodly cool guy" has an ungodly cool tune by the time they get to also hear his in-game cellphone ringtone, which is a simplified monophonic rearrangement and is also cool, but sounds so embarrassingly lullaby-ish without those saxophone parts, that upon hearing it Phoenix wonders just what kind of ringtone that is.
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder:Web Animation]]
183	* In ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', the DVD-exclusive Strong Bad Email "Comic Book Movie" had Strong Bad describe how Hollywood would handle a movie of his comic book character Strong Badman: badly.
184	* Parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w this intro sequence]] for a nonexistent ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' SaturdayMorningCartoon, done by Creator/HarryPartridge. If one is unfamiliar with the source material, it just looks like any other cheesy kid's cartoon from the 80's. If you are familiar with it, then you know the satire here is so biting that Creator/AlanMoore has said it's the only adaptation of his classic graphic novel that he actually ''likes''.
185	[[/folder]]
186
187	[[folder:Webcomics]]
188	* In the ''Kings War'' arc of the MetaFic ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' the Shadow Child [[spoiler:aka Disbelief]] remarks that thanks to this he would be able to grind the once unbeatable [[Literature/LandOfOz Glinda]]'s [[MindRape will to dust]]. Specially alluding to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', ''{{Theatre/Wicked}}'', ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'' and ''Film/TheWitchesOfOz'' (in this order) while saying this. If you haven't guessed yet, the Shadow Child is quite an evil being.
189	* ''Webcomic/TheSecretKnots'': "The Day of the Blue Gods" is a recounting of how this has happened to a fictional movie over the course of several decades. The original film was a 1964 Spanish BMovie about blue aliens from Sirius declaring war on Earth because of "subterranean vibrations" that were destroying their world. After multiple alterations from its various rereleases and redubbings, the film was reduced to 8 minutes of the original film (mostly an unimportant romance subplot), with the rest of it being new material added at various points.
190	** In 1966, it was dubbed into Russian and named ''Colonizers From Planet U'' when it was distributed in the USSR, which added a subplot about the aliens wanting to kidnap workers to be their slaves.
191	** In 1968 it was released in Czechoslovakia, where it was retitled ''Dream from Planet U'' and added a subplot about a teenage girl whose singing could rob the aliens of their psychic powers.
192	** In 1969 it was released in Japan, where it was retitled ''U Against Earth!'' and the aliens turned into giants to fight a {{Kaiju}}. The US version then inserted new footage of an American officer but otherwise left it unchanged.
193	* Fans' typical [[BerserkButton reaction]] was [[http://www.weregeek.com/2007/05/09/ reflected here]] in ''Webcomic/{{Weregeek}}''.
194	[[/folder]]
195
196	[[folder:Western Animation]]
197	* The ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEmberIslandPlayers The Ember Island Players]]" was highly precise but not very accurate, not helped by the fact that it was propaganda of the Fire Nation. For example, Katara is whiny, Aang is played by a girl and Iroh is a senile old man that poisons Zuko's mind in the play.
198	-->'''Zuko:''' That...wasn't a good play.\
199	'''Aang:''' I'll say.\
200	'''Katara:''' No kidding.\
201	'''Suki:''' Horrible.\
202	'''Toph:''' You said it.\
203	'''Sokka:''' But the effects were decent.
204	** Prince Zuko also explains that he dislikes the Ember Island Players because of how they've "butchered" ''Love Amongst The Dragons''.
205	** Toph liked the huge muscle-bound guy who played her, though.
206	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''
207	** Peter Griffin takes this to unseen levels with "his" play of ''Theatre/TheKingAndI'' -- which, ironically, ends up being a huge success much to Lois's chagrin.
208	** Brian's drama ''What I Learned on Jefferson Street'' becomes the sitcom ''Class Holes!'' with a live studio audience, a chimpanzee, and James Woods.
209	* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Jimmy Neutron]]'' gave us Principal Willoughby's play ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}} [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace In Space!]]'' It was somehow even less faithful than you'd think it'd be.
210	* ''Toys/PollyPocket'' and her friends once went to the movies to watch what they expected to be the best movie ever because it was adapted from what they considered the best book ever. In the end, they considered it the ''worst'' movie ever.
211	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': Lola completely rewrote ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' for the community play using an entirely new script with her playing a character named Carol.
212	* Early in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', the boys decide to be movie directors for a day and adapt their sister's favorite play. We never learn what ''The Princess Sensibilities'' (based on the name, perhaps a combination of ''Literature/ThePrincessDiaries'' and ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility'') is initially about, but Phineas and Ferb make it into a monster movie.
213	* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' episode "In Dreams", Camp Pining Hearts, a SoapWithinAShow Peridot and Steven absolutely adore, gets a reboot. Steven and Peridot ''hate'' it, calling all the characters uninteresting and the cinematography terrible. By the end of the episode, they conclude that it's SoBadItsGood, laughing hysterically at it.
214	* ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'' features the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 1987]] and the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 2003]] Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles meeting and constantly getting confused over the differences in their worlds. They also note how they are LighterAndSofter than the [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage 1984 comic book Ninja Turtles]] they are based on.
215	[[/folder]]
216

Context Main / AdaptationDecay