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1->''"I liked [''Manga/{{Bleach}}''] better when it was called ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', and I liked ''that'' show better when it was called ''Anime/DragonBallZ''!"''
2-->-- '''Vegeta''', ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged''
3
4It is common that some work is heavily "inspired" by a previous work--they may have different authors and settings, but there are strong similarities of plot, situations and characters. It is also common that the second work is much inferior to the original because the original is great or the derivative is awful or both. The Better by a Different Name snarkily expresses this idea. The usual phrasing is "[This work] was better when it was called [other, earlier work]."
5
6Though rarely this can be a compliment, such as noting that a good film also works as part of another series of films if you imagined it so.
7
8Often overlaps with IfIWantedXIWouldY.
9
10A SubTrope of TheyCopiedItSoItSucks, in that this trope is a common way to express that belief.
11
12Compare TakeThat (to mock the referenced work), JustForFun/RecycledInSpace (where a work is set in a new setting), SerialNumbersFiledOff (where a work cannot use the same setting names, but is suspiciously similar), and SpiritualSuccessor (where audiences consider the work to be nearly the same as a sequel, despite the SerialNumbersFiledOff).
13----
14!!Administrivia/InUniverseExamplesOnly (sorted by source of the comment instead of the subject):
15[[foldercontrol]]
16
17[[folder:Comic Strips]]
18* In a 1989 issue of Magazine/{{MAD}} Magazine, during the spoof [[Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet 21 Junkheap]], the cast of ''Series/TheModSquad'' makes a cameo pointing out that about 15 years ago, we did "just like these shmendricks are doing".
19* In one ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' "The Comic Assassins" strip by Steve Noble and Kev F. Sutherland, they watch "The Curse of Fenric" and have the following conversation.
20-->'''Steve''': Hang on. An old war ... a brigadier ... We're not watching "Battlefield" by mistake, are we?
21-->'''Kev''': Can't be. In "Battlefield" a stupid blue-faced monster appeared for no apparent reason and...
22-->'''Ancient Haemovore''' ''(on screen)'' Hello, I am a stupid blue-faced monster.
23-->'''Kev''': Oh, lordy...
24[[/folder]]
25
26[[folder:Literature]]
27* ''Literature/ThatIsAll'' has a semi-complimentary variant. John Hodgman writes that he was able to accomplish his goal of getting ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr'' back on the air (a goal he had stated in his previous book, ''Literature/MoreInformationThanYouRequire''), except he had nothing to do with it and the show is now called ''Series/BurnNotice''.
28[[/folder]]
29
30[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
31* This was one of Creator/DavidSpade's trademark bits on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. In his last season it got turned around on him, when host Creator/TeriHatcher told him she liked his then-current movie ''Film/BlackSheep1996'' better when it was called ''Film/TommyBoy''.
32** And there's this (slightly HilariousInHindsight):
33-->Saw the movie ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'' this weekend. It's about people flying through space being chased by Darth Vader and storm troopers. I really liked this movie the first time I saw it when it was called "Franchise/StarWars"! ... Oh, wait.
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Music]]
37* Music/MitchBenn liked Russia's 2008 entry for the Series/EurovisionSongContest better when it was by Cat Stevens and called ''Wild World''.
38* Music/{{Voltaire}}'s song "U.S.S. Make Shit Up":
39--> I was stranded on the ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]''\
40And pounding on the door\
41When suddenly it dawned on me--\
42I'd seen this show before!\
43Perhaps I'm in a warp bubble\
44And slightly out of phase\
45Coz it was way back in the sixties\
46When they called it ''Series/LostInSpace''!
47* "He has a woman's name and wears makeup. How original."
48-->--Music/AliceCooper, discussing Music/MarilynManson
49[[/folder]]
50
51[[folder:Web Original]]
52* Used in [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xSt0jd0zL7g this video]] of ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged''.
53-->'''Nappa:''' I'd rather watch ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Vegeta.\
54'''Vegeta:''' Oh, please! [[IfIWantedXIWouldY If I wanted to watch over a hundred episodes of]] {{Filler}}, I'd watch ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}''.\
55'''Nappa:''' What about ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Vegeta? It's like us, ''[[JustForFun/RecycledInSPACE with swords]]''!\
56'''Vegeta:''' I liked that show better when it was called ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', and I liked ''THAT'' show better when it was called ''DRAGON BALL Z''!
57* In [[http://omohide.com/181/maison-ikkoku-review-what-makes-a-good-anime/ this review]], ''Manga/LoveHina'' is said to have been better when it was called ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku''.
58* A ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' review for ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'' says that it's often called the Unofficial ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} 3'' "since the actual ''Doom 3'' tripped over something in the dark, banged its head, and forgot it wasn't ''VideoGame/SystemShock''".
59** He also noted that ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' was "not 'like' ''System Shock 2'', it '''[[SerialNumbersFiledOff IS]]''' ''System Shock 2''", though he didn't make a quality judgement either way.
60** He does it again in his {{review}} for [[VideoGame/DantesInferno Dante's Inferno]]:
61--->"So all in all you could swap out the disc for God of War 2 while the player pops out for a piss and there's a good chance they won't notice. That is, until they realize that the game has suddenly become ''good''."
62** Yahtzee describes ''VideoGame/{{Hatred}}'' as the latest iteration of ''the game'' that always comes up in discussions about moral panic and video games, which was called ''VideoGame/{{Postal}}'' last time.
63** Also done in the review for ''VideoGame/StardewValley'':
64--->"''Stardew Valley'' is a retro-style farming simulator recently released on Steam that's somewhat reminiscent of ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon''. Oh, sorry, I read that wrong. ''Stardew Valley'' is ''Harvest Moon''.
65* Website/RottenTomatoes' [[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/duplex/ consensus]] on ''Film/{{Duplex}}'': "It was funnier when it was called ''Film/ThrowMommaFromTheTrain''."
66* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick does this a lot:
67** She notes that ''Film/SpiceWorld'' is a movie with at half the ambition of ''Film/AHardDaysNight'', a quarter of the budget and at least two percent of the talent.
68** On ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea,'' which she notes is a total rehash of the first movie: "I'm no fan of the original, but I hate to say it, I liked this better when it was called ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}''. ({{Beat}}) [[NonIndicativeTitle And it was about a mermaid]]."
69** Inverted in her review of ''Film/TheCraft''. She called ''Film/MeanGirls'' an unofficial remake of that film, only PlayedForLaughs, without the witchcraft, and a much better film for it.
70** "The thing is, they already made [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012 this movie]] successfully. It was called ''WesternAnimation/WallE''."
71** "I liked [[Film/WhatWomenWant this movie]] a lot more he first time they made it, when it starred Creator/BillMurray. And was called ''Film/GroundhogDay.''" She then goes on to describe how both use MagicalRealism to create similar plot and character arcs, except that ''Film/WhatWomenWant'' is a lot more shallow and forced.
72* ''WebVideo/VampireReviews'':
73** [[VampireVannabe Maven]] says that the ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' movie is basically ''Film/{{Clueless}}'' with monsters, but that the latter at least makes most of its characters likable.
74** At the end of her review of ''Film/TheFearlessVampireKillers'', she said that, if one wants a similar horror-comedy about vampires that isn't tainted by Creator/RomanPolanski's rape charges, they should watch ''Film/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'' instead.
75* Creator/BobChipman:
76** A week after reviewing ''Film/JennifersBody'' (in the appendix to his review of ''Film/{{Surrogates}}''), he compared said film to ''Film/GingerSnaps'', which he called the good version of that movie.
77** He had [[https://moviebobcentral.com/2005/02/27/review-cursed/ previously said]] the same thing about ''Film/{{Cursed 2005}}'', ending his scathing review by providing a link to ''Ginger Snaps''[='=] Website/IMDb page and telling everybody to go watch that film instead.
78** Inverted in his review of ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', which he compared to Creator/{{Disney}} trying its hand at a Creator/{{DreamWorks|Animation}}-style animated movie, specifically calling it "what one of these would look like [[TakeThat if they didn't suck]]."
79** Discussing ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8BPzCvrxLY Part II]] of his ''Really That Bad'' episode regarding said film, he opined that ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' handled the same idea of a hero-on-hero punch-up movie much better.
80** While reviewing ''Proud Mary'', he referred to ''Film/SmokinAces'' as "''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' but, like, good."
81** He has said that the ''Series/Supergirl2015'' TV series does a better job adapting the Franchise/{{Superman}} mythos to the screen than the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, devoting [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6V26g9TABI an episode]] of ''In Bob We Trust'' to holding it up as a counterpoint to all of his problems with the DCEU.
82** He referred to ''Film/ThePlatform'' as "what if ''Film/{{Snowpiercer}}'' [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace but in a building]]? And also not good?"
83* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LdCophxHgk Kaiba's Real Father - Conclusion]] on ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''
84-->'''Kaiba:''' Was that a [[WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged Dragon Ball Z]] cameo? Geez, knowing my luck, my father's going to turn out to be Ghost Nappa. That's pretty much how these things usually go.\
85'''Mokuba:''' Aaaahh, but you gotta admit, Seto, Nappa sure is funny!\
86'''Kaiba:''' Yeah, I liked him better when he was called "Tristan".
87* A couple times in ''Website/{{Cracked}}'':
88** "I saw ''Film/TheMatrix'' back when it was called ''Film/{{Dark City|1998}}''." This is the example given for #4 of [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-common-movie-arguments-that-are-always-wrong/ 6 Common Movie Arguments That Are Always Wrong]].
89** Another writer's article claims ''Film/HomeAlone'' and ''Film/DieHard'' are [[http://www.cracked.com/funny-4445-home-alone/ the same movie]], although they don't seem to mean this as a value judgment on either film. [[note]]For those not keeping track, Cracked has multiple writers and no guarantee they'll agree with each other. That, and it runs on RuleOfFunny, not Rule Of Accuracy.[[/note]]
90** In ''[[http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-recent-films-that-are-accidentally-sequels-to-80s-movies/ 4 Recent Films That Are Accidentally Sequels to 80s Movies]]'' they say;
91*** ''Film/BlueValentine'' is a sequel to ''Film/SayAnything''.
92*** ''Film/TheGoonies'' grew up to be the characters from ''Film/NationalTreasure''.
93*** Stef from ''Film/PrettyInPink'' became Walter from ''Film/TheWoodsman''.
94*** ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' was a revenge attack by ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''.
95** ''[[http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-first-half-fight-club-was-in-movie-you-never-saw/ The First Half Of Fight Club Was In A Movie You Never Saw]]'' says that the kid in ''Film/CloakAndDagger1984'' is the main character from ''Film/FightClub'' as a child.
96** [[https://www.cracked.com/blog/we-already-had-hawkeye-standalone-film-it-was-called-tag/ That]] ''Film/{{Tag}}'' could be seen as a standalone ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'' movie for the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''.
97* The [[http://www.jabootu.com/sphere.htm Jabootu review]] of ''Literature/{{Sphere}}'' draws the broad strokes of the film's ClicheStorm:
98--> I was in fact entertained by the first part of ''Sphere'' the first time I saw it (when it was called either ''Film/TheAbyss'' or ''Film/{{Alien}}''), and I was ''quite highly'' entertained by the second half the first time I saw that (when it was called ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'' and starred Walter Pigeon). I have to take it as a given that I would have enjoyed the last five minutes of ''Sphere'' along with everyone else who saw it the first time, when it was called ''Film/ThePrinceOfTides'', but I missed that one.
99* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic stated in his review of ''Film/BarbWire'' that he liked it better when it was called ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''.
100** When [[WebVideo/BennettTheSage Sage]] tells him that there are plans for a live-action adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/StarChaserTheLegendOfOrin'', the Critic screams they already made it, it was called ''Franchise/StarWars''.
101** As an intro to his ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review, Superman (as played by Rob Scallon) sings about the events of that movie, while Batman (Doug himself) keeps pointing out that all of it applies to ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' too.
102** Inverted in his review of ''Film/OsmosisJones'', which he felt was done much better years later by Creator/{{Pixar}} as ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut''.
103* [[WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown Film Brain]]'s [[https://twitter.com/FB_BMB/status/311626171295084544 assessment of]] ''Film/VampiresSuck'': " I won't be doing a proper review of Vampires Suck - I did that already when it was called ''Film/EpicMovie'' [[SelfPlagiarism and nothing has changed]]".
104* ''WebVideo/MidnightScreenings'' will occasionally do this for some movies, usually playing it straight for bad ones.
105** Brad commented that ''Film/TheLoneRanger'' was just ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' with the plot stretched out to two-and-a-half hours.
106** For ''{{WesternAnimation/Frozen|2013}}'', they called the story "the best of the ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' origins films".
107* The Website/PlatypusComix article "[[http://www.platypuscomix.net/kidzone/braver.html Braver]]" makes the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' episode "Girl's Knight Out" seem like a proto-''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', albeit with a more courageous and rational TomboyPrincess in the form of Princess Calla.
108* WebAnimation/TacoMan calls ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys1'' a more realistic, but also more boring[[note]]Until the jump scares, of course[[/note]], version of ''VideoGame/NightTrap''.
109-->At least in ''Night Trap'', they had [[{{Fanservice}} scantily-clad teenage girls]] and [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic that awesome song]].
110* In WebVideo/RedLetterMedia's review of ''Film/StarTrek2009'', Mr. Plinkett described it as TheThemeParkVersion of the franchise, but also considered it a better ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie than the prequel trilogy, and joked that Creator/JJAbrams should have directed those films instead of Creator/GeorgeLucas. [[HilariousInHindsight Hilariously]], a few years later Abrams was picked to direct ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', the first of the ''Star Wars'' sequel trilogy.
111* Creator/JamesRolfe argued that the original ''[[Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968 Planet Of The Apes]]'' could have been the perfect movie for ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'', due to its TwistEnding and being written by Creator/RodSerling.
112** He loved ''Film/VictorFrankenstein'' because he felt like he was watching one of the old ''Film/HammerHorror'' movies.
113** When reviewing the 2014 ''[[Film/Godzilla2014 Godzilla]]'' movie, he said that he'd enjoy the [[Film/Godzilla1998 1998 film]] if it wasn't a Godzilla movie and prefers to think of it as a sequel to ''Film/IndependenceDay''.
114** He complained that ''Series/EmeraldCity'' felt like it was based on ''Series/GameOfThrones'' instead of the ''Literature/LandOfOz'' books.
115* In his ''WebSite/YouTube'' video where ''[=TheRealJims=]'' puts forth his theory that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIQzAJLKmUA Grampa Simpson actually shot Mr. Burns]] he argues that the episode, ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E22 Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"]]'' could be considered "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E25WhoShotMrBurnsPartOne Who Shot]] [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Mr. Burns?]] Part 3".
116* When ''Minty Comedic Arts'' made his ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smt96KIpDlQ 10 Things You May Not Know About]] Franchise/BillAndTed'' video, he complained that the plot of ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'' had been done in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventures'' eight years before.
117* The Dom from ''WebVideo/LostInAdaptation'' preferred the ''Literature/TheInheritanceCycle'' when it was called ''Franchise/StarWars'', Disney's 2002 ''Literature/TuckEverlasting'' movie when it was called ''Film/Titanic1997'', and both he and his girlfriend Calluna prefer Creator/PeterJackson's ''Film/TheHobbit Trilogy'' when it was called ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''. (As he feels all of them are scene-for-scene rip-offs of the respective movies.
118* Arstechnica.com [[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/02/lego-movie-2-isnt-just-amazing-its-also-the-solo-we-always-wanted/ said that]] ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart'' was the version of ''Film/{{Solo}}'' they always wanted to see.
119* An unusual example which is "Someone did it right later" rather than "Someone did it better earlier" is in the ''Tough Pigs'' [[https://toughpigs.com/brats/ review]] of ''Series/BRATSOfTheLostNebula''. Becca says there's a good show trying to get out, and Anthony replies that that show is ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekProdigy''.
120* Music/MitchBenn's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsqTxat9F3w&list=PL6_iHCnChjWiuLFmsFEhYQkOIAe2IWJ3v&index=17 three reasons]] why he didn't watch ''Film/{{Joker}}'' does it twice:
121-->'''Mitch''': On the one hand, the idea "What if Creator/MartinScorsese made a ''Batman'' movie with no Batman in it in 1981?" is a pretty decent idea for a movie. But there's gotta be a better way of paying tribute to the brilliance of Martin Scorsese than just mashing together the plots of ''Film/TaxiDriver'' and ''Film/TheKingOfComedy'' and then, just in case anybody out there didn't get the reference yet, bung in Creator/RobertDeNiro to play the Creator/JerryLewis part this time. [...] There's a big difference between emulating your heroes and ''imitating'' your heroes. I seem to have spent most of the nineties explaining this to Music/{{Oasis}} fans.\
122[...]\
123'''Mitch''': But you know what? If the film you really, really need in your life is an intense and atmospheric thriller, that's kind of an unofficial remake of ''Taxi Driver'', featuring an incredibly compelling central performance from Creator/JoaquinPhoenix, ''that film came out two years ago'', and it's fucking brilliant, and it made a fraction of the money ''Joker'''s making. The film is called ''Film/YouWereNeverReallyHere''.
124[[/folder]]
125
126[[folder:Webcomics]]
127* [[AuthorAvatar Pantsman]] of ''Webcomic/VGCats'' does this twice in [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=190 his rant]] about ''Manga/InuYasha'', first saying he liked it better when it was called ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' and later calling it "''Anime/DragonBallZ'' for girls".
128[[/folder]]
129
130[[folder:Western Animation]]
131* An early episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' features Bart and Homer watching an episode of Disney's ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'', with Bart commenting: "It's like they took our lives and put them right up there on the screen!"
132[[/folder]]
133
134[[folder:Other]]
135* A magazine gave a breakdown of the {{Summer Blockbuster}}s of 1997. They discuss how ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' did only moderately well compared to other recent works of the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, and they surmised people thought it was done better when it was called ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''.
136* Creator/RogerEbert: "All bad movies have good twins, and the good version of ''Film/GoodbyeLover'' is ''Film/TheHotSpot''... a thriller that was equally lurid but less hyperkinetic."
137** He said the same anything with ''Film/SayAnything'' (GREAT!) and ''Film/ShesOutOfControl'' (HORRIBLE!), both of which opened on the exact same day (April 14th, 1989).
138* A diversion in an [[http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/02/25/isn%E2%80%99t-it-about-time-you-gave-armageddon-another-chance/ online]] ''SFX'' article, giving the cases for and against ''Film/Armageddon1998''.
139-->'''Case for the defence:''' The science in ''Armageddon'' is no more wacky than it is in something like ''Film/FantasticVoyage'' and -- let's face it -- considerably more sensible than the science presented in ''Film/SourceCode''.\
140'''Case for the prosecution:''' Hey, I liked ''Source Code''!\
141'''Case for the defence:''' I liked it better 20 years ago when it was called ''Series/QuantumLeap''.\
142'''Case for the prosecution:''' Touché.
143* Given ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' draws a lot from ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', Creator/JamesCameron said that once he knew of Paul Verhoeven's plans he thought: "Why are they making [[Film/StarShipTroopers a Starship Troopers film]]? I already did it!".
144* Scott Kurtz of ''Webcomic/PvP'' once joked that his favorite stories in ComicBook/AtomicRobo were the issues done by [[{{Comicbook/Hellboy}} Mike Mignola]].
145[[/folder]]

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