History SpiritualAdaptation / LiveActionTV

* Generally speaking, ''Series/The100'' feels a '''lot''' like what would've happened after the crew of the ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' initially settled on Earth, albeit with no Cylons, a bit more of a post-apocalyptic feel, and if they first sent down 100 juvenile delinquents to test the waters.
** Other fans have pointed out that before the series starts to go OffTheRails, the first season makes for a pretty good [=co-ed=] version of ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' (albeit given a science fiction twist).
* ''Series/AdamRuinsEverything'' is essentially ''Website/{{Snopes}}'' as a TV show, albeit with a lot of AffectionateParody (hence the show's title).
* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr'' works well as an American TV adaptation of ComicBook/LuckyLuke, between its protagonist who has ImprobableAimingSkills, outlandish plots which sometimes edge into AffectionateParody of TheWestern, and especially both having a very similar CoolHorse taken UpToEleven.
* ''Series/AllOfUsAreDead'' can easily be described as ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'' as a live-action series, sans the excessive {{fanservice}} of the anime and with the setting moved from Japan to South Korea. Both shows have, at the core, {{Second Year Protagonist}}s escaping an East Asian high school full of zombies, the handsome guy who has ShipTease with an upbeat tomboy and an AloofDarkHairedGirl, the fat friend being the PluckyComicRelief, a RichBitch with pink motifs, and green uniforms.
* While ''Film/TheCraft'' already had an acknowledged Spiritual Adaptation in the form of ''Series/Charmed1998'' (see below), one could make the case that ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCoven'' captured the film's spirit more faithfully, albeit with the '90s {{goth}}ic fashion sense and iconography swapped out for SouthernGothic and {{camp}}. Both are about the potent, ancient powers of witchcraft falling into the hands of teenage girls who, while skilled at wielding such for their own ends, have little idea of how to do so ''responsibly'', and use their powers to [[WitchWithACapitalB turn their catty infighting up to the next level]]. Madison Montgomery can easily be seen as the show's analogue to Nancy Downs, both being [[ItsAllAboutMe ragingly narcissistic]] {{Alpha Bitch}}es who see their powers solely as a means to satisfy their desires no matter who gets hurt along the way. They even both have subplots in which the heroine uses her powers to get revenge on a sexually-harassing JerkJock, only for it to [[GoneHorriblyWrong go horribly wrong]] one way or another.
* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' is the world's first, best and ''only'' modern sitcom reimagining of Creator/{{Aeschylus}}' ''Theatre/TheOresteia''. Practically all of the tropes of Classical Greek tragedy are there: intergenerational conflict, random mutilation and disfiguration, a powerful BigScrewedUpFamily's fall from grace, a complex web of backstabbings and infidelity, an [[EvilMatriarch ambitious scheming matriarch]] manipulating a clueless patriarch behind his back, an OnlySaneMan son trying to right his parents' wrongs, boatloads of IncestSubtext, and a surreal courtroom trial at the climax--all set against the backdrop of a brutal war in Asia Minor (though one involving [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror battle tanks]] instead of [[UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar a big wooden horse]]). Naturally, though, it's all PlayedForLaughs.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Has strong elements of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' [-'''[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]'''-] WordOfGod says it's specifically inspired by ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', which detailed the backstory of Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium.
* ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' was Creator/StevenSpielberg's companion piece to ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', and can easily be thought of as a TV adaptation of such, albeit focused on [[BasedOnATrueStory real soldiers and battles]] instead of fictionalized versions thereof.
* The original '70s ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' was Creator/{{ABC}}'s attempt to create a ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'' TV series, with ShowRunner Glen Larson even hiring that film's special effects lead John Dykstra to help craft the show's look. Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox considered it similar enough that they tried to [[https://io9.gizmodo.com/battlestar-galactica-dubbed-too-expensive-and-star-w-326482 sue Universal]] (who produced the show) for UsefulNotes/{{plagiarism}}.
* ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'': A concrete influence is the films of Creator/JohnHughes, with series co-creator Darren Star stating in the DVDCommentary for the pilot episode that his intention was to create a TV version of a Hughes movie.
* ''Series/BlackMirror'':
** [[Recap/BlackMirrorSanJunipero "San Junipero"]], upon TheReveal, can be said to be an unofficial TV adaptation of [[spoiler:''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'', with both works revolving around virtual worlds rooted in the iconography of TheEighties. (In ''Ready Player One'', it was 1980's geek culture, while "San Junipero" is based more on the broader pop culture of the time.)]]
** The premise of [[Recap/BlackMirrorHatedInTheNation "Hated in the Nation"]] sounds like it came right out of the ''Manga/GhostInTheShell'' manga series, especially its anime adaptation ''[[Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Stand Alone Complex]]''. Some fans would argue that this episode has more in common with ''[=GitS=]'' than its [[Film/GhostInTheShell2017 2017 live-action film adaptation]].
** Fans of the Creator/DisneyChannel like to joke that [[Recap/BlackMirrorRachelJackAndAshleyToo "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too"]], on top of its {{homage}}s to ''Series/HannahMontana'' (including featuring its star Music/MileyCyrus), is a DarkerAndEdgier remake of the Disney Channel Original Movie ''Film/PixelPerfect'', another story about people creating a [[VirtualCelebrity virtual pop star]] that is then cynically exploited by the record industry while she starts to question her place in the world.
* ''[[Series/FateTheWinxSaga Fate:The Winx Saga]]'' looks more like Live-Action ''[[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} RWBY]]'' than Live-Action ''[[WesternAnimation/WinxClub Winx Club]]''. a team of girls training in special academy designed to fight monsters? Check. Not to mention the fact that Magics in ''fate'' work more like Semblances than what we see on ''Winx club''.
* ''Series/BlackSails'' makes for a good live-action adaptation of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' which itself is more or less a video game version of the series (see the Video Game page for more information). Both works are set in the Caribbean during the UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy with the protagonists commandeering their own ships and interacting with real-life historical figures as part of the short-lived Republic of Pirates in Nassau. It also helps that they're essentially prequels to a previous installment.
* The Creator/{{Syfy}} original series ''Series/BloodDrive'' was created as a GenreThrowback to '70s {{exploitation film}}s, but any gamers watching it are just as likely to be reminded of ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal''. The BigBad Julian Slink, a RepulsiveRingmaster running a high-octane, cross-country road race in which the losers are all killed, bears a strong resemblance to Calypso from the ''Twisted Metal'' games, right down to him working for a MegaCorp (Calypso was the CEO of one in the 2013 reboot) and being implied to be demonic or otherwise supernatural. Likewise with the flamboyantly-characterized drivers and vehicles, even if there aren't any {{Weaponized Car}}s nor one-to-one comparisons with the competitors in ''Twisted Metal''.
* A lot of people consider ''Series/BlueBloods'' to be what ''Series/HillStreetBlues'' or ''Series/NYPDBlue'' would look like if they were remade in the post-9/11 world. They're not far off.
* ''Series/BlueMountainState'' is considered the closest we've ever got to an actual ''Film/AnimalHouse'' series. There were in fact not one, but ''three'' Spiritual Adaptations of ''Animal House'' back when the film first came out, one on each of the Big Three American networks (''Delta House'' on ABC, ''Brothers and Sisters'' on NBC, and ''Co-ed Fever'' on CBS, all of them short-lived), but it wasn't until the rise of pay TV that there was a place on television with standards relaxed enough to show an ''Animal House'' series in all its depraved glory.
* ''Series/TheBorgias'': This show is just close enough to being an adaptation of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' that one half-expects [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood Ezio and company]] to show up at any time.
** The same could be said about ''Series/{{Medici}}''. Heck, you can almost ''wait'' for them to mention the Auditores by name.
* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': So close to being ''Film/YoursMineAndOurs: [[RecycledTheSeries The Series]]'' that the filmmakers threatened to sue. ''The Brady Bunch'' also seemed to use the Creator/DorisDay vehicle ''Film/WithSixYouGetEggroll'', another comedy about BlendedFamilyDrama, as a role model.
* Ever wonder what ''Film/TheyLive'' would look like as a TV political dramedy, with virtually all of the satire intact? Look no further than ''Series/BrainDead2016''.
* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' is basically a modern-day remake of ''Series/BarneyMiller'' set in the New York City borough of Brooklyn with a similar style of sitcom comedy and a diverse cast.
* Creator/JossWhedon was disappointed with a 1992 movie he wrote called ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', so he [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer made it into a TV series]] in order to do it right. While the ''Buffy'' TV show retains the lead character of the film and some of its mythology, the actual meat of the show feels like it was adapting a different vampire movie: ''Film/TheLostBoys''. Both are horror-comedies about teenagers raised by single mothers who move to a small California beach town only to find it crawling with vampires, and team up with other local kids and an older mentor in order to fight back against them, all while wearing the style, music, and attitude of their respective decades on their sleeves and frequently making GenreSavvy comments about vampire stories. Whedon has acknowledged the influence, saying that the character of Spike, a bleached-blond vampire with flamboyant, PunkRock-meets-Music/BillyIdol mannerisms and fashion sense who was initially introduced as the BigBad of ''Buffy''[='=]s second season, was [[http://www.slayage.com/news/020609-joss_dvd.html partly inspired]] by David, the villain of ''The Lost Boys'', and that he [[http://mentalfloss.com/article/73728/9-found-facts-about-lost-boys took the idea]] of the vampires' GameFace on ''Buffy'' from that film.
* Some people consider ''Series/{{Castle}}'' to essentially be what ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' would look like if it were remade in the post-9/11 world.
* Constance M. Burge has acknowledged that ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' was partly inspired by the 1996 horror film ''Film/TheCraft'', another story about a group of [[HotWitch attractive young witches]], though in this version, the witches are heroic rather than [[WickedWitch evil]]. Creator/RobinTunney and Creator/RachelTrue, two of the stars of ''The Craft'', [[https://ew.com/movies/2017/10/17/the-craft-oral-history/ were less]] [[http://toofab.com/2017/06/22/the-craft-remake-charmed-rachel-true-thowback-thursday/ diplomatic,]] calling ''Charmed'' a flat-out ripoff. (Tunney even said that, in the past, she'd been mistakenly thought to have starred on ''Charmed''.) The show's RealSongThemeTune, Love Spit Love's cover of [[Music/TheSmiths "How Soon Is Now?"]], was even originally recorded for the soundtrack to ''The Craft''.
* ''Series/ChoujinSentaiJetman'': This show is what ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' would've been had it been remade into a live-action series.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' is ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' if it they were in college and were more meta-obsessed, clever, and [[RefugeInAudacity audacious]]. (Although ''not'' to be confused with ''Saved By The Bell: The College Years.'')
* ''Series/DarkAngel'' was Creator/JamesCameron's attempt to make an unofficial live-action version of ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'' after the official version he was scheduled to direct went into DevelopmentHell. Said [[Film/AlitaBattleAngel film adaptation]] would eventually be SavedFromDevelopmentHell and released in 2019, albeit with Cameron only co-writing and producing it and Creator/RobertRodriguez directing.
* ''Series/{{The Defenders|2017}}'' has nothing to do with [[Comicbook/TheDefenders the comic of the same name]], and is actually much closer in tone and premise to the short-lived ''Marvel Knights'' team book from the 90's.
* The Creator/DisneyChannel's ''Film/{{Descendants}}'' films, about the children of the villains and protagonists of fairy tales and Disney films past, are probably the closest thing that ''Toys/EverAfterHigh'' has had to a LiveActionAdaptation.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' two-parter "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E8TheImpossiblePlanet The Impossible Planet]]" / "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E9TheSatanPit The Satan Pit]]" together form a better ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' (and particularly ''[[VideoGame/{{Doom3}} Doom 3]]'') movie than [[Film/{{Doom}} the one that actually came out]].
* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' is one to the now-forgotten film ''Moonrunners'', which had been written and directed by ''Dukes'' creator Gy Waldron, with ''Film/SmokeyAndTheBandit'' as an obvious secondary influence.
* ''Series/{{Emergence}}'' seems an awful lot like a modern version of the film ''Film/{{Daryl}}'', only with more mystery and intrigue, a different villainous entity and [[GenderFlip a little girl instead of a little boy.]]
* ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'' is what Creator/{{HBO}} would create if it was ordered to create a ForeignRemake of ''Film/AllAboutLilyChouChou'' to contemporary American audiences.
* ''Series/TheExpanse'' is a downplayed case since it's '''already''' [[Literature/TheExpanse based off of a book series]]. That being said, some fans have favorably compared the series to the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' novels, especially in regards to the main similarities in how their long-term world building, political maneuvering and progressive technological developments that dramatically alter the military and political landscape are utilized within the narrative.
* ''Falling Water'', a show about people who can enter and manipulate other people's dreams, has been outright [[http://www.polygon.com/tv/2016/8/3/12369800/falling-water-usa-syfy described]] as "Creator/{{USA|Network}}'s take on ''Film/{{Inception}}'', but without the tricks."
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' could be considered how Creator/TimBurton would make a SpaceOpera.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'':
** Some consider it to be a very well done live-action version of ''Manga/OutlawStar''.
** ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'' fans sometimes joke that Creator/JossWhedon must have been having a few beers with Robert Mandell and made a Galaxy Rangers series told from the criminals' point of view.
** ''Firefly'' is also often compared to ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'', and there has been [[https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/13668/is-joss-whedons-firefly-based-on-the-traveller-rpg-he-played speculation]] that the series was actually based on a campaign.
* ''Series/FTroop'': This show is seen by some as a derivative of the Glenn Ford comedy film, ''Advance To The Rear''.
* ''Series/TheFugitive'' shares several plot and thematic elements with the novel and film ''Film/DarkPassage'', to the point where the novel's author (unsuccessfully) sued the show's producers for copyright infringement.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Due to shared inspiration (specifically, the real life UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses), fans have considered ''Series/GameOfThrones'' the closest thing to a DarkerAndEdgier (as if that was necessary) live action adaptation of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' they're ever likely to see.
** Arya's story arc in Seasons 5 and 6 of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' actually makes for a pretty decent ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' miniseries. It's even set in Braavos (a {{fictional counterpart}} of Venice, Italy) in a time period based loosely on the 15th century, making it surprisingly close to the look and feel of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII''.
** The series is also considered UsefulNotes/TheNewTens' equivalent of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', as both are epic-scale adaptations of {{doorstopper}} fantasy literature that are considered genre-definers in their respective media (TV and film). Both works also broke the FantasyGhetto in their respective media, and while the ''LOTR'' films were groundbreaking for being highly successful adult-oriented HighFantasy adaptations, ''[=GoT=]'' takes this even further by catering ''exclusively'' to mature audiences with its graphic content and intricate plot and characters. Many jokes were made about Creator/SeanBean featuring in both franchises and getting killed off in the earliest installment both times.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'':
** The show frequently invites comparisons to ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'', to the point that there was even an ''[[http://glee.wikia.com/wiki/Archie_Meets_Glee Archie Meets Glee]]'' comic-book crossover between the two, with Dilton explicitly naming several characters from ''Glee'' as analogues to his own friends in Riverdale and noting that music plays a major role in both works. Archie is Finn, Dilton is Artie, Kevin is Kurt, Reggie is Puck, Veronica is Rachel, and Betty is a nicer version of Quinn, and while Archie Comics isn't built around a musical group the way that ''Glee'' is, it does have the students performing in the [[FakeBand bands]] ComicBook/JosieAndThePussycats and The Archies. Perhaps not coincidentally, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the current chief creative officer at ''Archie Comics'' and the ShowRunner for its LiveActionAdaptation ''Riverdale'', had previously been a writer on ''Glee''.
** When it first premiered, it was often described as "''Film/HighSchoolMusical: [[RecycledTheSeries The Series]]''", though this died down once it became clear that the show was more of a {{deconstructive|Parody}} BlackComedy take on the concept.
** Creator/RyanMurphy has [[https://deadline.com/2011/08/emmys-qa-with-ryan-murphy-about-glee-153242/ said]] that ''Film/{{Election}}'' was also a major inspiration, particularly with the interactions between Mr. Schuster and Rachel being based on those of that film's Mr. [=McAllister=] and Tracy Flick.
* ''Series/TheGoldbergs'' is the closest anyone has come to doing a sitcom InTheStyleOf Creator/JeanShepherd. The influence of ''Film/AChristmasStory'' is very obvious (and they naturally did a tribute episode to it), but it also manages to replicate Shepherd's deconstruction of the NostalgiaFilter, broadly-drawn characters and use of pop culture to evoke a certain era.
* ''Series/TheGoodPlace''
** The first season's CruelTwistEnding makes the season's events one to [[spoiler:[[UsefulNotes/{{Existentialism}} Existentialist]] philosopher Creator/JeanPaulSartre's famous play ''Theatre/NoExit''. All of the main characters were selected to torture each other by making each other's lives an [[IronicHell Ironic]] SelfInflictedHell through their conflicting egos and clashing personalities, all while [[ThisIsntHeaven believing they'd been sent to the "Good Place"]] (which is depicted as a MundaneAfterlife paralleling Hell being portrayed in ''No Exit'' as an [[HellHotel ordinary hotel room]]). The parallels go further, with two-thirds of the series' main characters being blatant {{Exp|y}}ies of the cast of ''No Exit'' - [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist Eleanor Shellstrop]] is Inès Serrano[[note]]a nasty antisocial lady who hits on their female companion, freely admits that she was a terrible person in life, and [[OnlySaneMan is the first to realize how and why they're all being tortured]][[/note]], [[TheDitherer Chidi Anagonye]] is Joseph Garcin[[note]]Garcin feigns being an honest man mistakenly punished, and Chidi has no reason to believe, as a moral philosopher, that he would end up in the Bad Place; both men are also cowardly French-speakers caught between the two women in their stories[[/note]], [[BrokenAce Tahani Al-Jamil]] is Estelle Rigault[[note]]a haughty socialite who never seems to fully realize [[InnocentlyInsensitive how grating she can be]][[/note]], and [[BitchInSheepsClothing Michael]] is the Valet[[note]]a humble, unassuming afterlife employee administering a torture chamber[[/note]].]] The series' showrunner Creator/MichaelSchur even explicitly [[https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/the-good-place/275396/the-1944-existentialist-play-that-inspired-the-good-place described the play]] as a major inspiration for the show.
** It's also a pretty good TV adaptation of the computer game ''VideoGame/Afterlife1996'', with Michael serving as the PlayerCharacter from that game designing a custom [[{{Heaven}} "Good Place"]] for the main characters. [[spoiler:It still works even after TheReveal, when it turns out that he was ''actually'' designing a custom [[{{Hell}} "Bad Place"]] to torment them, largely for [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential the amusement of himself and the demons working for him]].]]
* Creator/TylerPerry's television drama ''Series/TheHavesAndTheHaveNots'' is pretty much the television series version of his film ''Film/TheFamilyThatPreys''.
* Some fans and critics view ''Series/HannahMontana'' as being a more faithful LiveActionAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/JemAndTheHolograms'' than [[Film/JemAndTheHolograms2015 the 2015 film]], though that's arguably just as much of an indictment of how much liberty the film took with its [[InNameOnly nominal]] source material. Similarly to the ''Jurassic Park''/''Godzilla '98'' example, the 2015 film seems to owe more to ''Hannah Montana'' than its namesake show.
* ''Series/HappyDays'' owes a lot to ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' - it's [[Creator/RonHoward star]], introductory theme song, setting and nostalgia, even if it took the bittersweet themes of ''American Graffiti'' and made them more straightforwardly sweet.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': There are those who consider this show a jazzier version of the ''Comicbook/XMen''. Others consider it the television version of ''ComicBook/DP7''.
* ''Series/HogansHeroes'' drew inspiration from many POWCamp movies, but it's especially close to being a PlayedForLaughs version of ''Film/Stalag17''. ''Stalag'' has the sadistic Col. von Scherbach, ''Hogan'' has [[{{Expy}} the sadistic Col. Klink]], and the addition of a T to his surname is [[CaptainErsatz basically the only difference]] between ''Stalag'' 's Sgt. Schulz and ''Hogan'''s Sgt. Schultz. The writers of the original play sued for copyright infringement and won, but it got overturned on appeal (on the grounds that the tones of the two works were vastly different).
* ''The Holy Pearl'': This Chinese Drama has been said to be an unofficial adaptation of ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}''.
* [[Recap/JAGS05E07Rogue "Rogue"]], a fifth season episode of ''Series/{{JAG}}'', works out to be the best ''Literature/RogueWarrior'' work never made. The level of detail in both the basic plot and the characterization is incredible, to the point one can't help but think this would be what Creator/DonaldPBellisario would love to work on if given half a chance.
* While the Creator/DisneyChannel's [[Film/KimPossible live-action film adaptation]] of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' met [[BrokenBase a mixed reception]], there'll always be ''Series/KCUndercover'' if one wants to picture what a live-action version of that show would look like. Creator/{{Zendaya}}, the show's star, was well aware of the similarities, and [[https://twitter.com/Zendaya/status/398247722404151296 described the show]] as a throwback to ''Kim Possible'' and the "cool Disney Channel" of the early '00s.
* While ''Series/KevinCanFuckHimself'' doesn't get nearly as depraved as ''Film/NaturalBornKillers'', the show's deconstruction of DomCom tropes can come off as a great TV adaptation of the "I Love Mallory" scenes in that film showing Mallory's backstory. In both works, a clear-cut case of DomesticAbuse is {{Played for|Laughs}} BlackComedy and dark satire by framing it as a sitcom, complete with a LaughTrack that gets a lot less appropriate as the viewer realizes how ugly the situation is, while the suffering woman in the situation eventually snaps and decides to kill the man responsible for her abuse.
* Though ''Series/{{Knightmare}}'' never got an [[TransAtlanticEquivalent American adaptation]] (they tried, but it was apparently "too costly"), ''Series/NickArcade'' and ''Series/MastersOfTheMaze'' both served as unofficial American versions. ''Arcade'' mainly took after ''Series/{{Starcade}}'' in the main game, but took a ''Knightmare''-esque approach in the endgame. ''Maze'', meanwhile, centered more around mental challenges and the titular maze, which had contestants wearing ''Series/VRTroopers''-style armor, making it a bit more like ''Series/LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple'' with video game-style elements and a dash of ''Knightmare''.
* While the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse is already a LiveActionAdaptation of Franchise/MarvelComics, several of their televised entries fall into this trope.
** When the Netflix series ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' premiered, many noted that the show felt like an adaptation of a famous non-Marvel (and non-comic book) superhero property: ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}''. Both are {{Capepunk}} psychological thrillers with an emphasis on the characters rather than their superpowers, a super-strong hero pitted against a purple-clad MagnificentBastard, and even a NighInvulnerable hero who calls himself "unbreakable".
** [[https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jun/23/loki-episode-three-recap-is-this-just-doctor-who-with-a-big-budget Arguments have]] [[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/loki-is-an-american-riff-on-doctor-who been made]] that ''Series/Loki2021'', with its TimeyWimeyBall, running around with [[NeverTheSelvesShallMeet multiple versions of the same person]], and the story being centered around a millennia-old person trying to make sense of their role in the universe ([[WalkingDisasterArea and the destruction they cause in their wake]]) makes it a big-budget American version of the Creator/RussellTDavies and Creator/StevenMoffat eras of ''Series/DoctorWho'' set in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, only [[PerspectiveFlip with the twist]] that this time, [[https://www.cbr.com/loki-doctor-who-master-protagonist/ a Master-like character]] is [[VillainProtagonist the focus]].[[note]]It's also appropriate to note that Marvel actually has assigned an official number to a universe inhabited by the Doctor: [[https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/The_Doctor_(Earth-5556) Earth-5556.]][[/note]]
** ''Series/WandaVision'' is a parody of classic {{sitcom}}s, complete with a DeliberatelyMonochrome first two episodes, in which the protagonists' idyllic life in an artificial StepfordSuburbia slowly unravels as the seams in the setting grow increasingly visible and eventually tear the world apart. In short, it's ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'' in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, albeit done less as a social satire and more as a {{surreal|Horror}}, {{psychological|Horror}} SuperheroHorror story.
*** Many fans and even some critics have also favorably described the miniseries as what would happen if Creator/DavidLynch ever helmed a Marvel Cinematic Universe project, to the point that Creator/BobChipman [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF5tkIXjtE0 outright described]] the series' slow burn as a melancholic {{Deconstruction}} of the American Dream interspersed with moments of psychological/surreal horror as "Baby's first David Lynch".
* JM [=McNab=], writing for ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', has [[https://www.cracked.com/article_26510_we-already-got-myst-tv-show-it-was-called-lost.html said]] that a then-announced TV adaptation of ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'' would be redundant, because ''Series/{{Lost}}'' was already the best adaptation of the game ever made. Both are about protagonists who wake up on an island filled with puzzles, mystery, dangers, and MindScrew, with a startling number of similarities in some of the finer details. ''Lost''[='=]s ShowRunner Damon Lindelof even [[http://entertainment.time.com/2007/03/19/lyst_cuse_and_lindelof_on_lost_1/ cited]] ''Myst'' as an inspiration.
* ''Series/LaRosaDeGuadalupe'' is considered to be a Mexican adaptation of ''Series/BlackMirror''.
* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' could be as close to ''Series/DoctorWho'' as a Superhero show can get. Rip Hunter, time traveling badass that lost his family to a giant war, wears a BadassLongcoat and has people traveling with him shares an actor with the companion Rory from Doctor Who, while his background is a mix of The Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness (without Jack’s libido). Also, his time machine/ship, the Waverider, literally is outfitted with a TARDIS console.
* ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'' has many similarities to ''Series/DoctorWho''. We have an eccentric genius with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of magic and several others fitting in the companion role. Just replace aliens with magic, and the Time travelling TARDIS with a magic door that can send someone to any other door on Earth.
* ''Series/{{McCloud}}'' is one of these to the film ''Coogan's Bluff''.
* ''Series/MutantX'' was an absolutely blatant attempt at making a live-action ''ComicBook/XMen'' TV show without the X-Men; it even [[NamesTheSame borrowed the name]] of [[ComicBook/MutantX an actual X-Men spinoff book]]. Funnily enough, it was made by Creator/MarvelStudios shortly after they sold ''X-Men'''s film and TV rights to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox. Fox wasn't fooled, and they ultimately sued Marvel for copyright infringement.
* ''Series/{{Newhart}}'' was a better Americanization of ''Series/FawltyTowers'' than any of the three failed attempts at an official TransatlanticEquivalent (''Snavely'', ''Amanda's'', ''Payne''), even though it wasn't trying to be one. By taking the setting of a small inn with quirky guests, but instead of a {{Jerkass}} owner, making the owner the OnlySaneMan and AudienceSurrogate, ''Newhart'' was able to stand apart from ''Fawlty Towers'' and give the concept its own spin.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
** Set in a world where fairy tale characters live in the modern day, having been exiled from their real home after it was taken over by an evil conqueror, it is almost a TV adaptation of ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', albeit starring the Creator/{{Disney}} versions of those characters.
** Convoluted plots with plenty of memory tempering and world-hopping, a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover with just about everything in the Creator/{{Disney}} catalog, and a naïve kid caught in the center and trying to set things right. It's also the closest we get to a TV adaptation of ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''.
* ''Series/{{Outcasts}}'': This unsuccessful BBC SF series looked very much like a UK version of 21st-century ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''.
* ''Series/ParkerLewisCantLose'': This show is sometimes called "''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff''[='s=] real adaptation". An actual ''Ferris Bueller'' TV series fizzled out around the same time.
* ''Series/PennyDreadful'', a sprawling Victorian fantasy saga starring [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Victor Frankenstein]], [[Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray Dorian Gray]], and an aging GreatWhiteHunter as part of a crossover between {{Public Domain Character}}s, may as well be a better live-action adaptation of ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' than [[Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen the 2003 film based on the comic series]]. In a rather uncanny coincidence, it even stars a former Film/JamesBond actor, Creator/TimothyDalton, as Mina's father Malcolm Murray. [[note]] The original ''League'' graphic novel series involved James Bond's grandfather, Campion Bond, as a major supporting character; in something of a CastingGag, the [[Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen film adaptation]] cast Creator/SeanConnery in the lead role of Allan Quatermain, and it was rumored that the producers also wanted to cast Creator/RogerMoore as Campion before the character was cut from the movie.[[/note]]
* ''Series/{{Player}}'' could be called a South Korean adaptation of both ''Film/OceansEleven'' and ''Series/{{Leverage}}''. (Amusingly ''Player'' was made in 2018, a year before the actual K-drama adaptation of ''Leverage''.)
* The first season of ''Series/ThePolitician'', a Creator/{{Netflix}} series about a calculating, nakedly ambitious teenage overachiever running for StudentCouncilPresident, is about as close to an adaptation of ''Film/{{Election}}'' as you can get without actually licensing the film, albeit with its [[AcademicAlphaBitch Tracy Flick]] expy Payton Hobart being [[GenderFlip male]] and the show being [[PerspectiveFlip told from his point of view]]. Later seasons promise to be the sequels that ''Election'' never got, following Payton as he enters real politics. (This wouldn't be the first time that Creator/RyanMurphy has drawn from ''Election'' while crafting a teen show; see ''Series/{{Glee}}'' above.)
* ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'': There's a reason why this show was dubbed ''[[FanNickname Terminator: The Power Rangers Chronicles]]''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADK3wggGYk Taken to its logical conclusion.]]
* ''Series/PushingDaisies'' could be called the TV series Creator/TimBurton never made.
* ''Series/RelicHunter'', a show about a sexy ActionGirl treasure hunter, wears the influence of the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' games on its sleeve, right down to its similar title.
* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'':
** Set in [[AfterTheEnd a world]] where all electricity has stopped working and humanity has gone back to the Dark Ages, this show is pretty much Creator/SMStirling's ''[[{{Literature/Emberverse}} Dies the Fire]]'' adapted to television.
** The series is ''loaded'' with references to the work of Creator/StephenKing, especially ''Literature/TheStand'' and ''Franchise/TheDarkTower''. Particularly with with a man named Randall Flynn (Randall Flagg) and the Tower (Dark Tower). In case you're wondering, Stephen King is not involved with the show, but Creator/JJAbrams is a big fan of King's work.
* ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'', as a DarkerAndEdgier reimagining of ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'', has been [[https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/02/before-you-watch-riverdale-read-the-best-non-archi.html compared]] by some people to a TV adaptation of Creator/EdBrubaker's ''ComicBook/Criminal2006: The Last of the Innocent'', though ''Riverdale'' doesn't get quite so {{deconstructi|on}}ve.
* And on that note, ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' (like the aforementioned ''Glee'') is probably closer to the original-brand ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' than ''Riverdale'' is, which draws most of its inspiration from [[ComicBook/ArchieComics2015 the 2015 reboot]].
* ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' beats out ''WesternAnimation/BackToTheFuture'' and ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' for the title of the best ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' TV show.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The earliest episodes owe a ''hell'' of a lot to ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet''.
* ''Series/StrangerThings'' is a GenreThrowback and {{homage}} to countless pop sci-fi and horror stories, especially from TheEighties, though a few in particular are likely to stick out to viewers.
** The show's creators Matt and Ross Duffer were originally planning on doing a new adaptation of ''Literature/{{It}}'', but they couldn't get the rights. The influence of both that miniseries and Creator/StephenKing's work in general [[GenreThrowback shines through heavily]], such that one fan [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCH8mIYqpNo mashed up]] the trailer for the [[Film/{{It 2017}} 2017 adaptation]] of ''It'' with the theme to ''Stranger Things'', the two going together almost perfectly. And to bring it full circle, said adaptation was noted by many critics as having been heavily influenced by ''Stranger Things'', most notably with the SettingUpdate to TheEighties and with Creator/FinnWolfhard starring in both.
** The Upside Down is a DarkWorld filled with monsters, fog, and crackling radio transmissions that has begun leaking into [[EverytownAmerica a small, ordinary American town]]. Among the players are a well-meaning police officer, a parent searching for their child who's starting to doubt their own sanity, a young girl with PsychicPowers who opened the portal between this world and our own, and TheConspiracy searching for this girl. It should be no surprise that the Duffers [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/08/26/how-silent-hill-dark-souls-and-the-last-of-us-influenced-stranger-things described it]] as having been heavily inspired by the Otherworld from the ''Franchise/SilentHill'' games. It makes for a damn good translation of the Otherworld to television (even if it was the product of [[GovernmentConspiracy science]] rather than [[ReligionOfEvil the occult]]), the comparisons growing even more apparent with the second season portraying it as downright [[CosmicHorrorStory Lovecraftian]] ([[Creator/HPLovecraft that author]] having been a major influence on the games, along with King).
** Eleven's arc in the first season is probably the closest we're ever going to come to a live-action adaptation of ''Manga/ElfenLied'' (albeit with interdimensional monsters instead of {{gorn}}), right down to calling Dr. Brenner "Papa", with the Duffers [[https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-stranger-things-the-duffer-bros-on-how-they-made-the-tv-hit-of-the-summer citing the show as an influence]].
** Eleven's background, as a young girl subjected to experiments by the government in order to turn her into a weapon, also shares a number of similarities with [[ComicBook/{{X23}} X-23]], the main difference being their power sets and what the government planned to use them for (X-23 has WolverineClaws and a HealingFactor and was created as a SuperSoldier, while Eleven has {{telepathy}} and [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]] and was intended to serve as a super-''spy''). Creator/MillieBobbyBrown, Eleven's actress, even auditioned for the role of Laura/X-23 in ''Film/{{Logan}}'' shortly before getting this one instead.
** A GovernmentConspiracy rating high on the ScaleOfScientificSins is looking for a PsychicChild who's been subjected to brutal experiments all her life and is key in stopping a potentially world-ending disaster caused by said conspiracy, who continue to study the disaster long after the fact. Sounds like something out of the Wiki/SCPFoundation. The working title for the series was even ''Montauk''![[note]]In the SCP Foundation universe, one of the items (SCP-231-7, a little girl with a demon growing inside her) needs to be subjected to a procedure known as 110-Montauk in order to prevent the monster from getting out. It's never made clear what 110-Montauk is, but it is very heavily implied to be rape.[[/note]] The Demogorgon is also basically a ''slightly'' less malicious version of SCP-106, albeit only in the sense that it produces less BodyHorror.
** The above-described plot can also be described as an adaptation of ''VideoGame/BeyondTwoSouls'', though Eleven remains a child throughout. To [[https://www.cracked.com/article_26970_6-scenes-movies-shows-borrowed-from-gaming.html quote]] Tiago Svn and Ed Stevens of ''Website/{{Cracked}}'':
--->Jodie and Eleven are both the result of horrific scientific experiments [[spoiler:that left their mothers in a comatose state]]. They were then put in the care of [[TheMenInBlack snazzily dressed but amoral government villains]] who vaguely resemble '90s [[Creator/MatthewModine character]] [[Creator/WillemDafoe actors]]. They're then subjected to similar neurological testing, right down to the weird sci-fi crown thingamajig. Also, remember how Eleven has a [[PsychicNosebleed nosebleed]] after using her powers, but they never explain it? Here's the explanation: ''Beyond: Two Souls'' did it as well! By the end of both the game and the show's first season, the girls are running around sporting hospital gowns and buzz cuts. The same can be said about their respective netherworlds, which both involve terrifying journeys through ominous portals to the same desolate, depressing land where it's always snowing.
* ''Series/SuperhumanSamuraiSyberSquad'' can be seen as a live-action version of ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'', before Creator/MichaelBay's [[Film/{{Transformers}} film adaptation]] arrives. Given the [[Series/DenkouChoujinGridman source material]] being a collaboration between Creator/TsuburayaProductions (''Franchise/UltraSeries'') and Takara (one of the co-shareholders of ''Transformers'' with Creator/{{Hasbro}}), this isn't a coincidence.
* ''Series/SuperRobotRedBaron'':
** (And, by extension, its follow-up successor series ''Super Robot Mach Baron'') can be pretty much considered a live-action version of ''Anime/MazingerZ''.
** To the point that, in Spain, footage from ''Mach Baron'' was made into a theatrical movie and retitled "Mazinger Z, el Robot de las estrellas" (''Mazinger Z, The Robot from the Stars'') to benefit from ''[[Anime/MazingerZ Mazinger]]'' popularity. There was even a comic-book adaptation made by an Spanish artist that lasted some forty issues, and was known to a generation of spanish children as "El Mazinger Rojo" (''Red Mazinger'').
* ''Series/TalesOfTheGoldMonkey'' is often cited as an early attempt to bring ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' to television; however series creator Creator/DonaldPBellisario always denied this, and named ''Film/OnlyAngelsHaveWings'' as the main inspiration for Jake Cutter's adventures in the South Pacific.
* [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Three]] drama ''[[http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/bbc-three-tatau Tatau]]'' (first broadcast April 2015) has elements in common with ''VideoGame/FarCry3'': Young Western travellers in trouble in the South Pacific, tattoos, hallucinatory visions ...
* ''Series/{{Threshold}}'' is quite possibly the closest television has ever gotten to an adaptation of ''VideoGame/XCom''. This licensing appears to be recursive, with ''VideoGame/TheBureauXCOMDeclassified'' taking quite a few cues from the series: fighting a covert war with aliens, alien substances infecting people, actively suppressing information from the public, reverse-engineering alien tech and using it against them all crop in the show.
* ''Series/TotalRecall2070'': Despite its name has more to do with ''Film/BladeRunner'' than ''Film/TotalRecall1990''. The WordOfGod says the show is based on the original Philip K. Dick stories which were the source material for the aforementioned films.
* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' was more or less Creator/DavidLynch adapting his film ''Film/BlueVelvet'' to the small screen, both being thrillers set against the backdrop of a warped vision of small-town America.
* ''Series/{{Timeless}}'' is an NBC television adaptation of four different time travel related works of fiction: ''Series/TheTimeTunnel'', ''Film/Rewind2013'', ''Series/TheMinistryOfTime'' and ''Literature/{{Timeline}}''.
* The {{miniseries}} ''Series/{{V 1983}}'' is, for all intents and purposes, a ScienceFiction adaptation of Creator/SinclairLewis' ''Literature/ItCantHappenHere''. The similarities were [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally]] even more overt; Kenneth Johnson's initial idea, titled ''Storm Warnings'', lacked the sci-fi elements and had the villains be a [[DayOfTheJackboot homegrown fascist movement]], and later became ''V'' when the network [[ExecutiveMeddling suggested]] that Americans would be more likely to be scared by the specter of [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica Soviet Russia taking over]] (as was portrayed in the later miniseries ''Series/{{Amerika}}''). Johnson felt [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint this would destroy the entire point of the source material]], and instead chose to make the oppressors aliens, with heavy focus given to their [[LesCollaborateurs human collaborators]].
* ''Series/VeronicaMars'' is the best ''Franchise/NancyDrew'' TV series ever made, albeit updated for the 2000s with a DarkerAndEdgier tone. Its creator Rob Thomas even explicitly [[http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/sxsw-director-rob-thomas-predicts-nancy-drew-like-future-for-veronica-mars-1201128474/ compared the two.]] The influence appears to be recursive, as more modern adaptations of ''Nancy Drew'' (such as the [[ComicBook/NancyDrewDynamiteComics Dynamite comic book]] and Creator/TheCW's [[Series/NancyDrew2019 2019 TV series]]) have been [[https://aux.avclub.com/nancy-drew-gets-a-21st-century-update-with-beautiful-ar-1826938924 noted]] as [[https://nerdist.com/article/nancy-drew-trailer-cw-spooky/ drawing inspiration]] from ''Veronica Mars''.
* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' is the closest we'll ever get to a ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead'' TV show (minus some of the {{Anvilicious}} sociopolitic commentary) .
* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' has been referred to by many as ''Wiki/SCPFoundation: The Series'', albeit made LighterAndSofter (making it perfect for those who find the actual Foundation articles and associated stories to be too depressing).
* ''Series/{{Westworld}}'' can be watched not only as a TV remake of the [[Film/{{Westworld}} original film]], but also as a modern day update of [[Creator/KarelCapek Karel Čapek]]'s ''Theatre/{{RUR}}'', given [[ArtificialHuman its highly organic robots]] and themes related to bioethics and corporate short-sightedness.
* ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows2019'' and ''Series/WellingtonParanormal'' combined make for a fantastic DeconstructiveParody of ''TabletopGame/WorldOfDarkness'', with the former being akin to ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' and the latter ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil''.
* ''Series/TheWomanInTheHouseAcrossTheStreetFromTheGirlInTheWindow'', an AffectionateParody of 2010s SuburbanGothic mystery thrillers like ''Literature/GoneGirl'' and ''Literature/TheGirlOnTheTrain'' in which an actress best known for comedy (in this case, Creator/KristenBell) plays ''[[AvertedTrope barely]]'' [[PlayingAgainstType against type]] as somebody who gets caught up in a murder scheme, comes very close to translating the humor of ''Film/ASimpleFavor'' to the small screen.
* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', between its ActionGirl protagonist, its basis in Myth/ClassicalMythology, and its [[HomoeroticSubtext lesbian subtext]], is the best live-action Franchise/WonderWoman show since the [[Series/WonderWoman Lynda Carter series]].
* ''Series/KidNation'' has been called a reality show version of ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies''.
* Some of Toei's ''Series/MetalHeroes'' series were largely inspired by american properties: ''Series/KyojuuTokusouJuspion'', with its sword-wielding villain in black armor, SmallAnnoyingCreature sidekick and cantina scenes, owes a debt to ''Film/StarWars''. ''Series/KidouKeijiJiban'', a show about a dead cop ressurrected as a cyborg who still has memories of his family, is Toei's answer to ''Film/{{Robocop}}''.
----

** The premise of [[Recap/BlackMirrorHatedInTheNation "Hated in the Nation"]] sounds like it came right out of the ''Manga/GhostInTheShell'' manga series, especially its anime adaptation

* ''[[Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Stand Alone Complex]]''. Some fans would argue that this episode has more in common with ''[=GitS=]'' than its [[Film/GhostInTheShell2017 2017 live-action film adaptation]].
** Fans of the Creator/DisneyChannel like to joke that [[Recap/BlackMirrorRachelJackAndAshleyToo "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too"]], on top of its {{homage}}s to ''Series/HannahMontana'' (including featuring its star Music/MileyCyrus), is a DarkerAndEdgier remake of the Disney Channel Original Movie ''Film/PixelPerfect'', another story about people creating a [[VirtualCelebrity virtual pop star]] that is then cynically exploited by the record industry while she starts to question her place in the world.

* ''[[Series/FateTheWinxSaga Fate:The Winx Saga]]'' looks more like Live-Action ''[[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} RWBY]]'' than Live-Action ''[[WesternAnimation/WinxClub Winx Club]]''. a team of girls training in special academy designed to fight monsters? Check. Not to mention the fact that Magics in *fate* work more like Semblances than what we see on Winx club.

* ''[[Series/FateTheWinxSaga Fate:The Winx Saga]]'' looks more like Live-Action ''[[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} RWBY]]'' than Live-Action ''[[WesternAnimation/WinxClub Winx Club]]'' a team of girls training in special academy designed to fight monsters? Check. Not to mention the fact that Magics in *fate* work more like Semblances than what we see on Winx club.

* ''[[Series/FateTheWinxSaga Fate:The Winx Saga]]'' looks more like Live Action ''[[WebAnimation/RWBY RWBY]]'' than live Action ''[[WesternAnimation/WinxClub Winx Club]]'' a team of girls training in special academy designed to fight monsters? Check. Not to mention the fact that Magics in *fate* work more like Semblances than what we see on Winx club.
''[[Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Stand Alone Complex]]''. Some fans would argue that this episode has more in common with ''[=GitS=]'' than its [[Film/GhostInTheShell2017 2017 live-action film adaptation]].

''Series/FateTheWinxSaga'' looks more like Live Action ''[[WebAnimation/RWBY RWBY]]'' than live Action ''[[WesternAnimation/WinxClub Winx Club]]'' a team of girls training in special academy designed to fight monsters? Check. Not to mention the fact that Magics in *fate* work more like Semblances than what we see on Winx club.