History Main / FallacyOfDivision

* Subverted in the ''Series/{{Mash}}'' episode "Rumor at the Top" in which the gang thought the Army was planning to send one of them to a new [=MASH=] being set up because the 4077th was so efficient. However, it turned out that the Army was planning no such thing as they realized that the 4077th only worked so well because of the combination of people.

* ''StarWars: TheCloneWars'': a Clone Wars movie? The Warsies will love it, even though it is not directed by [[StarWarsCloneWars Genndy Tartakovsky]] or GeorgeLucas and it's CGI. (the derivated TV series fared better, though)

** The supposed ''{{Seinfeld}}'' curse is a classic example disproving this fallacy.
** ''Joey'': A spin-off of ''{{Friends}}'' that flopped horribly. Apparently the developers fell afoul of this fallacy.
** There are some notable aversions of this as well. ''{{Frasier}}'' matched its [[{{Cheers}} predecessor's]] run and won a ton of Emmys and acclaim. ''TheJeffersons'' ran ''longer'' than its [[AllInTheFamily predecssor]].
* "Hey, ''MythBusters'' is popular, and it has explosions in just about every episode! Let's make a [[SmashLab show]] centered around StuffBlowingUp!"

* Happens in sports all the time. It's almost guaranteed that some starter from a championship team, regardless of how much they contributed to the actual championship, will land a huge contract that next off-season.

->''The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.''
-> -Aristotle, [[AvertedTrope averting]] the fallacy.

* Many side-projects and solo works made by musicians who are/were part of bands that have already established a popular reputation can fall into this when they don't live up to the glory of their other/former, more popular band. i.e. [[SexPistols Sid Vicious']] solo project and [[TheSmashingPumpkins Billy Corgan's]] band Zwan.

* This was responsible for TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. ''{{Watchmen}}'' and ''TheDarkKnightReturns'' were dark, edgy, and had a lot of moral ambiguity, and they were widely praised and treated as classics. So dark, edgy things are automatically good, even in the absence of intelligent, thoughtful plots and well-rounded characters, right?

* Subverted in the ''[[{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'' episode "Rumor at the Top" in which the gang thought the Army was planning to send one of them to a new [=MASH=] being set up because the 4077th was so efficient. However, it turned out that the Army was planning no such thing as they realized that the 4077th only worked so well because of the combination of people.

** Applied full-force to the ''M*A*S*H'' television franchise itself, which had ''two'' unsuccessful spinoffs - ''Series/AfterMASH'' and ''W*A*L*T*E*R'' - that, for the most part, banked on the popularity of the second-tier cast and connections to the parent show itself. A third, ''Trapper John, M.D.'', was somewhat more successful than the other two, but did not include any of the original actors and was legally recognized as a spinoff of the movie.

** There are some notable aversions of this is as well. ''{{Frasier}}'' matched its [[{{Cheers}} predecessor's]] run and won a ton of Emmys and acclaim. ''TheJeffersons'' ran ''longer'' than its [[AllInTheFamily predecssor]].

** Applied full-force to the ''M*A*S*H'' television franchise itself, which had ''two'' unsuccessful spinoffs - ''AfterMASH'' and ''W*A*L*T*E*R'' - that, for the most part, banked on the popularity of the second-tier cast and connections to the parent show itself. A third, ''Trapper John, M.D.'', was somewhat more successful than the other two, but did not include any of the original actors and was legally recognized as a spinoff of the movie.

* Happens in sports all the time. It's almost guaranteed that some starter from a championship team, regardless of how much they contributed to the actual championship, will land a huge contract that next off-season.

*** Since ''Seinfeld'' wrapped in 1998, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards have each starred in at least one new sitcom, unrelated to ''Seinfeld''. Producers believed that the stars' popularity would boost ratings, but each show was cancelled within two seasons. Louis-Dreyfus's ''TheNewAdventuresOfOldChristine'' has been the most successful to date, running for five seasons and earning an Emmy.

* The film studio in ''LooneyTunes'': Back In Action makes this fallacy by firing Daffy Duck from their next movie, based on the fact that Bugs Bunny has far more fans than he does. It ends up a spectacular failure without the classic Bugs/Daffy interaction.

*** Since ''Seinfeld'' wrapped in 1998, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards have each starred in at least one new sitcom, unrelated to ''Seinfeld''. Producers believed that the stars' popularity would boost ratings, but each show was cancelled within two seasons. Louis-Dreyfus's TheNewAdventuresOfOldChristine has been the most successful to date, running for five seasons and earning an Emmy.

* Many side-projects and solo works made by musicians who are/were part of bands that have already established a popular reputation can fall into this when they don't live up to the glory of their other/former, more popular band. i.e. Sid Vicious' solo project and Billy Corgan's band Zwan.

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* ''StarWars: The Clone Wars'': a Clone Wars movie? The Warsies will love it, even though it is not directed by Genndy Tartakovsky or GeorgeLucas and it's CGI.

* Happens in sports all the time. It's almost guaranteed that some starter from a championship team, regardless of how much they contributed to the actual championship, will land a huge contract that next off-season.

* ''Trail of the PinkPanther'', ''Curse of the Pink Panther'', ''Son of the Pink Panther'': everyone likes a Pink Panther movie regardless of whether Inspector Clouseau (as played by PeterSellers) is actually in it, right?
* The film studio in ''LooneyTunes'': Back In Action makes this fallacy by firing Daffy Duck from their next movie, based on the fact that Bugs Bunny has far more many fans than he does. It ends up a spectacular failure without the classic Bugs/Daffy interaction.

Pretty much opposite to FallacyOfComposition, which argues that the whole ''must'' be at least as good as the sum of its parts, among other things. In reality, it depends on the parts; peanut butter and chocolate might be better together than apart, while ketchup and chocolate, not so much.

Pretty much opposite to FallacyOfComposition, which argues that the whole ''must'' be at least as good as the sum of its parts. In reality, it depends on the parts; peanut butter and chocolate might be better together than apart, while ketchup and chocolate, not so much.

:: Generalizing from a whole to the parts. Pretty much opposite to FallacyOfComposition, which argues that the whole ''must'' be at least as good as the sum of its parts.

:: Generalizing from a whole to the parts. Pretty much opposite to FallacyOfComposition.

->''The whole is greater than the sum of its parts''

-> -Aristotle

:: Generalizing from a whole to the parts.

*** Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards have each starred in their own sitcom, unrelated to ''Seinfeld''. Producers assumed that the stars' popularity would boost ratings, but each show was cancelled within two seasons. Louis-Dreyfus's TheNewAdventuresOfOldChristine has been the most successful to date, running for five seasons and earning an Emmy.

* The supposed ''{{Seinfeld}}'' curse is a classic example disproving this fallacy.

* ''Joey'': A spin-off of ''{{Friends}}'' that flopped horribly. Apparently the developers fell afoul of this fallacy.

* Applied full-force to the M*A*S*H television franchise itself, which had ''two'' unsuccessful spinoffs - ''AfterMASH'' and ''W*A*L*T*E*R'' - that, for the most part, banked on the popularity of the second-tier cast and connections to the parent show itself. A third, ''Trapper John, M.D.'', was somewhat more successful than the other two, but did not include any of the original actors and was legally recognized as a spinoff of the movie.

* The supposed ''{{Seinfeld}}'' curse is a classic example disproving this fallacy.

* ''StarWars: The Clone Wars'': a Clone Wars movie? The Warsies will love it, even though it is not directed by Genndy Tartakovsky or GeorgeLucas and it's CGI.

* ''Joey'': A spin-off of ''Friends'' that flopped horribly. Apparently the developers fell afoul of this fallacy.

* Many side-projects and solo works made by musicians who are/were part of bands that have already established a popular reputation can fall into this when they don't live up to the glory of their other/former, more popular band. i.e. Sid Vicious' solo project and Billy Corgan's band Zwan.