History Main / ItsBeenDone

* The punchline for the Creator/JeffreyArcher short story "Chunnel Vision." At a lunch, an author hears his friend gushing about his brilliant idea of a thriller of a terrorist attack inside the Chunnel and a family caught in the middle. He fails to notice the other writer being more uncomfortable nor that his girlfriend (who's clearly planning on dumping him for cheating on her) is ordering the most expensive lunch imaginable. Just as the aspiring writer is being hit with the massive check, a woman comes up to talk to this author friend about how much she loved his newly released thriller...which is almost beat for beat the exact same plot his friend has been spending months working on.

** The episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS22E6TheFoolMonty The Fool Monty]]" is essentially "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E21TheOldManAndTheLisa The Old Man and the Lisa]]" crossed with the Mr. Burns subplot of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E12TheMansionFamily The Mansion Family]]". It even includes a TakeThat at themselves. At the end, Mr. Burns wants to punish the town by putting a giant dome on the city. Cue a scene from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' and Lenny saying it's been done. It was also done in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns Who Shot Mr. Burns?]]", although that wasn't a full dome. "The Fool Monty" seems all about shoutouts to previous episodes. Burns in shock acts a lot like he did in the episode with Mulder and Scully, he's seen naked by Marge (and the rest of the family this time), Lisa's former ballet teacher makes his second appearance.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', one of [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Pit's]] [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth-wall breaking conversations]] with Palutena and Viridi has him wondering if he could make his arrows more effective by strapping bombs to them. Viridi comments "''Real'' original, Pit!" Though she doesn't say so explicitly, she's likely thinking of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda Link]], who has been doing that for years.

* A WebAnimation/YouTubePoop video titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pkhygu3TeY "The FCC Shuts Down Rock TV"]] contains a parody of the ''Super Mario World'' cartoon featuring an episode with a {{Flashback}} that cut to a flashback of another episode. The author then apologized, saying he realized another video called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_73zjvAlEG0 "Youtube Poop: the true power of Rock TV"]] used the exact same joke.

** In the episode where Peter gets outsize influence on television programming though the use of [[UsefulNotes/{{Ratings}} 100 Nielsen boxes]] and subsequently ruins the medium for everybody, Homer Simpsons makes an appearance bursting into a meeting to exclaim that he has "ruined television", but Peter is already there to inform him that ItsBeenDone.

* Although the example isn't "lengthy", ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1700/fc01618.htm ran afoul of this,]] inadvertently repeating a joke from [[http://www.poisonedminds.com/d/20060217.html another webcomic.]]
* ''Webcomic/RealLifeComics'':
** Mae Dean, the author, issued an apology after learning that her previous joke had already been done by ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''.
** Another strip has the lead ask her MadScientist friend to make her a web-shooter after seeing ''Franchise/SpiderMan'', only for said friend to demur because ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' had already done it.

* The second page of ''How to Make a Sprite Comic in 8 Easy Bits'' has its protagonist think up a few different ideas for his magnum opus -- first a ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' [[Webcomic/EightBitTheater parody]], then a ''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'' [[Webcomic/BobAndGeorge comic...]]
* The author of ''Webcomic/TheDragonDoctors'' once [[http://www.drunkduck.com/The_Dragon_Doctors/index.php?p=599979 explained]] that he originally had another comic in mind, but it turned out ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' had done the whole concept first.
* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic''. [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/3070.html Ishmael considers]] [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct using time travel to kill Hitler and prevent WWII]]. Loren replies, "Do you realise that question or variants thereof has been asked so many times that there are no original or funny answers left?"

* According to [[http://www.pvponline.com/2011/07/21/been-there-done-that/ Scott Kurtz]], ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' is a major cause of this trope.
* In [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=837 a strip of]] ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', [[DeadpanSnarker Faye]] snarks on one of Raven's costume ideas by comparing it at great length to Hooters. [[TheDitz At no point does Raven notice what she's doing]].

* In ''Webcomic/LeftoverSoup'', [[http://leftoversoup.com/archive.php?num=363 Jamie shows Wallace a card game he invented called Pina Colada Panic.]] 10 comics, Simon coming home, and a discussion about gay marriage later, [[spoiler:[[http://leftoversoup.com/archive.php?num=372 Simon says Wallace can't market the game because it's]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin_rummy a reinvention of Gin Rummy.]]]]
* After [[http://nedroid.com/2013/02/long-distance-call/ this strip]] from ''{{Webcomic/Nedroid}}'' ran, the author got tons of email telling him that ''{{Webcomic/xkcd}}'' had done it [[http://xkcd.com/875/ already.]] The [[http://nedroid.com/2013/02/scandal-of-the-century/ next strip]] hangs a lampshade on it, and adds a ''{{ComicStrip/Garfield}}'' parody to the mix.
* ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal''
** [[http://smbc-comics.com/comic/fixing-social-media "Fixing Social Media"]]: A couple of people discuss [[ForumSpeak GIFT]] and how it's InherentInTheSystem because it's so easy to write all sorts of crap on the Internet. So they come up with the idea of creating a platform where people have to spend more effort on writing their messages and moderating the responses. "47 venture capital funding rounds later" they realise they've invented blogging.
** [[https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/modern-art-2 "Modern Art 2"]]: The strip itself is about how modern art's being all TrueArtIsIncomprehensible is a marketing gimmick to make people enjoy complaining about how they don't get it. Author's commentary behind the red button says that he found after making the comic that real economists have been studying the same basic idea for decades.
* ''WebComic/SluggyFreelance'': There's a kind of example in "Torg Potter and the Chamberpot of Secretions" that relies on a rather humorous equivalency. Torg uses a magic shop containing every book ever written to find all the smut ever "written", but stops in the middle of it when he realises this is redundant next to having [[TheInternetIsForPorn the Internet]].
* ''Webcomic/BobTheAngryFlower'': Bob's inventions are usually fear-inspiring and ages ahead of regular technology. [[http://www.angryflower.com/195.html This one]]... isn't.
--> '''Bob:''' No army equipped with sticks and clubs can stand against the awesome power of ''bronze''!
--> '''Stumpy:''' Bob...
--> '''Bob:''' I know, I know... What of the ethical considerations?

%%** Homer's done that as well. Which means... ya know...

* The "Purple Drank" craze, a mix of alcohols and cough syrup (soda and candy can be added). Not surprisingly a similar drink had been created a few years ago known as a Flaming Homer (a mixture of all left over alcohol in your cabinet and cough syrup, which is then lit on fire). Purple drank is typically Sprite and prescription-level cough syrup, used because it contains high levels of codeine.

* Played somewhat realistically in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', which takes place in the 31st Century. The group attempts to introduce [[FishOutOfTemporalWater Fry]] to the concept of video games. None of them seem to be aware that video games were around back in Fry's time (the 20th century), and he's actually significantly more skilled than them.

* One ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' PSA has Washington saying that Sarge gave a list of ideas to use in future episodes... all of whom were Fonzie scenes on ''Series/HappyDays'', only with himself ("Sarge ski [[JumpingTheShark jumps over a shark...]]").

** Series 8, Episode 4 features a series of sketches featuring a DriverOfABlackCab, who asks his passengers what their job is and then makes obvious suggestions for something that profession could do. When they say it's been done, he aggressively insists that no, it hasn't, because he just thought of it.

** Series 8, Episode 4 features a series of sketches featuring a DriverOfABlackCab, who makes obvious suggestions regarding the profession of his passengers, and when they say it's been done, aggressively insists that no, it hasn't, because he just thought of it.

* In Series 6, Episode 2 of ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'':
** John talks about how he exchanged his foreign currency on return from holiday, got more than he expected because the rate had changed, and started thinking that maybe he could watch the exchange rate the next time, or even change his currency ''without'' going on holiday, and this was an entirely new way to make money that he'd just invented.
--->'''John''': Bear in mind, there was absolutely no self-awareness about this. I was thinking this out to myself, slowly and painfully, big frown on my little earnest face, to the point where I even thought "Ah, well, there must be some reason it wouldn't work, or surely someone would be doing it already." I thought to myself, as I walked past the London Stock Exchange.
** He follows this up by describing how he tried to write a sketch about this, but realised it didn't work because it was mostly about what he was thinking, and it was only really funny if he explained it was true. So he came up with the idea of a "not-sketch", where he just stood in front of the audience and talked about what happened.
--->'''John''': I mean, it's risky, but if it worked I might just have invented an entirely new way of doing comedy. I thought to myself, as I walked past the Comedy Store.[[note]]London's biggest stand-up venue[[/note]]

* In the Creator/DaveBarry column "Courtroom Confessions", this occurs as a CourtroomAntic:

* One spinoff short story to ''Fanfic/YouGotHaruhiRolled'' has [[TheDitz Kyouko]] telling [[DeadpanSnarker Fujiwara]] about the plot of a fanfic she is writing, about a {{Living Toy|s}} who learns, to his horror, that he is just a [[NoIndoorVoice CHILD'S PLAYTHING!]] Fujiwara then says that this is the exact plot of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''.

-->'''Snapper:''' There's nothing new under the sun. The only recent new idea was casting Danny [=DeVito=] and Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger as [[Film/{{Twins}} identical twins]]. Before that you've got to go back to the Magna Carta.

* Qatar plans on using an "artificial cloud" to shade their stadium for the 2022 World Cup. Turns out not only did ''The Simpsons'' come up with the idea before them, but ''South Park'' [[LampshadeHanging made fun]] of building the structure and finding out it was done previously by ''The Simpsons'' before Qatar planned on doing it.

** As he states in the first book, the reason [[Franchise/HarryPotter Ron Weasley]] is so unmotivated outside of his interests in Wizarding Chess and Quidditch is that as the second youngest child and last male one, nearly every accolade the school has has already been obtained by his older brothers. Even Fred and George who aren't as academic as the first three are still very sociable and well liked. Even his younger sister, Ginny, has the status of being the first female Weasley to be born in several generations.

*** The "Reaper Madness" segment of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E1TreehouseOfHorrorXIV Treehouse of Horror XIV]]" (2003), which caused a brief backlash in ''Simpsons'' fandom over similarities to the ''Family Guy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuysS2E6DeathisABitch Death is a Bitch]]" (2000). (Basically, Death is unable to do his duties due to injury/[[MindScrew death]], the series' bumbling dad has to take over).

** Played with as a RunningGag on ''The Mitchell and Webb Situation'', in which a pair of contemporary writers would swap ideas about a project which would be obviously recognizable as an already existent product, from FairyTales, to Literature/TheBible, and even the Great Wonders of the World. Once the recognizable element appeared ("the story's not about the wolf -- it's about the ''pigs''..."), they wouldn't be corrected as to the nature of their idea but would eagerly start typing, implying that they were actually the originators of the idea in the first place. [[spoiler: Played straight in the final episode, however, in which each writer's idea would be dismissed by the other on grounds that it had already been done.]]

* ''Series/BetweenTheLions'' has a scientist character named Dr. Nitwhit ([[ItIsPronouncedTroPAY pronounced]] "Nit-white") who announces that he's discovered "the only word in the English Language that X" (has the same consonant at the beginning and the end, is spelled with a given sound). When his assistant responds, it's always with words that just happen to prove that the rule is more general than poor Nitwhit thought.

* This is one reason for the ComedyGhetto. There's only so many times a particular joke, gag, or trope can be funny before JumpingTheShark, especially where many comedy movies and {{Sitcom}}s are StrictlyFormula. This is especially true of LongRunner {{Sitcom}}s that have done (and in many cases ''rehashed'' at least once) all or most of the typical sitcom stock plots and ComedyTropes. Furthermore, sometimes those used-and-abused-and-reused tropes and plots are ones that don't age well as SocietyMarchesOn; what might have been very funny in TheThirties, or hell, even TheNineties or the TurnOfTheMillennium, might not have stayed funny at all in TheNewTens, as views on race, gender, sexuality, and such have changed.

* Part of a RunningGag in ''Manga/DrStone''. Whenever Chrome (a young scientist from the present day) invents something new, only for someone from the past to instantly recognize what it is, much to Chrome's disappointment.