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| 2 | %%The examples on this page have been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 6 | * Many cartoons made by Creator/DepatieFrelengEnterprises are recycled from old ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' scripts, one instance being that "WesternAnimation/GreedyForTweety" was remade as ''WesternAnimation/TheAntAndTheAardvark'' short "From Bed to Worse". Worth noting that the studio was largely made up of former ''Looney Tunes'' staff. |
| 7 | ** For the ''WesternAnimation/{{Roland and Rattfink}}'' cartoon "The Foul Kin", writer Sid Marcus recycled the plot from a ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'' cartoon he directed years earlier, "Skinfolks". |
| 8 | ** Even before making the company, Creator/FrizFreleng would often reuse gags between cartoons. |
| 9 | * Many of the early Creator/HannaBarbera series reused stories from old ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoons (understandable, since the studio was made up of former [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]] artists), as well as a few ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' (some of the Warners story men wrote for HB). For example, the T&J short "WesternAnimation/PecosPest", about a relative of Jerry's from Texas who comes to practice for a TV appearance and uses Tom's whiskers as guitar strings, was redone as a Pixie and Dixie short. Similarly, the WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon "Windblown Hare", in which the Three Little Pigs sell Bugs their homes just as the Big Bad Wolf arrives, was redone with WesternAnimation/YogiBear. |
| 10 | * Cartoon writer David Wise (no relation to the video game composer) did this ''[[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/David_Wise#Recycle-o-matic a lot]]'': |
| 11 | ** "Kremzeek!" from ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' became "The Big ZIP Attack" in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' and "Zap Attack" for ''WesternAnimation/MightyDucksTheAnimatedSeries''. |
| 12 | ** The ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' episode "Day of the Machines" (BigBad uses an [[EnergyBeings Energy Being]] to tamper with the heroes' computers) was recycled for an episode of ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'' -- reusing not only the plot but also the title! |
| 13 | ** And then Creator/{{Filmation}} wound up redoing the premise as the ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'' episode "Cyman's Revenge" (which was ''not'' written by Wise). |
| 14 | ** Wise also recycled huge chunks of his script for the ''Transformers'' episode "Microbots" for the ''TMNT'' episode "Shredder and Splintered". In the former, the Autobots shrink themselves to [[FantasticVoyagePlot go inside Megatron's body]], in the latter, the turtles climb inside the {{Kaiju}}-sized Krang, and from that point on the two episodes feature virtually identical dialogue and action. |
| 15 | ** Especially glaring is the ''TMNT'' episode "Poor Little Rich Turtle", which is almost beat-for-beat identical to the ''Transformers'' episode "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide". |
| 16 | ** He recycled the idea of Kukulkan being an {{ancient astronaut|s}} from the ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS2E5HowSharperThanASerpentsTooth How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth]]" in his script for the ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'' episode "Tarzan and the Space God". Like TAS, the series was also made by Creator/{{Filmation}}. |
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| 20 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': |
| 21 | ** The episode "Hall Monster" has a similar premise to the WesternAnimation/HeyArnold episode "Hall Monitor", both episodes involve a character who's smart but not very physically imposing(Jimmy and Phoebe) becoming Hall Monitor and getting disrespected by others at first due not being very intimidating and then they later undergo a power-mad transformation where they punish students for incredibly minor things that results in everyone in the school fearing them and trying to get them back to their old self. |
| 22 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'': |
| 23 | ** The episode "Sonic is Running" and ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'' episode "Princess Toadstool For President" (both Creator/DiCEntertainment cartoons produced around the same time) both involve one of the main characters running for president against the BigBad of the series. In the end, the hero wins in a landslide victory, and it's revealed that the villainous character received only one vote (his own) because even his two flunkies voted against him. |
| 24 | ** Another example of an [=AoStH=] episode with a similar plot to a Mario cartoon episode is the episode "Tails in Charge" to the ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' episode "Quest For Pizza". Both episodes center around the secondary protagonist (Tails, Luigi), as the main protagonist is knocked out or becomes unresponsive because of the villains' weapons (Sonic gets turned to stone by Robotnik's Super Supreme Stopper Zapper, Mario gets bitten by a poisonous snake). The objective of both episodes is for the secondary protagonist to keep their friend safe until they can cure them, and both episodes involve the antagonist setting up traps to capture the secondary protagonist, only for them to backfire on them completely. |
| 25 | ** Yet another [=AoStH=] episode with a recycled script was "Over the Hill Hero", which is very similar to the ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' episode "Superhero for a Day". Both episodes feature a former Golden Age superhero (Captain Rescue and Gadget Man) coming out of retirement to try and help out the main characters (Sonic and the Turtles) against the main villain (Robotnik and Shredder), but end up only makings things worse for the heroes, leading to the main characters getting captured and leading to the Golden Age heroes feeling guilt-ridden as a result and watching old tapes of their glory days and then redeeming themselves by rescuing the main characters and helping them defeat the bad guys. Both episodes even featured the same writer, Francis Moss. |
| 26 | * The ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' episode "Bubble Trouble" has the same plot as ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' episode "St. Smurf and the Dragon". |
| 27 | * The ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' episode "The Brunch Club" and the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' episode "Hey You, Don't Forget About Me In Your Memory" both spoof ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'', have the characters get in trouble for something they did by accident and wondering what they could have done to prevent it from happening, and replace Music/SimpleMinds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" with an original song unlike most homages to the film. ("What Were You Doing At The Time?" for ''Alvin'' and "Crane Kick" for ''Titans''). |
| 28 | ** On the subject of ''Teen Titans Go!'', the episode "Oh Yeah!" has the same plot as the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} (1993)'' episode "Fake", in which one of the characters convinces their friend that wrestling is fake, but the friends do not believe what they are saying. |
| 29 | ** Some episodes have similar plots to segments in ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'': |
| 30 | *** "Master Detective", which is similar to the ''ComicStrip/USAcres'' short "How Now, Stolen Cow?", in which the main character solves a mystery involving missing farm animals. |
| 31 | *** The plot of the episode "Accept the Next Proposition You Hear" is similar to another ''U.S. Acres'' short, "Fortune Kooky", in which a character thinks that what fortune cookies say can happen in real life. |
| 32 | *** "No Power" has a similar plot to one of the Garfield shorts on the same show, "Five Minute Warning". In both, the characters have to go a certain period of time without doing something they like in order to get a reward. |
| 33 | *** "Obinray" and the ''U.S. Acres'' segment "Double Trouble Talk" have the main characters learn a secret method of talking in order to avoid something they despise from occuring (eavesdropping in the former and doing chores in the latter). |
| 34 | ** The episode "40%, 40%, 20%" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Play It Again, D.W.", in which the main characters are tired of hearing someone play their favorite song over and over and don't understand why the character who loves the song is obsessed with it, only to have the character with the obsession lose the item which contained their favorite song. |
| 35 | ** "Fish Water" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/MagicAdventuresOfMumfie'' episode "A Fishy Tale", in which a character wants to free their pet fish they won from a carnival into the ocean when it feels sad. |
| 36 | ** "[=BL4Z3=]" is similar to the infamous ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokemon]]'' episode "Electric Soldier Porygon", in that both involve the characters being transported inside of a computer to stop a problem being placed in the system by an enemy (in the ''Teen Titans Go'' episode, Robin tries to stop someone from pirating stuff, while in the ''Pokémon'' story, the characters try to stop Team Rocket from putting a virus into the Pokémon Center's computer system.) |
| 37 | ** "Artful Dodgers" borrows its plot from ''Film/SpaceJam'', in which the protagonists have to battle villains in a sports tournament. |
| 38 | ** "Whodundidit?" is similar in plot to "Sleuth or Consequences" from ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''. In both, the characters try to find out who clogged the toilet. |
| 39 | ** "Standards and Practices" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} (1993)'' episode "A Valuable Lesson", where the characters are forced by executives to be good role models for children. |
| 40 | ** In some cases, ''Teen Titans Go!'' recycles their own plots from earlier episodes: |
| 41 | *** "Puppets, Whaaat?", "Halloween" and "And The Award For Sound Design Goes To Rob" all use the plot of "one of the Titans makes a deal with a supernatural being to change something about their world, but it goes wrong". |
| 42 | *** The worst offender of this is the "TV Knight" series of episodes, which all use the same plot of being ADayInTheLimelight episodes about Batman and Commissioner Gorden hanging out and watching TV. |
| 43 | *** "Butt Atoms" is similar to "Waffles", in which Robin gets annoyed that his friends are doing something he doesn't like and tells them to stop doing it (in the former, they won't stop farting and telling jokes about it, while in the latter, Beast Boy and Cyborg will not stop saying "waffles"), but they don't listen. |
| 44 | *** "Grube's Fairytales", "Orangins" and "Don't Be An Icarus" all use the plot of the Titans giving their own takes on famous stories. |
| 45 | ** The plot of "Career Day" would later be recycled into an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Unikitty}}'' with the same name. |
| 46 | ** Speaking of ''Alvin and the Chipmunks'', "Home Sweet Home" shares parallels with "My Pharoah Lady" in which Alvin and Brittany maintain their race for Carnival Monarch by betting Ricky and Missy Snootson (respectively) that Michael Jackson will be visiting the kids' school and King Rutintootin exists. Unlike "Pharoah Lady" (where Brittany drops out of the race for Carnival Queen), Alvin's fate for Carnival King at the end of "Home Sweet Home" was not shown. |
| 47 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} (1993)'' episode, "Mighty Wakko at Bat" uses the same premise as the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode, "Buster at the Bat"; both episodes are parodies of ''Literature/CaseyAtTheBat'' with the titular character in the role of Casey, and both episodes end with [[NotHisSled the twist of the title character making it to home base and winning the game instead of striking out]]. |
| 48 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': Season six's "Nellis" is identical to season four's "Midnight Ron". Archer is stranded in a distant city (Montreal in "Midnight Ron, Las Vegas in "Nellis") after losing all his money at a casino and has difficulties returning home due to legal troubles (drunkenly burning his passport in "Midnight Ron", being on a No Fly List and the train equivalent in "Nellis") and someone from the office must personally get him (his step-father Ron drives to Montreal in "Midnight Ron", Cheryl, Pam, Cyril, Ray and Krieger fly out in Cheryl's personal jet in "Nellis"), their vehicle is too damaged to use further following an attack (Ron's Cadillac is run off the road by mobsters trying to rob him in "Midnight Ron", Cheryl's jet is hit by a surface-to-air missile while flying too close to Area 51 and must crash-land at Nellis AFB in "Nellis"), Archer must bluff his way out of a situation (using his pistol as a WeaponForIntimidation, first against "tranny bikers" and then two hobos with switchblades in "Midnight Ron", pretending to be CIA agent Slater and threatening a Colonel with being subjected to Project MK ULTRA in "Nellis") and ultimately Archer and companions must acquire an alternate means of transport to get home (hopping on a freight train before getting a replacement Cadillac from one of Ron's dealerships in "Midnight Ron", stealing a C-130 Hercules in "Nellis"). It even has a minor scene at the beginning of Archer being accosted by someone while using a payphone to call the office. |
| 49 | * Both ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' and ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'' have the exact same plot in their respective episode: |
| 50 | ** The first wish is used by a member of the group for "some excitement", leading to a fight against some {{Mooks}} and introduction of the genie-like character. |
| 51 | ** The group debates on how to use the second wish, until it is used for TheDitz to be smarter, by accident. |
| 52 | ** The last wish is used for a way to destroy the genie, but fails due to a rule which forbids the genie from being harmed. Thus, the wish is wasted. |
| 53 | ** The genie is set free and is revealed to be a SealedEvilInACan. As they begin to wreak havoc, TheDitz seemingly betrays the group and switch sides. When allowed an extra wish, it's used to not only return the group to the point before they found the item that summoned the genie, but to ensure they never discover it in the first place. |
| 54 | ** The group returns to the start of the episode, where the character who wished for excitement is stopped before they did it again, leaving the genie trapped. |
| 55 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' |
| 56 | ** The Season 5 episode "The World Record" has almost the same plot as the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "World Records" (made three years earlier). In both episodes, the main characters try to break a world record until they settle down on making the world's largest pizza, with the only difference being that Arthur's attempt is successful while Arnold's fails. Both episodes also have a character unsuccessfully trying to break the record for walking backwards. The puppet show ''Series/UnderTheUmbrellaTree'' (which predates both cartoons) also has a similar episode, "Jacob's World Record," which also includes an attempt to break the record for walking backwards, although it doesn't include pizza-making. The ''Series/LizzieMcGuire'' episode "Come Fly With Me" also had characters (Matt and Lanny) attempting numerous world records before ultimately getting the record for "most attempts at breaking a world record" (like Jacob in ''Umbrella Tree'' and Arnold and the kids did), though it was relegated to a subplot. |
| 57 | *** ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'' has yet another episode- "For the Record" with a plot where a character(Samir) tries repeatedly to break a world record only to fail but in the end ends up getting the record for "most failed attempts to get a record". |
| 58 | ** "DW and Bud's Higher Purpose" has the same plot as the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Roller Cowards", in which two friends attempt to ride a rollercoaster but must overcome a specific problem; they are either too afraid or [[YouMustBeThisTallToRide too short]]. |
| 59 | ** "Buster the Lounge Lizard" has a strikingly similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode "Teacher's Lounge" as both episodes center around the kids fantasizing about what the teacher's lounge is really like and then trying to sneak inside. Both episodes even have an ImagineSpot where the teachers devise ways to make math homework more difficult. |
| 60 | ** "Is There A Doctor In The House?" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/NedsNewt'' episode "One Flu Over The Cuckoo's Nest" in which the parents get sick and the kid(s) have to take on the responsibilities of the household. The ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll'' episode "The Flu" has a similar plot too. |
| 61 | ** The episode "Dear Adil" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'' episode "Dances With Ignorance" in which the main character has to study someone from another culture for a school project, only to offend that person by thinking of stereotypical things about them from TV and comic books. |
| 62 | ** The subplot about Arthur and his dad in "April 9th" is similar to the ''Series/WimziesHouse'' episode "I'm Scared For Daddy": in both, the main character's father got caught in a fire, and the main character worries that some other bad thing will happen to him when he goes to work again. |
| 63 | ** The episode "Caught In The Crosswires" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/MyDadTheRockStar'' episode "Meet The Zillas" where the family's day to day lives are the focus of a reality TV show, but the main child of the family (Muffy/Willy) begins to be sick of the constant attention. |
| 64 | ** "[[Recap/ArthurS5E2KidsAreFromEarthParentsAreFromPlutoNervesOfSteal Nerves of Steal]]" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode "Gus and Misdemeanor", ''WesternAnimation/TheRaccoons'' episode "Stealing the Show!", and the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode "Sticky Feathers Duck", as all four episodes revolve around characters shoplifting items from a store and feeling guilt over it, with each of them stealing a different item; Buster steals a hot new toy he wants, Gus steals some Beany [=McGum=], one of the Pigs shoplifts comic books, and Plucky and Hamton steal an ACME Super Duper Munch N' Crunch bar (with almonds). |
| 65 | ** "Germophobia" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Sid and Germs", the ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode "Germ Warfare", and the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode "Mr. Clean" as all three episodes revolve around a character who normally does disgusting things (Buster, Sid, and Chuckie) getting freaked out by germs and becoming paranoid neat freaks as a result. |
| 66 | ** The episode "Tales From The Crib" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode "[[Recap/RugratsS3E16UnderChuckiesBedChuckieIsRich Under Chuckie's Bed]]" where a young character transitions from a crib to a big kid bed, and is worried about monsters coming after them. Ironically, "Tales From The Crib" was the name of one of the ''Rugrats'' VHS releases. |
| 67 | * The ''WesternAnimation/AtomicBetty'' episode "Captain Sparky" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} episode "Buster Baxter, Cat Saver" where a character accidentally saves something that falls (a baby in the former episode, a cat in a tree in the latter) and everyone thinks the character actually saved the thing, causing them to become famous and a glory hog. |
| 68 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': |
| 69 | ** Episodes "Gamma World" and "Code Red" both have a villain using a fictional brand of science to disfigure crowds of people (Hulk villain the Leader in the former, Captain America villain Red Skull in the latter), ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/TheWasp, and ComicBook/BlackPanther becoming disfigured, at least one Avenger having the antidote (created by another crimefighter) shot into himself or herself, and Thor evading a transformation before engaging in a side battle with a gamma-powered monster. |
| 70 | ** "Powerless!" has some plot elements blatantly copied from [[Film/{{Thor}} Thor's movie]]. Namely, Thor becomes a mortal, Loki tries to kill him with Destroyer armor, Thor sacrifices himself to protect mortal companions from the Destroyer, and Thor regains his hammer and his immortality as rewards for his selflessness. |
| 71 | * ''WesternAnimation/BabyLooneyTunes'' seems to have recycled plots from other cartoons where infants are the main characters. "Like A Duck to Water" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' episode, "Beach Blanket Babies", wherein one of the characters is afraid to go swimming for the first time (Baby Daffy in the former, Baby Fozzie in the latter), while "Leader of the Pack" essentially uses the same plot as the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode, "Tommy and the Secret Club", wherein one of the characters starts their own secret club and makes their friends do certain tasks for them in order to join (Baby Daffy in the former, Angelica in the latter). |
| 72 | ** Both the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode "Kid TV" and the ''WesternAnimation/BabyLooneyTunes'' episode "I Strain" use the same basic plot as the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' episode "I Want My Muppet TV". In all three episodes, the television breaks, so the babies make their own TV out of a cardboard box and act out their own TV shows with it. |
| 73 | ** Both the ''WesternAnimation/BabyLooneyTunes'' episode, "The Dolly Vanishes" and the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies2018'' episode, "Mystery on the Muppet Express" use the same basic plot as the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode, "Murmur on the Ornery Express". In all three episodes, the favorite toy of one of the babies goes missing during a train ride (Edna, Buddy, and Wawa, respectively), and the other babies search the train for it. The ''WesternAnimation/{{Madeline}}'' episode "Madeline on the Orient Express" has much the same plot too, albeit with a snake charmer's missing snake instead of a missing toy. Of course all of these episodes are LighterAndSofter [[WholePlotReference Whole Plot References]] to ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress''. |
| 74 | * The classic ''WesternAnimation/BeanyAndCecil'' short ''Beany And Cecil meets The Invisible Man'' is a recycled plot to The Edgar Bergen Cartoon Show (one of Bob Clampett's lost work). |
| 75 | * ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': |
| 76 | ** Both the episodes "Urban Legend" and "Papaganda" (from Seasons 2 and 3 respectively) follow a similar plot where a Green adult starts enforcing something strange (Gramma Alice pretending to be a wicked swamp witch, Bill forces endless positivity on the family). However, [[SwappedRoles the roles of the child who sides with the adult are swapped]]; Tilly opposes Gramma while Cricket supports in the former, whereas Cricket opposes Bill while Tilly supports in the latter. |
| 77 | ** "Hiya Henry" and "Rat Tail" follow the same plot of a Green child finding something that the family takes a liking to (Tilly finds Hiya Henry, Cricket grows a rat tail), but annoys one member in particular (Cricket and Nancy) who tries to hide their hatred to avoid hurting the child's feelings. In the end, the child is upset anyway and the member is forced to come clean to them and make amends. |
| 78 | ** "Hurt Bike" follows almost the same formula as the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "I Had an Accent". Both episodes involve the protagonist suffering a mishap ([=SpongeBob=] breaks his butt, Cricket almost kills himself on a dirt bike) which resulted in them phobic for the majority of the episode for whatever reason ([=SpongeBob=] refuses to leave his house, Cricket refuses to do anything wild and crazy). In the climax, the protagonist is involved in a dangerous situation (Sandy and Patrick get attacked by a gorilla, the dirt bike is about to fall through an unfinished road) which causes them to face their fear and save the day, finally becoming brave again in the end. |
| 79 | ** "Quiet Please" recycles the exact same formula as the 2018 horror ''Film/AQuietPlace'', in addition to playing up all of the plot points (the librarians banning anyone who makes one sound like the aliens, the sign language, the son playing with a toy rocket, the water drowning out the father and son's voices, a medical device annoying the librarians/aliens, the son stepping on a sharp object and screaming, the talk in the bathroom, the climatic ambush, the father signing "I love you" before screaming and sacrificing themselves). Any deaths in the movie, however, are replaced with getting banned, to be more suitable for the show's target audience. |
| 80 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' has two episodes, "No Drums, No Trumpets" and "To Walk a Mile", that have the same plot: "a former Galactic Marshal, who has sworn off guns due to a tragic incident in his past, is looked down upon by his child. Then, said child is kidnapped by bad guys, forcing him to take up his weapon once more." Alan Oppenheimer even voiced the former Marshal character in both episodes. |
| 81 | * ''WesternAnimation/BluesCluesAndYou'' is an example of a whole series using this trope, as it is comprised of shot-for-shot remakes of ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'' episodes. For example, "Sad Day with Blue" is a recreation of "Blue's Sad Day" - both being about Blue being sad because somebody knocked over her blocks (albeit the culprit Green Puppy was replaced with Magenta for the remake) - and "Big News with Blue" is a recreation of "Blue's News" where the story is about [[NewBabyEpisode Blue getting excited over Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper's new baby]] (or ''babies'' in the newer episode, in which they have twins). The new episodes use identical clues to the original episodes. Of course, chances are the very young target audience of ''Blue's Clues and You'' won't know enough about the parent series, which aired nearly three decades prior, to notice the recycling. |
| 82 | * ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': |
| 83 | ** The plot of the Season 5 episode "Best Burger" is extremely similar to that of the Season 3 episode "Family Fracas" in that they both involve Bob and Jimmy Pesto competing against each other in a competition run by Chuck Charles, which [[spoiler:Bob ultimately loses]]. However, "Best Burger" differs from "Family Fracas" by ending on a much better note for Bob; [[spoiler:while "Family Fracas" had a full-on DownerEnding involving the Belchers being cheated off the show with neither the Pestos nor the producers [[KarmaHoudini facing any consequences for doing so]], "Best Burger" has Bob just barely lose to a NiceGuy who won fair and square, Jimmy gets dead last in a humiliating fashion, and Bob's restaurant gets more business by the end so he doesn't leave empty-handed]]. |
| 84 | ** The plot of the Season 9 episode "If You Love It So Much, Why Don't You Marionette?" is strikingly similar to Season 3's "Carpe Museum", featuring Louise as she sneaks off during a boring field trip and discovers a closed-off area of the building that features something she finds much more fun, also showcasing an adult who helps her. It also features aspects of Season 5's "Hawk & Chick", with Louise wondering if growing up means losing who she is after meeting a female performer who changed for the worse with age. The key differences come from how the episodes use their plotlines--both "Carpe Museum" and "Hawk & Chick" used their respective plots to highlight Louise's close bond with Bob; meanwhile, "If You Love It So Much, Why Don't You Marionette?" doesn't really explore any character dynamics, since the primary people involved in Louise's plotline are all one-off characters. |
| 85 | ** Fitting for a MilestoneCelebration, the general plot of the Season 11 episode "Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids" is a CallBack to "Human Flesh", the very first episode of the series: both episodes revolve around the restaurant being in danger of getting shut down due to a combination of the Belcher kids' antics and Hugo's {{Jerkass}} attitude, Bob gives a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the kids at one point and Ron gets Hugo to help reopen the restaurant again by the end. |
| 86 | ** The episode "What An (April) Fool Believes" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Fools In April" in which a character pulls off an elaborate April Fool's prank that ends up injuring/humiliating the other character, only for said character to be in on the April Fool's prank by the end. |
| 87 | * The ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' episode "Curtain of Cruelty" has an identical plot to "The Tower of Dr. Zalost"; a scientist causes the entire town of Nowhere to become miserable, just like him (cruel in the former episode and depressed in the latter), and the solution involves one of Muriel's homemade recipes (fabric softener in the former and "happy plums" in the latter). Also, Eustace is immune because of his curmudgeoness. Both episodes do have several differences though, for instance "Dr. Zalost" is a full 30-minute episode, while "Curtain of Cruelty" is a normal [[TwoShorts 15-minute short]]. |
| 88 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' has an in-universe moment when Duke points out that Jay is in a rut by syncing up four separate Creator/TomCruise movie reviews that all follow the same template and end with Jay saying the exact same lame joke in unison with each other: "You might say he's on... ''Cruise'' control! Ah-HAAA! I JUST! MADE! THAT! UP!!" |
| 89 | * The ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'' episode "Daniel Doesn't Want To Go Potty" is similar to the ''[[Franchise/HelloKitty Growing Up With Hello Kitty]]'' short "Going To The Bathroom". Both episodes involve characters being too excited to do something with a friend (Katerina for ''Daniel Tiger'', Fifi for ''Hello Kitty'') that they forget to go to the bathroom. When they suffer from a PottyEmergency, they miss the fun thing they were anticipating as a result of it, and their parent teaches them to go before leaving. However, the way it plays out in both is different: while Daniel [[spoiler: makes it in time when he suffers from one]], Kitty [[spoiler: has an implied PottyFailure after falling over when running to the bathroom]]. Both also contain a scene in which the protagonist and their family are traveling somewhere, but have to go home because someone needs to use the bathroom (in ''Daniel Tiger'', they were going to the supermarket, while in ''Hello Kitty'', Kitty and her family were going out to eat). |
| 90 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' episode "The Lab Brat" is basically a reworked version of the non-canon pilot--both involve [[TheSnarkKnight Daria]] finding herself in an ImaginaryLoveTriangle with [[DumbJock Kevin]] and [[DumbBlonde Brittany]], while [[LovableAlphaBitch Quinn]] is legitimately interested in getting Kevin for herself. Otherwise they go in different directions: "Lab Brat" has an apathetic Daria annoyed about Brittany's suspicions, while the pilot had a DarkerAndEdgier version of her purposefully toying with Kevin's emotions. |
| 91 | ** "The Daria Hunter," "Fair Enough," "Just Add Water" and "Anti-Social Climbers" all have the same basic premise: school event puts the whole cast in a strange environment, reduce Daria and Jane to one subplot among many and watch people interact. There are more specific similarities: all include some [[PitbullDatesPuppy Barch/O'Neill]] shipping, "Hunter" and "Water" both have Helen and Ms. Li getting into a conflict, etc. |
| 92 | * ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' also wasn't above recycling scripts from its fellow ''Disney Afternoon'' shows. "[[Recap/DarkwingDuckS3E4StarCrossedCircuits Star-Crossed Circuits]]" meshes together the plots of "Armstrong" (Launchpad grapples with and ultimately overcomes a robotic competitor) and "[[Recap/DuckTalesMetalAttraction Metal Attraction]]" (the local superhero deals with a mechanical StalkerWithACrush). |
| 93 | * The ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls2019'' short shown before ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies'', titled "[=#TheLateBatsby=]", is a remake of the ''WesternAnimation/SuperBestFriendsForever'' short "Time Waits for No Girl". The main differences are that Wonder Woman replaces Wonder Girl, the villain is Mr. Freeze instead of Poison Ivy, and that Zatanna, Bumblebee, and Jessica Cruz are included. |
| 94 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' episode "Doug's a Big Fat Liar" has basically the same plot as the ''Series/UnderTheUmbrellaTree'' episode "Jacob's Girlfriends'': a main boy character (Doug/Jacob) wants to go to a dance with one girl, but another girl asks him to go with her, so he lies to the latter girl that he can't go to the dance because he has a sick relative to take care of. But then the girl comes to his house to visit the sick relative, so his sister or sister-like friend (Judy/Gloria) disguises herself as the non-existent relative to help him maintain the lie. |
| 95 | ** The episode "Doug's Best Buddy" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'' episode "Old Best Friend" where the main character is excited because their old friend from childhood is coming to town, only to discover their behavior is incredibly immature and obnoxious and irritates them and their other friends. |
| 96 | ** The episode "Doug's Movie Madness" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'' episode "Mom Know What P.A. Did Two Nights Ago". Both center around the main character seeing an R-rated movie that their parents forbid them from seeing which results in them having nightmares and inadvertently revealing to their parents that they saw the movie and getting in trouble for it. |
| 97 | * ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'': |
| 98 | ** There are two episodes with very similar plots, "Max and the Magic Carpet" and "Three's a Crowd". Both plots feature a character who is feeling ignored by their best friend (the former has Ord feeling ignored by Max playing with Quetzal's magic carpet while Cassie feels ignored when she and Emmy make a new friend but feels left out). Both characters lament over losing said friend and talk it over with their friends who encourage the main character to express themselves. The conflict in both episodes is resolved when Ord and Cassie talk to Max and Emmy respectively and they make up. |
| 99 | ** To a lesser extent, "All Together Now" also follows a similar plot where Max feels left out when Emmy and Enrique spend a lot of time together due to being the same age and working on the same school project together. Max laments over being left out but it is subverted when Max eventually learns to have fun on his own and the episode ends with everybody joining in on the fun. |
| 100 | * ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' and ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' both on WesternAnimation/TheDisneyAfternoon, did this with episodes that involved confusion over what the right date was ("Allowance Day" and "The Time Bandit", respectively), which [[SeriousBusiness led to an impending execution]]. The main character(s) were saved by a pilot (Launchpad and Baloo, respectively) who scooped away the clouds to reveal what day it really was (with an eclipse and a comet, respectively), proving who was right. Baloo mentioned that he was the first pilot who had ever done something like this, despite the fact that ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' came out after ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987''. (It could be argued that because ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' takes place in what appears to be TheThirties, Baloo would have been the first chronologically; a view taken by at least one [[ExpandedUniverse crossover comic]].) It's worth noting that "Allowance Day" and "The Time Bandit" were written by the same writers. |
| 101 | * The Creator/RankinBassProductions special ''The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town'' is basically a beat-for-beat remake of ''WesternAnimation/SantaClausIsCominToTown'', with the Easter Bunny and Easter traditions in place of Santa Claus and Christmas traditions. In both specials, the holiday icon first appears as an orphaned baby, found and raised by a small, secluded community of little people (the Kringle elves/the Kidville kids) who later become his helpers. When he grows up, he decides to take the goods his foster family produces (toys/eggs) and share them with the outside world. He takes his goods to a somber, gray town, where the joy-starved people love them, but the mean ruler (Burgermeister Meisterburger/Duchess Lily Longtooth) outlaws them, forcing the hero to find inventive new ways to sneak them in. This leads to the creation of many holiday traditions. Meanwhile, a giant enemy (the Winter Warlock/Gadzooks the Grizzly) tries to block the hero’s way, but then has a HeelFaceTurn when the hero gives him a gift and becomes his ally. Both specials are narrated by [[Creator/FredAstaire S.D. Kluger]], who delivers letters to the holiday icon, with the aim of answering the questions the letters ask about how all the holiday traditions got started. |
| 102 | * The first episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'' recycles part of its plot from ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', albeit with Kuzco turned into a rabbit instead of a llama. He's even sulking in a jungle at the beginning of both. |
| 103 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': |
| 104 | ** Many of the earliest cutaway gags were actually reused from Creator/SethMacFarlane's college thesis short, ''Life with Larry''. This includes: |
| 105 | *** Three gags from "Death Has a Shadow", including the gag at church, Peter watching the film ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'' drunk, and Peter not being able to fart until he was 30. |
| 106 | *** The ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' parody from "I Never Met the Dead Man". |
| 107 | *** Peter appearing on Jeopardy ("What is diarrhea?") from "Brian: Portrait of a Dog". |
| 108 | *** The "drive-by arguments" gag from "There's Something About Paulie". |
| 109 | ** The episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E19TheSplendidSource The Splendid Source]]" was adapted from a short story of the same name which Creator/RichardMatheson wrote in 1956. It shows in that the episode's humor is much more sedate than the norm for the show, and is almost completely devoid of cutaway jokes. |
| 110 | ** A CutawayGag in "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS1E1DeathHasAShadow Death Has a Shadow]]" shows Peter drinking the communion wine at church and then cracking a joke about how Jesus Christ was wasted everyday. About a season later in [[Recap/FamilyGuyS2E12FifteenMinutesOfShame "Fifteen Minutes of Shame]]", the gag is reused, but DVDCommentary states that the reuse of the gag was purely by accident. |
| 111 | ** The episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E13TradingPlaces Trading Places]]" has the exact same premise as the ''Series/StepByStep'' episode of the same name, with more or less the same results. |
| 112 | ** The ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Haylias" was recycled one year later as ''Family Guy''[='s=] "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E3SpiesReminiscentOfUs Spies Reminiscent of Us]]". Both have the family's daughter (Hayley and Meg) as brainwashed agents with {{Trigger Phrase}}s stated to be things nobody would ever say (Hayley's is "[[RefugeInAudacity I'm getting fed up with this orgasm]]" while Meg's is "Gosh, that Italian family at the next table sure is quiet"). The main difference is who did the brainwashing: Meg is a ManchurianAgent of the former Soviet Union, while Hayley was part of a CIA {{Tykebomb}} initiative and Stan [[{{Jerkass}} "activated" her because he wanted her to be more obedient]]. Another difference is that Hayley's brainwashing is a plot device while Meg's brainwashing was more of a one-off gag. |
| 113 | ** The episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS15E11Gronkowsbees Gronkowsbees]]" has a very similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "New Cowboy on the Block"; both episodes involve a famous football player moving into the main characters' neighborhoods, causing trouble and acting like total jerks, but the main characters defend the new neighbors at first despite everyone else being annoyed by them, then they eventually realize how awful their new neighbors really are and scheme to get them to move out. |
| 114 | ** The 2nd season episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS2E1PeterPeterCaviarEater Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater]]" was recycled into the 10th season episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E1LotteryFever Lottery Fever]]", in that both involve the Griffins briefly becoming upper-class and Peter [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism becoming more self-absorbed than usual]]. Coincidentally, both episodes were the first of their respective seasons. |
| 115 | ** While it's not exact, the episode "Quagmire's Mom," in which Quagmire is put on trial for his crimes and gets off by blaming all of his behavior on his mother, is strikingly similar to the film ''Film/IAccuseMyParents''. |
| 116 | ** The 13th season episode "Roasted Guy" and the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "The Great Space Roaster" have almost identical beginnings, (Peter/Roger requests his friends roast him, and winds up being genuinely hurt by the results) but go in very different directions afterwards. Roger exacts revenge against his family in [[DisproportionateRetribution a way that only Roger can]], by pretending to straighten his life out and stop doing all the bad things his family pointed out he does while attempting to kill them without them getting suspicious. Peter declares that his friends aren't his friends anymore, then befriends a group of GossipyHens. |
| 117 | ** The episodes "Road to Rupert" and "Total Recall" both involve Stewie and Brian traveling to find Stewie's teddy Rupert. In the former, Brian unintentionally sells him at a garage sale and the duo track him down to Colorado, while in the latter, he's the target of a product recall and they set out to rescue him from the toy factory before he's destroyed. |
| 118 | ** "Quagmire's Baby" and "No Giggity, No Doubt" both center around Quagmire meeting and briefly living with an illegitimate daughter from one of his many sexual escapades, the main difference being that the girl in the former was a baby that he was completely inept at taking care of and the girl in the latter was a teen whose presence changed his demeanor. |
| 119 | ** The episode "Yug Ylimaf" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode "Back To School" where time starts going backwards and the main characters have to stop it. The only difference is in the ''Family Guy'' episode, things were going backwards for real (because of Stewie's time machine being broken) while in ''Rugrats (1991)'', the babies THOUGHT the going backwards was happening because of a series of coincidences kicked off by Didi rewinding a Lipschitz VHS. |
| 120 | * ''WesternAnimation/FancyNancy'': The episode "Frenchy, Mon Amour" pretty much uses the same exact plot as the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode, "Dumped". Both episodes involve the protagonist getting jealous over their pet constantly following another character (Patrick and Jojo), and the ending reveals the reason why was because the pet was attracted to a food in the other character's pocket (the cookie in Patrick's pants, the sandwich in Jojo's overalls). However, unlike Patrick, Jojo does not exploit Nancy's jealousy over Frenchy. |
| 121 | * The rather infamous ending of ''WesternAnimation/TheFantasticFour1978'' in which Mr. Fantastic tricks Magneto into surrendering through the use of a wooden gun had previously been used in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes'' starring the Incredible Hulk, which was itself an adaptation of 1963's ''Incredible Hulk'' #6. The earlier use of this scheme made at least slightly more sense in that the Hulk had the good sense to not reveal his trick until after the villain had left. |
| 122 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' titled "Christmas Flintstone" was expanded into an hour-long special called ''A Flintstone Christmas'' in 1977. Three of the songs in "A Flintstone Christmas" were recycled from "A Christmas Story", a TV special Hanna-Barbera made in 1972. |
| 123 | * In "Franklin the Teacher" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Franklin}}'', Franklin becomes concerned that his little sister Harriet isn't ready for school after he learns that Bear's little sister Beatrice already knows stuff like her numbers. He decides to become a teacher to Harriet, but none of his lessons seem to stick because Harriet just thinks they're having playtime. At the end of the story, Harriet helps to repair a chair, something she picked up on while playing with toy tools, and Franklin's parents explain that little kids learn a lot just by playing. In the AllCGICartoon spinoff ''Franklin and Friends'', Harriet and Beatrices' dynamic has been adjusted so that they're both around the same age. In "Franklin's School," it's revealed that they're both starting school soon. Franklin has the idea to set up a pretend school to teach them both, this time with the help of his friends. However, once again, the two seem more interested in stuff like recess. When he laments that they're not learning anything and he can't get them to pay attention, Bear points out that they're little kids, and Snail points out that all they want to do is play. Franklin wonders how he can possibly teach them stuff like counting. His friends help him to think back to their lessons from Mr. Owl and realize that Mr. Owl made learning fun for them and they can help Harriet and Beatrice to learn by playing. |
| 124 | ** "Franklin's Word" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}'' episode "Caillou's Cross Words". In both episodes, the main character learns the word "stupid" and keeps using it, and then their younger sister starts repeating the word as well. |
| 125 | ** "Franklin And The Puppet Play" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Francine Frensky, Superstar" where a character becomes too bossy directing a play. |
| 126 | * ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' had a case where the same cartoon was made twice in one season, but once as a segment for each part of the show, and both had a similar name. These were "The Feline Philosopher" and "The Farmyard Feline Philosopher", where a character cannot do something they're good at because of an obstacle and asks the titular character for advice. Oddly enough, the ''ComicStrip/USAcres'' half of the show also used a similar plot in "The Old Man of the Mountain", which aired in between the two Feline Philosopher episodes. |
| 127 | ** "Clash of the Titans" from Season 7 recycled the plot of "Attack of the Giant Robots" from Season 2, with both being about Garfield waking up in the wrong cartoon. |
| 128 | ** The ''U.S. Acres'' episode "The Name Game" is similar to the earlier cartoon "Bedtime Story Blues", in which Booker and Sheldon change a well-known fairytale into something much different from the original story. |
| 129 | * It's probably just a coincidence, but the last part of "Arise, Serpentor, Arise"! (''[[WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero G.I. Joe]]'') and the entire episode of "Atlantis Arise!" (''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'') have a few similarities: the villains of the series attack UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC, are defeated by the heroes, and the treacherous character voiced by Creator/ChrisLatta saves his leader (receiving no gratitude for doing so). Of course, Cobra don't ally themselves with mer-creatures, and the Decepticons don't create a new leader, but even so... |
| 130 | * ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' |
| 131 | ** The April Fools' Day episode was a 30-minute version of their previous episode "Beaned"; both episodes involve Helga faking an injury long after she's actually healed from it to have Arnold take care of her. The resolution of these two episodes are completely different, though. In "Beaned," Helga's conscience gets the better of her for taking advantage of Arnold's kindness and she fakes her 'recovery' so that he's let off the hook. In "April Fools Day," when Arnold learns that Helga's faking her injury in order to prank him, ''he'' retaliates with an audacious prank of his own before she can spring her trap. (Since "AFD" is supposedly set post-movie, the differences in outcomes for each story show a subtle change in dynamic between the two - Arnold's passivity to Helga's aggression is slowly evolving into a good-natured 'contest of equals' between the two.) |
| 132 | ** "Grandpa's Sister" borrows a similar premise to the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode, "[[Recap/RugratsS2E12AuntMiriamTheInsideStory Aunt Miriam]]". In both episodes, the female relative of the main character's grandfather (Phil's sister Mitzi, Lou's cousin Miriam) comes to visit, and the grandfather is not happy about her staying because she bullied him over 70 years ago. By the end of both episodes, the grandfather and his female relative make up with each other. |
| 133 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel'' used this for a TakeThat; Weasel and Baboon are filming a cartoon with the Red Guy as the director, and eventually Weasel points out that in the script, you can see the part where they crossed out "[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Bugs]]" and wrote in "[[WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures Buster]]", and again the part where Red crossed out "Buster" and wrote in "Weasel". |
| 134 | * The ''The Incredible WesternAnimation/DennisTheMenace'' episode, "Dennis the Genius" uses a similar premise to the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode, "Bart the Genius"; in both episodes, a troublemaking young boy (Dennis, Bart) cheats on their intelligence test by using the answers of their smarter friend ([=PeeBee=], Martin) and get accepted into a school for gifted students, but soon find out that it's not as great as they wanted it to be. By the end of both episodes, they confess that they cheated on their tests to get sent back to their old schools. |
| 135 | * ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': [[Recap/InfinityTrainS1E3TheCorgiCar "The Corgi Car"]] is the original pilot expanded and remade to fit in the context of the series proper. |
| 136 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheInspector'' short ''Le Quiet Squad'' (where the Inspector has to keep things quiet around a man's home or else he'll get clobbered) reuses [[DontWakeTheSleeper the plot]] from the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon ''WesternAnimation/APestInTheHouse'' (where Elmer has to keep things quiet for a hotel patron or else he'll get socked in the face). |
| 137 | * The ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'' episode, "Won't Stick to Most Dental Work" borrows a similar premise to the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode, "Thirteensomething". In both episodes, one of the two hosts leaves their show after a feud to pursue their own career and have great success in that venture (Henry opens his own restaurant, Babs stars on the titular ShowWithinAShow). Meanwhile, the other host (June and Buster) tries unsuccessfully to get a new co-host, inevitably leading to their show's downfall. Near the end of the episode, both parties realize how much they miss each other and reunite. |
| 138 | * ''ComicBook/KaputAndZosky'' is rather fond of this, recycling not just scripts but entire episodes themselves. One episode has them try to take over a planet, only to find all of its inhabitants fleeing because it is about to be destroyed at sundown. Kaput and Zösky try to flee, only to have the planet blow up beneath them. The episode is later repackaged as a new episode, with only new dialogue used, with the plot changed to the planet, this time a popular tourist destination, becoming unpopular. |
| 139 | * ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': |
| 140 | ** “Vir-Tu-Ron” has a few things in common with the ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'' episode “Xabrina, Warrior Witch”, where the protagonist’s male friend (Ron in the former, Harvey in the latter) gets trapped in a VR video game by the VillainOfTheWeek, leading to the protagonist to go into the game and rescue him. |
| 141 | ** The Father's Day episode ("Mathter & Fervant") where teenage Ron doesn't want to hang out with his father, an actuary. The Dad then has to save the day to win his son's respect. The same plot is used in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' with Jake and his father (also an actuary.) Both series used the same writing staff and the episodes premiered within 24 hours of each other, making the borrowing all the more egregious. |
| 142 | ** In addition, ''Kim Possible'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' both have an episode ("Kimitation Nation" and "Doug's En Vogue") in which [[YouAreTheNewTrend the main character inspires a fashion line]], but it doesn't help their popularity at school, since everyone thinks they are just copying the look to get noticed. [[note]] Although the KP episode also had {{mad scientist}}s and [[EvilKnockoff evil clones of the protagonist]], which the latter episode lacked. [[/note]] It's perhaps worth noting that Kayte Kutch and Sheryl Scarborough, who wrote the former episode, were also writers on ''Doug''. |
| 143 | * ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': |
| 144 | ** "A Man Without A Country Club", where Hank is offered membership to Nine Rivers, an exclusive, Asian-only country club, but as a TokenMinority so the club wouldn't lose a tour by Tiger Woods, is a RaceLift of the ''Series/TheJeffersons'' episode "Tennis, Anyone?", where George is offered membership at an all-white country club whose charter might be revoked. |
| 145 | ** "Hank's On Board" is an interesting example. The plot (sans the ending) is identical to ''Film/Adrift2006'', where a group of people go swimming off a boat and forget to lower the ladder. ''Adrift'' was released almost exactly one year ''after'' "Hank's On Board" was aired, but was written years earlier and was in production when the episode would have been produced. |
| 146 | * The ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' episode "[[Recap/LiloAndStitchTheSeriesS2E6Skip Skip]]" recycles parts of "Anywhere But Here" from ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'' and "[[Recap/TeenTitansS2E1HowLongIsForever How Long is Forever?]]" from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. Like Sabrina, Lilo is tired of being a kid with restrictions, so she uses something to make her grow up faster (in this case, Experiment 089). However, like Starfire, Lilo would find herself in a BadFuture and realize that she went missing for several years due to using Skip's ability. Thankfully, all 3 scenarios have a ResetButton to undo everything. |
| 147 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1992'': |
| 148 | ** The episode "Metal Fish" and ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan'' episode "The Mysterious Stranger" both involve the title characters meeting men who turn out to be [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis the authors of the stories they were based on]]. |
| 149 | ** The episode "King Crab" recycles the plot of the ''Series/AdventuresInWonderland'' episode "The Bunny Who Would Be King" from two years earlier. In both, the character who works as the monarch's head servant (Sebastian/the White Rabbit) is visited by family (Sebastian's parents/the Rabbit's brother [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Rabbit DeNiro]]). Unfortunately, they're under the mistaken impression that ''he'' is the king (though the White Rabbit actually lied that he was king in his letters, while Sebastian just wrote that he's "in charge of everything" and his parents misunderstood). So he and his friends create an elaborate scheme to make it look like he really is king and to keep the family member(s) from meeting the real monarch (King Triton/the Queen of Hearts). Both episodes are also similar to the classic ''[[Series/TheAddamsFamily Addams Family]]'' episode "Mother Lurch Visits the Addams Family," where Gomez and Morticia pretend to be Lurch's servants when his mother visits because he lied to her in his letters that the Addams' house was his own. |
| 150 | * On ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleRascals'', Rowby Goren's script for "Rock & Roll Rascals" was reused by Earl Kress as "The Zero Hero", replacing Darla's favorite rock singer with her favorite TV superhero actor. |
| 151 | * ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': |
| 152 | ** "Tin Pan Alley Cats" uses the same panning shot over Wackyland as "Porky in Wackyland". "Dough for the Do-Do" is a shot-for-shot colorized "Porky in Wackyland". |
| 153 | ** Creator/FrizFreleng even recycled a few of his own ''Looney Tunes'' scripts within ''Looney Tunes'' itself. For example, the basic plots of "His Bitter Half" and "Honey's Money" are the same: A money-grubbing man (Daffy Duck in the former, Yosemite Sam in the latter) marries a woman for her money, and eventually has to take care of the woman's son. They even share a scene: The shooting gallery where the son makes it seem like Daffy or Sam is shooting at the barker. "Hmm...must have rick-o-shetted!" |
| 154 | ** The scene in "WesternAnimation/AllThisAndRabbitStew" where WesternAnimation/BugsBunny fools the hunter with a hollow log over a cliff was re-used in the Bugs Bunny cartoon "WesternAnimation/TheBigSnooze", only [[RaceLift with Elmer Fudd used instead]]. |
| 155 | ** "WesternAnimation/GorillaMyDreams" and "WesternAnimation/ApesOfWrath" both revolve around Bugs getting adopted by a gorilla and her husband trying to get rid of him. |
| 156 | ** "Notes to You" and "Back Alley Oproar" both revolve around a guy trying to get some sleep, only to deal with an annoying cat [[CatConcerto singing on his fence]], including the end where they end up being serenaded by [[CatsHaveNineLives the deceased cat's nine lives]], with WesternAnimation/PorkyPig and a random cat being replaced by WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd and [[WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird Sylvester]]. |
| 157 | ** Both "WesternAnimation/HaredevilHare" and "WesternAnimation/HareWayToTheStars" deal with Bugs going into space, encountering Marvin the Martian, and stopping him from [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing up the Earth]]. |
| 158 | ** The 1949 short "WesternAnimation/MouseWreckers" was remade in 1958 as "Gopher Broke". It revolves around a duo of mischievous rodents (Hubie and Bertie in the former, the Goofy Gophers in the latter) trying to drive a much larger foe (Claude Cat and the Barnyard Dawg respectively) insane to infiltrate the building they're trying to sleep in. |
| 159 | ** The Creator/DepatieFrelengEnterprises-era WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck cartoon "Suppressed Duck" has a ''very'' similar plot to the 1955 WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon "Beezy Bear". Both cartoons revolve around a boundary being drawn for the bears to stay on one side and the duck to stay on the other. The primary difference is that in "Suppressed Duck", the bear isn't the one breaking the rules. |
| 160 | ** "WesternAnimation/AlongCameDaffy" is essentially a colorized version of "WesternAnimation/DaffysSouthernExposure", in which Daffy stumbles upon a cabin occupied by a starving duo who intend to eat him. In the original, it was a fox and a weasel; in "Along Came Daffy", they are replaced by WesternAnimation/YosemiteSam and a black-haired lookalike of him. |
| 161 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' |
| 162 | ** Not only is the show similar in premise to ''Series/StuckInTheMiddle'', but they both have episodes where the main character tries to claim the best seat in the family car. |
| 163 | ** "Undie Pressure" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' episode "Willpower Smurfs" and ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "All Eds Are Off" as all three are about the characters entering a bet to see which of them can go without their annoying habits the longest for a reward. |
| 164 | ** "Ties That Bind" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' episode "Eight Take-Away One Equals Panic" and ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Little Miss Interprets", all three plots revolving around some misunderstandings leading to a belief among the kids of the family (The Louds, the Muppets, and the PPG, respectively) that their guardians are going to get rid of them. |
| 165 | ** "One of the Boys" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "Oh, Brother"; both of which involve the main characters ending up living with brothers instead of sisters, only for it to be not as cool as they thought it would be. |
| 166 | ** The episode "Pipe Dreams" has a similar premise to "Serious Business" from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', in which one character is so fed up with people taking long in the bathroom that they come up with their own solution to the problem, which is different for both shows (in ''Titans'', Robin establishes a 5-minute rule, while in ''Loud House'', the parents build their own bathroom). |
| 167 | ** "Making The Grade" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart The Genius", in which one of the main characters gets admitted to a higher-level educational institute, only to find out that it's not as great as they wanted it to be. |
| 168 | ** "For Sale By Loner" borrows a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode, "Squidville". In both episodes, one character (Mr. Grouse, Squidward) moves away from their neighbors (The Loud Family, [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick), and at first, they like their new life of peace and quiet, but soon find it dull with nothing to do. Eventually, they start to get on their new neighbor's (Mr. Bolhofner, the citizens of Tentacle Acres) nerves by doing things their old neighbors would have done, and eventually move back to their old home. |
| 169 | ** "Sound of Silence" borrows a similar premise to the ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' episode, "The Grand Old Duck of York". In both episodes, the main character (Lincoln, Bugs) buys some noise-cancelling headphones to distract himself from something loud (Lincoln's sisters' chaotic nature, Daffy's atrocious piano playing), and pretend to listen to the conversations of their friends, only to end up agreeing to something without knowing it (doing chores for Lola, Daffy playing a concert at Pizzarriba to one-up Sullivan's). |
| 170 | ** "The Green House" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/BadDog'' episode "Earth Dog" where the main character attempts to stop their family's energy consumption to keep it down. |
| 171 | ** "No Such Luck" has a similar premise to the ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' episode "Clumsy Luck": A clumsy and disliked guy (Lincoln, Clumsy) is accused of bad luck and is isolated from the family. |
| 172 | ** Several episodes show a Loud feeling damaged in his personal life and getting rid of the family: Lincoln in "No Such Luck", Lori in "Garage Banned", Lisa in "The Mad Scientist" and Rita in "Rita Her Rights" (not coincidentally, Lincoln and Rita come across squirrels and end up unhappily wearing orange clothes). Lucy in "Spell It Out" also fits this concept, but instead of getting rid of her siblings, she forces them to do whatever she wants. |
| 173 | *** Lincoln is banished from the house, Lori dies of boredom, Lisa doesn't have enough autonomy and Rita ends up in jail after racking up fines. Only Lucy succeeds, but she regrets seeing her siblings suffering because of her. |
| 174 | ** The episode "The Crying Dame" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Play It Again, D.W." where a young character has an item that sings (a CD in the latter episode, a singing toy in the former) and drives their older sibling(s) crazy with it. |
| 175 | * The ''[[WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus Magic School Bus]]'' episode "Inside Ralphie" is very similar to the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' episode "Scooter's Uncommon Cold": a FantasticVoyagePlot where one of the characters [[SickEpisode gets sick]], the others all shrink themselves and go into his body, and they learn about the immune system by seeing how their friend's is working to make him well. The main difference is that the Muppet Babies only [[ImagineSpot imagine]] themselves going inside Scooter, while Ms. Frizzle and her class go inside Ralphie for real. |
| 176 | * ''WesternAnimation/MarthaSpeaks'' intentionally used the same basic script for "Martha Smells" and "Martha Hears", which were part of the same episode. This is explained as T.D. copying Helen's script with some minor changes. The end of "Martha Smells" foreshadows the end of "Martha Hears". "Martha Hears" [[DejaVu had some of the characters wondering if the same situation already happened.]] |
| 177 | ** The episode "Martha Blah Blah" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/NedsNewt'' episode "Ned and Edna, and Ed 'n Aden" in which certain letters are missing from the alphabet soup the main character is eating and the character has to go to the company to find out why. |
| 178 | ** The episode "There Goes The Neighborhood" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Francine And The Feline" where the main character acts prejudiced against cats when another character gets a new kitten. |
| 179 | * The ''WesternAnimation/MayaAndMiguel'' episode "The Cherry Chipper Cupid Sisters" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Attack Of The Turbo Tibbles" where the characters become obsessed with a TV show and pretend to be the characters and pretend their entire lives are like the show, getting them into trouble in their daily lives. |
| 180 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB'' episode "Dogcatcher in the Rye" has the same plot as the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "Ed Good, Rocko Bad". Both center on the protagonist running for dog catcher against their archenemy, only for the latter to use slander against the former to win. |
| 181 | ** The episode "Dirty Happy" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Gary Takes A Bath" and the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "Dirty Dog". All 3 episodes revolve around the main character's pet doing everything they can to avoid getting a bath, much to the chagrin of their owners. |
| 182 | * ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': More and more common since the series is becoming a [[LongRunners Long-Runner]]. |
| 183 | ** In season 1, [[VillainPossessedBystander akumatized villains]] were different in every episode, but due to the villain's tendency to never recycle his schemes, the same villains, or [[SecondSuperIdentity new ones with the same civilian identity]], tend to be reused since. Episodes with the same antagonist tend to resemble each other; for instance, "Glaciator" and "Glaciator 2" both dealt with Cat Noir and Marinette bonding over their love problems, [[LovesMyAlterEgo not realizing they were talking to the person they're in love with]]. Also, Cat Noir suffers [[RejectionAffection rejection]] from Ladybug and [[DespairEventHorizon take it less philosophically the second time]]. |
| 184 | ** Two Lila-centric episodes, "Chameleon" and "Ladybug", are identical in the fact that everyone in school believes Lila's stories (especially those concerning her health), and Marinette gets ostracized, but she gets more support from her friends the second time. More generally, Lila is TheDragon in all seasons finales but the third. |
| 185 | ** Seasons 3 and 4 both feature an UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode [[spoiler:("Cat Blanc" and "Ephemeral") where Marinette and Adrien [[TheReveal learn the other's identity]] and [[TheRevealPromptsRomance start a happy relationship]], until Gabriel learns it too, reveals to his son he's Hawk Moth, and akumatizes him, leading to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]]. The disaster must be erased through TimeTravel, and the RelationshipUpgrade is [[ResetButton reset]], too, at the same time.]] |
| 186 | ** "Miracle Queen" and the New York special both dealt with Marinette facing the consequences of [[LoveHurts having to stop considering Adrien as her love interest]]. In the second, she takes it way more dramatically, actively trying to [[LoveConfession confess to him]] and [[RaceForYourLove pursue him]]. In the same special and "Kuro Neko", [[TenMinuteRetirement Cat Noir returns his miraculous to Ladybug]], albeit for completely different reasons. [[DespairEventHorizon In the special, the news devastates Ladybug]], while in the episode, [[AngstWhatAngst she cares much less]]. |
| 187 | ** In general, the gimmick of turning all of Marinette and Adrien's classmates into new [[SixthRanger reservist superheroes]] can be seen as the recyclage of the idea of turning them into new [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] in season 1. |
| 188 | * ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies2018'' has two episodes similar to episodes from the original series, ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'': |
| 189 | ** In the 1984 series' episode "Dental Hyjinks," Fozzie hurts his tooth, but is afraid to go to the dentist to get it fixed, and spends the whole episode trying to get out of going. But in the end it's not scary at all, and he gets a PostTreatmentLollipop, which leads to all the other kids to pretending to have toothaches so they can go to the dentist too. In the 2018 series' episode "Animal Gets the Sneezies," Animal can't stop sneezing, but is afraid to go to the doctor to find out why, and spends the whole episode trying to get out of going. But in the end, of course, it's not scary at all, and he gets a PostTreatmentLollipop, which leads to Gonzo pretending to sneeze so he can go to the doctor too. |
| 190 | ** Both series also have a CinderellaPlot episode: "Pigerella" from the original series (with [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Piggy]] as Cinderella and Gonzo as her "Fairy Godwierdo") and "Gonzo-rella" from the reboot (with [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Gonzo]] as Cinderella and Rizzo as his "Fairy Ratfather"). |
| 191 | * ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' recycled a few of its own scripts too: |
| 192 | ** In two different episodes, the kids build their own pretend theme park: Season 4's "Muppetland" and the series' final episode, "Eight Flags Over the Nursery." Preceding both of them, Season 1's "Fun Park Fantasies" also has the kids imagine themselves at an amusement park, although in that episode they don't actually build one. It helps that each episode has a slightly different kind of park: in "Fun Park Fantasies" they imagine a place with old-timey carnival rides like a fun house and a merry-go-round, in "Muppetland" they build a park that's more like Ride/{{Disneyland}}, while in "Eight Flags Over the Nursery" the park is like a cross between a Ride/SixFlags park and Ride/UniversalStudios. |
| 193 | ** Two episodes have the kids imagining themselves as various NurseryRhyme characters: Season 3's "Muppet Goose" and Season 6's "Goosetown Babies." |
| 194 | ** Two episodes feature retellings of ''Literature/PeterPan.'' In Season 2's "By the Book," Scooter and Skeeter share the role of Peter and Kermit takes the place of Wendy, while in Season 8's "Kermit Pan," [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Kermit plays Peter]], Skeeter plays Wendy and Scooter plays Smee, and in both episodes, Piggy plays Tinker Bell, Rowlf and Fozzie play John and Michael, Gonzo plays Captain Hook and Animal plays the crocodile. |
| 195 | * The ''WesternAnimation/MyDadTheRockStar'' episode "Psychic Convention" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/Doug'' episode "Doug's Christmas Story" where the main character's pet is going to be taken away by Animal Control due to a misunderstanding (Mosh the Komodo Dragon was trying to save the neighbor's pets from a pack of raccoons, Porkchop was saving Beebe Bluff from falling through ice) |
| 196 | * The ''WesternAnimation/MyGoldfishIsEvil'' episode "The Monstro-Crane Of Doom" is similar to the sub-plot of the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "I Never Met The Dead Man" where the evil genius character creates a weapon that will affect the weather. |
| 197 | ** "Grade A Goldfish" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Boating School" where a character secretly cheats on a test via a secret device that has someone else giving them the test answers. |
| 198 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 199 | ** In "The Ticket Master", Twilight is given two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. She takes one for herself but can't decide on which of her then-new friends is most deserving of the other and eventually the whole town pesters her for the ticket. An episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' had a similar premise. In "And the Winner Is...", Clover is given two concert ball tickets and can't decide on who deserves the extra one. |
| 200 | ** "Ponyville Confidential" bears similarities to the ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "Truth or Ed" and the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "The Krabby Khronicle", where the characters get involved in a slanderous newspaper business. |
| 201 | ** Speaking of [=SpongeBob=], there has been [[http://sonic2125.deviantart.com/art/Just-one-bite-vs-Read-it-and-Weep-463121750 a comparison between "Read It and Weep" and "Just One Bite"]]. |
| 202 | ** "Sisterhooves Social": Rarity and Sweetie Belle get on each other's nerves to the point where Sweetie Belle disowns Rarity as a sister. The two meet again later on a camping trip Sweetie Belle is having with Applejack and Apple Bloom, but tensions remain high between them. Sweetie Belle realizes that Rarity is a sister worth having after participating in, although not winning, the Sisterhooves Social race. "[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3 Oh, Brother!]]": Mario and Luigi get on each other's nerves to the point where Luigi disowns Mario as a brother. The two meet again later in the middle of a rainstorm, but tensions remain high between them. Luigi realizes that Mario is a brother worth having after saving him from one of Bowser's schemes. |
| 203 | ** "Hearts and Hooves Day" is similar to ''The Powerpuff Girls''' "Keen on Keane". It involved the trio being ShipperOnDeck and ensuing disasters. The love interest is both cases is a female kindergarten teacher (Ms. Keane, Cheerilee) and an older male relative (Prof. Utonium, Big Macintosh.) |
| 204 | ** "Putting Your Hoof Down" recycles the premise of another ''Powerpuff Girls'' episode entitled "Bubblevicious". Both stories involve the most sensitive main character wanting to prove that she has a spine, and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters ends up going too far with her newfound confidence]]. |
| 205 | ** A possibly unintentional one, but "A Canterlot Wedding" is similar to parts of the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Succubus". Both involve the protagonist(s) finding something off about their friend's fiancee and accuse her of being evil, leading to her running off in tears and the friend to call out the protagonist(s) even though (s)he/they was/were right in a way. The difference is that while the South Park boys hated Chef's fiancee Veronica from the start and she was clearly an evil monster, Twilight Sparkle's reason was more tragic because the wedding was between her older brother Shining Armor and her beloved foal-sitter Princess Cadence, who turns out to have been [[spoiler:kidnapped by Queen Chrysalis, the ruler of the Changelings who happens to prey on Shining Armor's love by taking on Cadence's form]]. |
| 206 | ** "Maud Pie" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Weird Cousin". Both episodes have a character's rather peculiar relative visit the main cast. Coincidentally, Pinkie Pie's sister Maud speaks in the same monotone as Arnold's cousin Arnie. |
| 207 | ** "Magical Mystery Cure" and "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" share a similar formula: both are {{Musical Episode}}s where the protagonists undergo [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore a major transformation]] after solving a major cutie mark-related issue. [[spoiler:In the former, Twilight grows wings after figuring out how to return her friends' swapped cutie marks to normal and is crowned a Princess of Equestria. In the latter, the Cutie Mark Crusaders discover they share a talent for helping others understand their own talents after helping [[TheBully Diamond Tiara]] through a mark-induced identity crisis, which leads to them earning their cutie marks]]. |
| 208 | ** The episode "Rarity Takes Manehattan" is very similar to the ''Series/FamilyTies'' episode "Designing Woman" where Mallory finds out a co-worker is stealing her fashion design ideas. |
| 209 | *** It also has much in common with an episode of its sister show, ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'', "Plane It On Rio!" In both episodes, a fashionista travels to a distant city to participate in a major event and meets an old acquaintance, who proceeds to steal and plagiarize the fashionista's ideas, and she resolves the issue by creating even better designs to defeat her unscrupulous rival. Both episodes also debuted within a month of each other. |
| 210 | ** "The Crystalling" involves the birth of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence's baby Flurry Heart. Upon birth, she involuntarily uses her magic. That aspect is similar to [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents "Fairly Odd Baby"]], in which the newborn Poof has no control over his magic. [[spoiler:Coincidentally, the baby's cry causes something bad to happen, although the danger triggered by Flurry Heart's crying was by accident.]] |
| 211 | ** The episodes "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well" and "28 Pranks Later" have almost identical basic plots. In them, Rainbow Dash is acting more obnoxious than usual, so the other ponies form a plan to take her down a peg and teach her the error of her ways (inventing a superhero to upstage her at every turn and staging a ZombieApocalypse, respectively). |
| 212 | *** "28 Pranks Later" also recycles the basic storyline from the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' episode "The Impractical Joker", both stories being about a thoughtless prankster whose friends give her a scary [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine Taste Of Her Own Medicine]]. |
| 213 | ** "A Flurry of Emotions" is pretty much "Baby Cakes" with Twilight in Pinkie Pie's place, as she looks after her niece Flurry Heart. |
| 214 | ** The episode "Secrets and Pies" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/MyFriendsTiggerAndPooh'' episode "Piglet's Thousand and One Watermelons". |
| 215 | ** "A Matter of Principals" is ''very'' similar to "The Cutie Re-Mark", both being episodes about an antagonist targeting a protagonist as payback for taking something they wanted, one-on-one because said antagonist removed the protagonist's allies from the equation, with the antagonist causing a ton of damage and endangering everyone else, with the protagonist juggling battling the antagonist and trying to clean up the mess, and the antagonist ultimately being too powerful to defeat and effectively getting what they want in the end to make them stop. |
| 216 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Mysticons}}'' episode "Quest of the Vexed" shares the same plot to the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "All Bottled Up". Both centered around a character being angry at someone and they use some kind of magical object to bottle up their anger, only for the object to break and spread the anger to everyone around it. |
| 217 | * The ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' episode "Pups Save A Stinky Flower" has a similar plot to ''Series/TheDoodlebops'' episode "The Eew Flower", where a character brings their friends a smelly flower that they think they would like, but their friends do not want it. It also shares the same plot with the Granny Garbanzo plot in ''Series/TheBigComfyCouch'' episode "Honest To Goodness". |
| 218 | ** "Pups Save a Snow Monster" is very similar to "The Yeti" from ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'', where the cast looks for the titular Monster, and one character (In ''Backyard'', it's Tasha, in ''PAW'', it's Ryder) tries to convince the others that there's no monster. [[spoiler: In the end, it turns out there actually ''was'' a monster, but it's really just their friend covered in snow. In ''Backyard'', it's Pablo, in ''PAW'', it's some farm animals.]] |
| 219 | ** The show also had two episodes ("Pups Turn On the Lights" and "Pups Save a High Flying Skye") where a BigBlackout prevents the someone from doing something that they were planning for a while (in the former, the blackout ruin's Chase's birthday, while in the latter, a farmer cannot do work because of it). |
| 220 | * The ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'' episode "Miss Moose" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Francine's Bad Hair Day" where a character tries to make the tomboyish character act more girly, only for them to get annoyed at their attempts and at the end of the episode the other characters realizes they're happy being just the way they are. |
| 221 | ** Speaking of "Miss Moose", it has a similar plot to another Pepper Ann episode, "Manly Milo", except that episode is about trying to make a male character act more masculine. |
| 222 | * ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has "Rollercoaster: The Musical", a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin musical episode recycling the plot of the first episode]]. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Tropes Are Not Bad]] as the episode seen as pretty good and has plenty of LampshadeHanging on the recycled nature. |
| 223 | * The ''WesternAnimation/PinkyDinkyDoo'' episode "Pinky Dinky Re-Doo" has the same plot as ''Series/TheBigComfyCouch'''s "Ain't It Amazing, Gracie?". Both involve characters losing a beloved item and trying to retrace their steps to find it and end with [[spoiler:a relative giving them the item that they lost]]. |
| 224 | * Many ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'' cartoons from Creator/FamousStudios were remakes of old Creator/FleischerStudios shorts, such as "The Anvil Chorus Girl" (based on "Shoein' Hosses") and "Penny Antics" (based on "Customers Wanted"). |
| 225 | ** The plot of "Olive's Boithday Presink", especially the gag of the hunted tricking the hunter into thinking he has a family, was reused in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "Duck Soup to Nuts". Both were written by the same guy. |
| 226 | ** "Olive Oyl for President" had the exact same script as "WesternAnimation/BettyBoop [[WesternAnimation/BettyBoopForPresident for President]]", replacing Betty with Olive, of course. |
| 227 | ** Famous Studios also repeated the plot of 1936's "Christmas Comes But Once a Year" (Starring Grampy from the WesternAnimation/BettyBoop shorts) in the 1952 WesternAnimation/CasperTheFriendlyGhost short, "True Boo" with both involve helping a sad child/children on Christmas by turning household items into toys (or in this case, the ''exact'' same item-made toys). |
| 228 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': |
| 229 | ** The episode "What's The Big Idea" borrows a similar premise to the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' episode "Too Tall Tails", in that the villain grows one of the main characters (in The Powerpuff Girls' case, the whole trio) to gigantic size so that they cause more harm to a city than good. |
| 230 | ** ''The Powerpuff Girls Movie'' is almost an expansion of "Mr. Mojo's Rising", detailing about how the girls were created and how Mojo Jojo became who he is today. |
| 231 | ** The episode "Bubblevision" to "The Mane Event". Both have one of the sisters get an embarrassing attribute (A bad haircut for Blossom, and NerdGlasses for Bubbles), the two other sisters laugh at her which causes her to lose confidence, but in the end, she uses the attribute to defeat the monster attacking the town. Unlike Bubbles, Blossom doesn't realize her attribute and remains unaware of why everyone is laughing at her until the middle of the episode, and the Professor joins her sisters laughing at Blossom's hair whereas he did not laugh at Bubbles' glasses. |
| 232 | * A few episodes of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'' are similar to those from the original series: |
| 233 | ** "Strong Armed" has similarities to "Bubblevision". Both include Bubbles having a medical condition, with the former having her break her arm and the latter revealing that she is near-sighted. |
| 234 | ** "Arachno-Romance" is similar to "Mommy Dearest" in that the Professor gets a girlfriend but his daughters don't like her. |
| 235 | ** "Man Up" is almost exactly the same as "Makes Zen to Me". |
| 236 | ** The crossover with ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' has a similar plot to "Members Only". An older group of superheroes acts condescending towards the Powerpuff Girls, though in this case it's due to their age rather than gender. It also has elements of ''The Powerpuff Girls Movie'' with Mojo Jojo commanding an army of simians. |
| 237 | * ''WesternAnimation/ProducingParker'' |
| 238 | ** The episode: "The Skinny On Parker" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "He's Too Sexy For His Fat" in which a character (Parker/Chris) worries about their weight. Meanwhile another character (Dee/Stewie) becomes morbidly obese. |
| 239 | ** The episode "Lying, Cheating, Dirty Dogs" has a similar plot to the '' WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Dumped" in which the main character worries their pet is spending too much time with someone else and not with them. |
| 240 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode "The Hypnotist" has the same basic scenario as the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode "Regarding Stuie": the show's most important adult male is somehow made to believe he's a child, befriends the main kid characters and has fun with them, but eventually the kids realize they need to change him back. In the ''Rugrats (1991)'' episode, Stu becomes baby "Stuie" due to EasyAmnesia from a bump on the head, but after a while Tommy misses his dad; in the ''Recess'' episode, Principal Prickly becomes six-year-old "Petie" due to a [[HypnoFool hypnotism act gone awry]], but when [[SadistTeacher Miss Finster]] takes over the school in his absence, the kids realize they [[WeWantOurJerkBack want Prickly back.]] |
| 241 | ** The episode "More Like Gretchen" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} episode "The Perfect Brother" where the genius character comes to visit and impresses the average character's parents, causing their parents to wish the child could be more like them and making them feel alienated. |
| 242 | ** The episode "Bonky Fever" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode "Angelica's Birthday" where it's a character's birthday and they're worried about growing up, so they start to behave like someone younger than their age. The ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' episode "Family Therapy" has a similar plot as well, with both it and the Recess episode ending with the character having a talk with their parent about how they know their behavior is immature, but they're only acting like that because they miss their younger days they spent with the parent. |
| 243 | * The ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' animated series has a weird example. Season 1 is adapted from the first book, but it includes an episode titled "Cluny's Clowns" in which Cluny the Scourge attempts to infiltrate and take over Redwall Abbey by disguising his goons as circus performers. [[AdaptationExpansion This didn't happen in the original book]], but a similar scenario ''did'' happen in the book's direct sequel, ''Literature/{{Mattimeo}}'', when Slagar the Cruel disguises himself and his goons as circus performers to infiltrate the Abbey and kidnap the children. The show would later adapt ''Mattimeo'' for Season 2, making it ''seem'' like they were reusing the CircusEpisode plot when, in reality, ''Mattimeo'' actually did it first. |
| 244 | * ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': |
| 245 | ** Mordecai and Rigby mess up/break something and must repair it. In most of the episodes that had this plot, it'll usually end up with a ShaggyDogStory. (ex: "Limousine Lunchtime", "Tent Trouble", "Garage Door") |
| 246 | ** Mordecai and/or Rigby wanting to accomplish at something, usually a video game. (ex: "High Score", "Slam Dunk", "Bank Shot", "Happy Birthday Song Contest") |
| 247 | ** Mordecai trying to impress Margaret in the first four seasons. |
| 248 | ** "[[Recap/RegularShowS01Ep11RigbysBody Rigby's Body]]" has an eerily similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'' episode "Who'll Stop the Brain", in which Ickis and Krumm try to search for Oblina's brain after sneezing it out from studying for an exam to the point of exhaustion after being warned previously like Rigby when his consciousness has to be retrieved after being forcefully yanked out of his body from eating too much junk food. |
| 249 | ** The episode "Fortune Cookie" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode of the same name, where, after being deemed Mr. Lucky, Filburt gets bad luck after his fortune cookie says so. The ''Regular Show'' version has Benson, after a streak of insanely good luck, suffering from terrible luck as a result of Rigby swapping their fortunes. |
| 250 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "Haunted House" is recycled from an unproduced ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' short. See the original storyboards [[http://www.thadkomorowski.com/?p=4040 here]]. |
| 251 | * ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'': |
| 252 | ** The episode "Wrath of Don" is quite similar to ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' "Eugene Goes Bad" and ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'' "Feats of Clay" as all three episodes revolve around famous actors who the main characters are dismayed to find out don't do their own stunts and are kind of prima donnas, whereas the actors in Sabrina and Hey Arnold actually turn out to be pretty decent guys who are heroic in their own right, the actor in Rocket Power is a massive JerkAss who nobody really likes. |
| 253 | ** The episode "Snow Day" is quite similar to the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Hooky" as both revolve around the main characters skipping school and missing out on an exciting event, whereas in ''Hey Arnold'' the kids manage to avoid getting caught, and in ''Rocket Power'' Otto and Sam both end up getting caught. |
| 254 | * ''Franchise/{{Rugrats}}'': |
| 255 | ** The [[WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991 1991 series]] post-[[WesternAnimation/RugratsInParis Paris]] episode "Cuddle Bunny" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' episode "Free Pookey", where a character tries to protect a piñata from getting broken (Kimi in the former, Johnny in the latter). |
| 256 | ** The [[WesternAnimation/Rugrats2021 2021 series]] episode, "I, Baby" uses a similar plot to "Real or Robots?" from the 1991 series. In both episodes, one character (Susie, Tommy) believes another character (Chuckie, Stu) to be a robot after seeing a horror movie where a MadScientist replaces humans with robots. Both episodes also include a scene where the character tries to open the chest of the person they believe to be a robot with a plastic tool (Susie to Chuckie with Tommy's screwdriver, Tommy to Stu with a plastic wrench). |
| 257 | ** The 1991 series episodes "Educating Angelica" and "Hello Dilly" both have the same plot of Angelica taking one of her cousins to pre-school and trying to pass them off as a doll (Tommy in the former, Dil in the latter) |
| 258 | * The ''WesternAnimation/SevenLittleMonsters'' episode "And Baby Makes Eight" has a similar plot to the ''Series/WimziesHouse'' episode "Babies Have It Made" where a character is jealous of all the attention a baby is getting, so they decide they want to be a baby again themselves. They then realize being treated like a baby isn't very fun as babies can't do the same things big kids can. Note that the latter episode was Main/AllJustADream, while the former had the character act and dress like a baby for real. |
| 259 | ** The episode "April Fools" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'' episode "Impractical Jokers" where a character keeps pulling practical jokes on their friends, which upsets them and makes them mad, so the other characters decide to pull a elaborate joke on them in order to teach them a lesson. |
| 260 | ** The episode "It's A Wonder-Four Life" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'' episode "Lucky To Be Alone" In both a character is tired of living in a house full of siblings, so they wish to be an only child. They get their wish and enjoy it, but after a while they start to miss their siblings. |
| 261 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' |
| 262 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E12KrustyGetsBusted Krusty Gets Busted]]" parallels the plot of the ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episode, "[[Recap/GarfieldAndFriendsS2E15 Binky Goes Bad]]". Both episodes involve the respective series' clown characters getting framed for robbery by someone who hates them (Sideshow Bob/Stinky Davis) and having their name cleared by the main character (Bart/Garfield). |
| 263 | ** Another example of a ''Simpsons'' episode with a plot previously done by ''Garfield'' is the B-Plot of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E7LisaGetsAnA Lisa Gets an A]]" to "[[Recap/GarfieldAndFriendsS2E11 Maine Course]]". In both episodes, the main character (Homer, Jon) gets a lobster and tries to cook and eat it, only to [[AdoptTheFood decide against it and adopt the lobster as a pet instead]], with Homer naming his lobster Pinchy and Jon naming his lobster Therm. However, the endings are different; "Lisa Gets an A" ends with Pinchy being accidentally cooked to death and eaten by Homer anyway, while "Maine Course" ends with Therm becoming homesick and Jon going to Maine to set him free. |
| 264 | ** The episodes "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS17E16MillionDollarAbie Million Dollar Abie]]" and "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS18E18TheBoysOfBummer The Boys of Bummer]]" both involve a member of the Simpson family (Grampa and Bart respectively) becoming a pariah over a sports-related mishap, to the point they [[DrivenToSuicide attempt suicide]]. Though in the former's case, it only took over the first act, whereas the latter became the episode's main dilemma. |
| 265 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E1StarkRavingDad Stark Raving Dad]]" featured the town being excited over Music/MichaelJackson's supposed visit. "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS23E22LisaGoesGaga Lisa Goes Gaga]]" is the same scenario, only with Music/LadyGaga. |
| 266 | ** The episodes that focus on Homer and Marge's marriage crisis, Homer getting a job, Bart getting a new girlfriend, Homer trying to be a better father, and Lisa wanting to be popular (usually when she befriends a one-time character). They're the most used plots in this show. |
| 267 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E4BartSellsHisSoul Bart Sells His Soul]]" had Moe remake his bar into Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag to make more money. Later episodes had him remake the bar into a swanky hipster joint and an English-style restaurant, although the conflicts addressed in each episode are subtly differed, and the bar usually was only the starting point. |
| 268 | ** The subplot for "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E9RealtyBites Realty Bites]]", where Snake tries to kill Homer when he buys his car at a police auction, was previously used in ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' episode "Fred's Second Car". |
| 269 | ** In a rare instance of ''The Simpsons'' borrowing a plot from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', the "WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E1TreehouseOfHorrorXIV XIV]]" short "Reaper Madness" involves Homer [[TheDeathOfDeath killing]] [[TheGrimReaper Death]] when he comes for Bart's soul and [[RelievingTheReaper unwittingly taking his place]] when he creates a world where people are unable to die, much like the ''Family Guy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS2E6DeathisABitch Death is a Bitch]]" where Peter has to take Death's place after the latter twists his ankle. |
| 270 | ** Bart and Milhouse's subplot in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E20LastTapDanceInSpringfield Last Tap Dance In Springfield]]" is similar to the plot of the ''WesternAnimation/NedsNewt'' episode "Mall Good Things Come To An End" and the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode "Elmyra at the Mall" where the characters are locked inside the mall after it closes and decide to have fun in there. |
| 271 | ** Speaking of which, "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS19E15SmokeOnTheDaughter Smoke on the Daughter]]" has a lot of similarities to "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E20LastTapDanceInSpringfield Last Tap Dance in Springfield]]". They both involve Lisa taking up dancing (ballet in the former, tap in the latter) and struggling with it, leading to her finding a way to become better at it (second hand smoke in the former, mechanical shoes in the latter). Each episode also has one point where Lisa comes close to quitting (in the former's case, it's Homer who wants Lisa to quit), only to suffer ObliviousGuiltSlinging from Marge that causes her to continue until something happens at a dance recital that ruins the show. |
| 272 | ** The episode "Lost Our Lisa" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Lost!" where the 8-year old character gets lost after taking the public bus alone. The 2 episodes aired within 7 months of each other! |
| 273 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' themselves would recycle the same plot of Season 1's "The Fake Smurf", with "The Baby Smurf" (also Season 1) and "The Mr. Smurf Contest" (Season 5). |
| 274 | * ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'' noticeably recycled plots from Creator/DICEntertainment's previous two Sonic cartoons. "Winner Fakes All" uses the same basic plot as the ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' episode "Sonic Racer", and "Sonic Tonic" is the same basic plot as the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' episode "Full-Tilt Tails". |
| 275 | * ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': |
| 276 | ** Randy and Sharon have [[DivorceIsTemporary temporarily divorced]] twice. However, the first time was in the early seasons and PlayedForLaughs, while the second was a subplot in a much-later, two-part WhamEpisode that was mostly PlayedForDrama. |
| 277 | ** The main plot of ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' is an extended musical version of the subplot in "[[Recap/SouthParkS1E6Death Death]]". Here, Kyle's mom overreacts to Terrance and Phillip and gets the other parents to protest against them, only in this case it escalates into a war between the United States and Canada. |
| 278 | *** In turn, the end of season 21 retreads the movie, which is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d, and, as in the above case, more PlayedForDrama. |
| 279 | ** Also PlayedForLaughs in "Cancelled", which was originally going to be [[MilestoneCelebration the 100th episode]]. It begins almost exactly like the first episode, but then the characters [[LampshadeHanging realize they're repeating the same story]] and things veer off into a SequelEpisode. |
| 280 | * The episode "Dementia 5" was used, with very few changes, by two animated series made by the same studio. The series were ''WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967'' and ''WesternAnimation/RocketRobinHood''. |
| 281 | ** "From Menace to Menace" was also used by ''WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967'' and ''WesternAnimation/RocketRobinHood''. |
| 282 | ** Another episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967'', involving a scientist taking over a power plant to raise the city into the air, was re-used later. Essentially they changed a few words in the script, changed the scientist's skin color and added pointy ears, and suddenly it was involving an Atlantean using his submarine to ''lower'' the city into the ocean. |
| 283 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': |
| 284 | ** A few later episodes seem to have recycled plots from other Nicktoons. "Toy Store of Doom", for example, has essentially the same plot as the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode "Toy Palace" (they get locked in the toy store after it closes for the night and are afraid the toys will attack them), while "Banned in Bikini Bottom" (Krabby Patties are outlawed and Mr. Krabs starts selling them at [=SpongeBob=]'s house secretly) is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' episode "Just Say [=CatDog=] Sent Ya," in which Farburg Burger Bones are banned from Nearburg and [=CatDog=] starts selling them at a speakeasy in an underground cellar. |
| 285 | ** "Picture Day" was a recycled script from the ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode "One Stayed Clean". An earlier episode recycling a script from the show would be "Big Pink Loser", which was almost identical to "Copycat Kid". |
| 286 | *** The ''WesternAnimation/WowWowWubbzy'' episode "Puddle Muddle" and ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' episode "The Mystery Box" also have the same plot as "Picture Day". |
| 287 | ** "Fear of a Krabby Patty" partially recycles its plot from the earlier ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episode "Graveyard Shift". Both episodes involve Mr. Krabs changing the Krusty Krab's business hours to run for 24 hours a day, despite not having the staff necessary to do so, but for different reasons; in "Graveyard Shift", it's because he discovers that he can get more customers if the Krusty Krab was always open, and in "Fear of a Krabby Patty", it's to spite Plankton after he opens the Chum Bucket for 23 hours, setting the latter's plan for the episode into motion. The main difference is that in "Graveyard Shift", we only see the Krusty Krab open for one night shift, and in "Fear of a Krabby Patty", it's open for 43 days straight. |
| 288 | ** "Sandcastles in the Sand" has a similar premise to "The Snowball Effect", where [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick get carried away in an escalating war with sand and snow respectively. The difference is that Squidward doesn't appear in "Sandcastles". |
| 289 | ** "Krab-Borg" borrows a similar premise to the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode "Real or Robots?", wherein two characters believe another character is a robot after seeing a scary robot movie. |
| 290 | ** "To Love a Patty" has the same premise as ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "I Love Chicken", where a character falls in love with a food item that they were preparing for someone else. |
| 291 | ** "Born Again Krabs" and "Cuddle E. Hugs" both have their plots started by a character eating a clearly rotten Krabby Patty because they believe it's still good. |
| 292 | ** "Squilliam Returns" and "Grandmum's the Word" both involve a member of the main cast pretending to be the owner of the Krusty Krab to impress a minor character. |
| 293 | ** "Best Frenemies", "The Other Patty", and "The Krusty Bucket" all have Mr. Krabs and Plankton forming an EnemyMine to combat a new restaurant that threatens to put them out of business, though they're teamed up for most of the first and only begrudgingly team up later in the other two. |
| 294 | ** "The Paper" and "Idiot Box" both involve [=SpongeBob=] doing a lot of fun things with an ordinary object due to his imagination and then Squidward trying to do the same thing with said objects and being unable to do so. |
| 295 | ** "Nasty Patty" is quite similar to the ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'' episode "It Was a Dark and Stormy Day"; both episodes take place on a rainy night with the main characters assuming that someone else was killed and both episodes also mostly take place in the LocalHangout restaurant of the series (Krusty Krab/Shore Shack), and in both episodes the cops get involved and both end with an EverybodyLaughsEnding with the cops and main characters hanging out in the restaurant. |
| 296 | ** At least three episodes have plots similar to ones that were previously done by ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife''; "No Nose Knows" to "Nothing to Sneeze At" (a character with [[TheNoseless no nose]] gets one and it changes their life), "Broken Alarm" to "Commuted Sentence" (the main character keeps trying and failing to get to work on time to keep their job), and "[=SpongeBob=]'s Bad Habit" to "Tooth and Nail" (the main character develops a sudden nail-biting habit). The latter episode also shares a plot with the ''Series/LambChopsPlayAlong'' episode "Stop Biting Your Nails". |
| 297 | ** "All That Glitters" and "Evil Spatula" both revolve around [=SpongeBob=] breaking his spatula and getting a new high-tech one to replace it. |
| 298 | ** "Gone" borrows a similar premise to the ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' episode, "Squeeze the Day", wherein the main character ([=SpongeBob=], Bloo) discovers that all of his friends have gone missing, so he at first worries where they are, then tries to live his life without them. The main character then discovers that his friends have gone somewhere and didn't invite him. ([=SpongeBob's=] friends were celebrating No [=SpongeBob=] Day, while Frankie, Madame Foster, and the imaginary friends went to the beach). |
| 299 | ** The basic plot of "Imitation Krabs" (Plankton disguises himself as Mr. Krabs to steal the formula) was reused multiple times with Plankton disguising himself as different characters: "Someone's in the Kitchen With Sandy" (Sandy), "Gramma's Secret Recipe" ([=SpongeBob=]'s Grandma), "Shellback Shenanigans" (Gary) and "Married to Money" (a sentient wad of money called Cashina). |
| 300 | ** "New Leaf" and "Plankton Retires" have similar premises where Plankton's latest plan to get the Krabby Patty formula is to pretend to quit his life of villainy, leaving Mr. Krabs ProperlyParanoid as a result. |
| 301 | ** "[=To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants=]" and "[=SpongeBob LongPants=]" both involve [=SpongeBob=] being treated differently when he trades his usual pants for a different pair. |
| 302 | ** "A Pal For Gary" has a similar plot to "One Good Fern Deserves Another" from ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' and "Pet Threat" from ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian''. In all 3 episodes, the main character ([=SpongeBob=], Jon, Dave) buys something new (a sea slug, a fern, Chuckles disguised as a diseased weasel) that torments their pet (Gary, Garfield, Faffy), but thinks [[TroublemakingNewPet that their pet is the one tormenting the new thing rather than being tormented by it]]. However, while Jon and Dave catch on to the truth by the end of the episode, [=SpongeBob=] does not. |
| 303 | ** "Missing Identity" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/NedsNewt'' episode "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Dump" in which the characters look for an item of theirs that ended up in the garbage dump (Spongebob's nametag in the former, Ned's Captain Ocelot doll in the latter) |
| 304 | ** "Squirrel Jokes" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Helga's Show" in which a character does a stand-up routine making insulting jokes about their friends. Their friends are angry about this and ask them to stop, so they try different types of jokes, but they aren't as funny so they go back to the insults. |
| 305 | ** Both "Jellyfishing" and "The Thing" follow similar incidents with Squidward. Something strange happens to him when trying to get away from [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick on his bicycle (swallowing a jellyfish and getting injured from falling off a cliff, getting covered in cement and leaves), both of which render him unable to talk for the majority of the episode, and he is forced to spend time with [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick for whatever reason (not realizing he's injured, being mistaken for an endangered species). |
| 306 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' writer D.C. Fontana recycled her script for the episode "Yesteryear" from ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' into the ''Series/LandOfTheLost1974'' episode "Elsewhen". |
| 307 | * When sci-fi author Creator/LarryNiven was hired to write an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'', he took the plot of his short story "The Soft Weapon" and replaced three of the characters with ''Enterprise'' crew to create "The Slaver Weapon". It even featured one of his trademark alien species, the Kzinti, without alteration. (His rejected original proposal for the episode, meanwhile, became another short story, "The Borderlands of Sol".) |
| 308 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': |
| 309 | ** The episode “Mewberty” is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode “Transformation”, which is about a character going through physical changes that are not unlike actual puberty (Star in her story, Starfire in TT). |
| 310 | ** The episode "St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses" is very much like the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!"; both involved a character trying to save loved ones from an AssimilationAcademy that's stripping them of their identities. Incidentally, they had the same writer. |
| 311 | * The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Frybo" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' episode "When Pants Attack." In both episodes, a magical entity/invention causes items of clothing to come to life. |
| 312 | * ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'': |
| 313 | ** An unused episode called "The Curse of Kataluna" had its script recycled to make the ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'' episode "Eclipse" and ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland''. |
| 314 | ** The episode "Razor's Edge" and the ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' episode "Modo Hangs It Up", scripted by the same writer, both involve one of the protagonists having a HeroicBSOD, followed by a TenMinuteRetirement. |
| 315 | * ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'': |
| 316 | ** The entire premise of the show is very similar to the episode "Jack and the Flying Prince and Princess" of Creator/GenndyTartakovsky's ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''. Both even feature [[spoiler:their robot companion dying, only in ''Sym-Bionic Titan'', said robot is revived]]. |
| 317 | ** The episode "Tashy 497" could be this to ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Pet Feud". |
| 318 | * The ''WesternAnimation/TeamUmizoomi'' episode "Job Well Done!" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/NoddysToylandAdventures'' episode "Noddy Buys A Parasol", in which a child character tries their hand at a few jobs to earn money to get something they want. |
| 319 | * Both ''WesternAnimation/TeachersPet'' and ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' have a Main/ThanksgivingEpisode called "The Turkey Who Came To Dinner" where the main characters befriend a live turkey and try to hide it to protect it from being cooked for Thanksgiving dinner. |
| 320 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'': |
| 321 | ** Season 4's "Rusty to the Rescue" shares the same plot of "Escape" from Season 3, as both episodes involve a supporting character (Douglas and Rusty) encountering an engine from the other railway (Oliver and Stepney), and they rescue them from getting scrapped by allowing them to take up residence on Sodor. This is acknowledged in "Rusty to the Rescue", as Rusty asks Douglas if he can help him find another engine on the other railway where he found Oliver. |
| 322 | ** Season 6's "Faulty Whistles" uses a similar plot to "Mike's Whistle" from ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries''; in both stories, one character (Duncan, Mike) loses their whistle after showing off too much, and someone else (The Headmaster with his pipe organ, Mike's passengers) have to be the ones alerting people in place of the engine's whistle. "Mike's Whistle" would get a proper adaptation in Season 20. |
| 323 | ** Season 22's "Thomas and the Dragon" uses the exact same plot as "Thomas, ''Percy'' and the Dragon" back in Season 3, with Thomas taking Percy's place. Said episode also seems to take similar plots from Season 18's "Marion and the Dinosaurs", where the main character of both episodes (Marion and Thomas) mistake a prop for an actual creature, only to discover the truth in the climax. |
| 324 | * ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'': |
| 325 | ** The 1970s TV episode "Stay Awake or Else..." is similar to the theatrical short ''Sleepy-Time Tom'', in which Tom returns home sleepy from a party and is in danger of losing his job if he's caught sleeping by his master. |
| 326 | ** In the mid-to-late-1950s, some MGM cartoons were re-animated in Cinemascope with recycled audio. This includes the ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons ''Tops with Pops'' (a remake of ''Love that Pup''), ''Feedin' the Kiddie'' (a remake of ''The Little Orphan''), and ''The Egg and Jerry'' (a remake of ''Hatch Up Your Troubles''). |
| 327 | ** A slightly less blatant example is ''The Vanishing Duck'', which recycles the premise of ''The Invisible Mouse'' 11 years earlier. |
| 328 | ** When Creator/ChuckJones took the helm in the 1960s, he directed a short called ''The Year of the Mouse'', a remake of his 1949 ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon, ''WesternAnimation/MouseWreckers''. However, this version ends differently; [[TeamRocketWins Tom actually manages to win in the end]], as opposed to being scared out of the house. |
| 329 | * ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': The season two episode "Super Hero-ld" shares many similarities with the season one episode "Hide and Be Sneaky", in which the remaining male contestants form an alliance to overthrow the girls. The challenge in both episodes involve Chef Hatchet assaulting the contestants in some way. During the elimination ceremony, Duncan successfully decides on the elimination of one of the girls (Bridgette and Leshawna) since their biggest threat (Heather and Courtney) had immunity that night. One of the guys (Geoff and Harold) was hesitant on voting their partner (Bridgette and Leshawna) off, but said girl was voted off. It is also worth noting that Duncan is a member of both alliance, although he does not form the second one. The only thing that stands out from the similarities was in the second season, the girls (Beth, Leshawna, and Lindsay) almost succeeded in voting off Duncan, while in the first instance the girls could not agree on which guy was more viable for elimination at the time between Duncan (whom Bridgette suggested) and Owen (whom Heather suggested). |
| 330 | * Take a typical episode of ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'', find a visual gag involving Dick Dastardly's attempt to stop the other racers, and the odds are even that you'll find an identical gag in a Creator/ChuckJones ''[[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Road Runner]]'' cartoon. (Michael Maltese is credited as a writer on both series.) |
| 331 | * The ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'' episode "The Demon" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'' episode "Barbecue Story" where the characters have to retrieve an item they lost in the backyard of a vicious dog. |
| 332 | * ''WesternAnimation/WhatAboutMimi'' |
| 333 | ** The episode "Poster Cat" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'' episode "Cat Scan" where the main character is frustrated by their cat's misbehavior, only for said cat to run away during the episode. |
| 334 | ** The episode "Second Honeymoon" has a similar plot to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Mom and Dad Have A Great Big Fight!" where the kids see their parents having a fight, and worry they're going to get a divorce. |
| 335 | * ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'': Woody's very first short, ''WesternAnimation/KnockKnock1940'', ends in the ''exact'' same way as the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon ''WesternAnimation/DaffyDuckAndEgghead'' two years earlier. Considering Ben Hardaway's involvement in both shorts, this is hardly surprising. |
| 336 | * The ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo'' episode "Touchy Feelings" was about Yang having all of his emotions magically removed, much like Timmy in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' episode "Emotion Commotion". Creator Bob Boyle was a staff member on the latter series. |
| 337 | * ''WesternAnimation/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur2023'': The second episode, “[[Recap/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaurS1E2TheBoroughBully The Borough Bully]]” shares a number of core plot elements with the ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' episode “The Troll”, specifically the nature of the villain being a literal / figurative {{Troll}} who gains power and size from their opponents’ reactions to their insults [[spoiler:and losing that power when the heroes learn to take the insults in stride]]. |
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