Don't Look Back - Lineup for Grand Theft Primetime

By Robert Rorke

The original idea is the exception on television. Hit shows that run for years can be recycled, retooled and updated by subsequent generations of producers, writers and actors - nobody argues with success. You only have to look at the many versions of "I Love Lucy" or "The Honeymooners" we've seen in the 55 years since those shows were on the air to know that, in Los Angeles, repetition is the sincerest form of flattery. This season's crop of shows have been "inspired" by everything from corny 1960s comedies, iconic sci-fi series, a recent Judd Apatow hit movie, boilerplate medical dramas and a series that started out as a Broadway play and was later made into a movie. Production values may be more sophisticated, the casts may have trendier hair and wardrobe, but the storylines are awfully familiar. You see? On TV, no good idea goes to waste. WHEN YOU'RE WATCHING ... YOU'RE REALLY WATCHING ... "Trauma" is "Emergency" without helicopters or a nurse who sang as well as Julie London (below). "Castle" is the new "Moonlighting" (right), the ABC comedy that made Bruce Willis a star. "Vampire Diaries" is "True Blood" (left) without the sex, fried food and chemistry between Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer. "Two and a Half Men" is the new "Odd Couple" (right) with a kid. "Hank" is "Green Acres" (right) without Arnold the Pig. "Eastwick" is "Charmed" (right) on Wisteria Lane. "Fringe" is the new "X-Files" (left). "Accidentally on Purpose" is "Knocked Up' for boomers.

Originally published by Robert Rorke.

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