Tag Archives: rip-off

Seinfeld – Andy Griffith Similarities

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Plot similarities:

  • A British man gets into a car accident and is sentenced to be Andy Griffith’s butler
    • Jerry and George write a TV pilot script premised on a man without car insurance sentenced by a judge to be Jerry’s butler 
  • Andy gets bothered by his girlfriend’s overly familiar long-term male visitor
    • Jerry gets bothered by his girlfriend’s overly familiar male roommate
  • Andy has trouble with a girlfriend because she shoots better than he does
    • George dumps his girlfriend because she beat him at chess
  • Andy mistakenly says something negative about Barney’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend Thelma Lou which later comes back to haunt him when Barney and Thelma Lou make up again
    • Jerry and Elaine mistakenly say something negative about Kramer’s ex-girlfriend which comes back to haunt them after Kramer makes up with her
  • Howard Sprague joins the Big Brother program
    • George gets conscripted into the Big Brother program
  • Andy’s get-away vacation to the lake is ruined by Warren’s premonitions of disaster
    • George’s vacation plans are ruined by a psychic’s premonition of disaster
  • Andy helps Barney who’s tongue-tied around his girlfriend
    • Newman helps Kramer who’s tongue-tied around the woman he likes
  • Barney attracts the romantic interest of a female convict
    • George dates a female convict
  • Howard Sprague becomes a swinging single guy
    • George declares “The Summer of George!”
  • Andy, Opie and Aunt Bee go to Hollywood for three episodes
    • Jerry, George and Kramer go to Hollywood for two episodes
  • Howard Sprague abruptly quits Mayberry and lives a Bohemian life on a tropical island
    • Kramer abruptly quits New York and lives a Bohemian life in sunny California
  • A visiting movie crew disrupts the normal life in Mayberry
    • A Woody Allen movie being shot down the street from Jerry’s apartment disrupts everyone’s life
  • Opie’s inability to dance becomes a major issue
    • Elaine finds out she dances horribly

Character Similarities:

Jerry and Andy:  Single guy surrounded by girlfriends; cool, rational, voice-of-reason protagonist with dysfunctional friends:

George and Barney/Warren:  nervous, manic, uncool, over-excited, prone to crazy schemes (both Costanza and Fife also work in real estate for a while)

Kramer and Gomer/Goober:  tall, thin, lanky, goofy, “not playing with a full deck”

UPDATE:andy-griffith-make-up-sex

Morning Joe = Howard Stern Show?

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Summary/overview:  One cool guy surrounded by an uptight upper-middle-class co-host and a technical staff that sometimes messes up, with guests and part-time panelists that are either geeks and freaks (male news guys) or babes and milfs.(female news dolls). Female co-host has a lovely engaging laugh but does not cheaply bestow it on the “boys’ humor” that often threatens to undo the whole show. Of course, her disapproval makes their humor all the more funny, supposedly.

Joe =  Howard.

Mika = Robin.

TJ = Gary Dell’Abate.

Steve Rattner = Beetlejuice

So far, pretty obvious.

But even Joe Scarborough’s conservatism in a sea of liberal MSNBC-people is similar to Howard Stern’s philosophical position on his old radio show, for Howard was the nagging family guy in a sea of single sex freaks, and Howard was always telling his freaky guests to be more responsible and to grow up and be careful. Yes, Howard was a conservative–a social conservative! (Relative to his melieu.)

Another similarity between the two shows is the imperious, dictatorial atmosphere on the set during airtime whereby everybody is apparently in fear of getting fired by the host or co-host for any kind of reason.

There are numerous other similarities in style and format: the rock music interludes, of course: the idea of a public forum where even conservative guests (celebrities in Stern’s case) will be deliberately put outside their comfort zone; the selective releases of too much personal information about the host, co-host or panelists’ private lives; repeating the 6:00 AM broadcast at 8:00 AM, etc.

Mike Barnacle = Fred

John Heileman = Arte Lange

Willie Geist = Jackie the Jokeman Martling

Louis Burgdorf = Stuttering John

Donnie Deutsch = Ralph

Brian Shachtman, Bill Karins, and Brian Sullivan = latest intern to be abused

But, I gotta say, the romantic photographs of Joe and Mika–soaking in the sunset, napping in the park together, the one with the foot-massage, etc.–that’s original. Howard and Robin never did that when they had a TV show. Howard’s wives would have prevented it.