Finding an idea just like yours...

I had been planning to write a series for a while and had just gotten to the stage of writing a few scenes/developing some characters for it when a friend earnestly told me that he'd seen a show pretty much like the one I was working on.

So I did a bit of research and the show was eerily similar in many ways - both could easily use the same logline etc. Although the already established show was aimed at a younger audience among a few other things - however I must say it did disconcert me a little and put me off.

My question is, if you were in this position (and I'm sure some have been) would you continue with what you were doing? or look at seriously adapting your idea? (even though it worked fine how it was)

Also, would you watch the other show? My friends were encouraging me to watch it but I think that could backfire and put me off even more and perhaps even make me drop many of my scenes in the fear that they are indeed too alike.

If you're in those early stages, work on something else.

How well is the other show doing?
Good?
Poor?
Cult?
Can you change the setting to your story, place and time/era?

DANCES WITH WOLVES: Disillusioned soldier meets traditional enemies makes friends fights against countrymen
THE LAST SAMURAI: Disillusioned soldier meets traditional enemies makes friends fights against countrymen
AVATAR: Disillusioned soldier meets traditional enemies makes friends fights against countrymen
DISTRICT 9: Gung ho MNU worker meets traditional enemies makes friends fights against countrymen

In my opinion, you'll struggle to write anything that is totally original, so it really comes down to how similar the two concepts and, more importantly, the execution of the concepts are.

Do you mind me asking what your concept is?

The more high concept/ unique the idea, the more likely it is that you may have to do a little bit of tinkering with the concept.

For example, few eyebrows will be raised if you write another standard police procedural show which shares many similarities to other shows, as long as these similarities aren't too unique, ie, the reluctant, drunk detective searching for another serial killer (it will most likely just be called cliche). But as soon as you introduce something more 'unique' (the police are corrupt, focuses on wire tapping, etc.), eyebrows will be raised if that has been done before.

It's hard to say, man. It depends just how similar the ideas are and at this point, you haven't given us much to go on other than the two could essentially use the same logline. I mean, that's somewhat alarming in and of itself but again, I have no clue what the premise is for either so I can't say if that holds any truth or not.

If indeed you're convinced the two are too similar, I would either work on something else (as Dustin suggested) or see if you can't change some of the key elements (as Ray suggested). If on the other hand, you find that the two are similar but that your interpretation is different, you might considering going forward with it. Interpretation can sometimes stand out more than the actual concept does.

I'd also add that while it's a bummer to discover that your idea isn't as unique as you thought it was, you might find it's cool that you're thinking along the same lines as people who've had their produced work, especially if said work has been successful in one way or another or has otherwise caught people's attention.

When Friends and Malcolm In The Middle came out, the other networks rushed to make shows with similar themes. For the most part, these new shows failed, not because they were similar to the two shows but because they were badly written.

I would catch an episode or two of this show and decide, then, whether you want to write your series.

Phil

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748277/

This is the show, although as I say it seems to be aimed at a younger audience and it didn't do particularly well.

I had heard nothing of it over here in the UK, maybe those of you in the US might be more familiar? I'm not even sure how on earth my friend discovered it! Perhaps by pure accident...

Hey Goose,

TV is one of the toughest to get a production company to commit too.

Most of the networks do their own development and create their own TV Series and employ their own writers, chances of anything getting picked up is pretty slim.

Many people have written entire first seasons, only to put them in a draw somewhere and forget about it. I don't want to burst your bubble but that is the reality.

I wrote several episodes of a 30 min sitcom and it was really done for the experience of writing for TV.

Don't get me wrong, it's great to do, you just have to be realistic about the prospects of getting it produced.

If you are passionate and want to write this series, don't worry who has done what before you. Do it for yourself and enjoy the process.

As far as any story goes...

Make your pizza square.

And put the toppings on the bottom.

It will taste the same but is more entertaining to eat, eh?

Shawn.....><

Quoted from the goose

Never heard of it. :-/

Quoted from the goose

I have actually heard of that, but only because I read a recent article in the Guardian about Bo Burnham (the co-creator and star of the show). I haven't seen the show, though. Only thing I would say is that I have seen some of Bo Burnham's stand up before, and I wouldn't count on this being aimed at a younger target audience.

There's also this story about some girl, some "staturely challenged" men, and a mean old b!tch with an apple that was made into more than one version.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White#Film_and_television

Might be some principles to learn there.

Quoted from RayW

Haha I see what you're getting at, adds some perspective to things however I'm not entirely convinced that adapting a classic, ancient story is quite the same as what I was driving at.

And Toby, I must admit I'm not familiar with Bo Burnham - however after looking at some online reviews it seemed to be saying that this show was for a younger audience:

Quoted from Alex_212

Thanks, Alex, my main ideal for this would be to write it and work on it before looking at shooting some kind of rough pre-pilot for it that could then be shown and maybe pitched to some companies. As I'd want to be in it myself I wouldn't like to try to approach producers direct with it.

I did the same thing with my Loserville series and then found a show that was slightly similar, even though I wrote mine 2 years prior to when it came out.

As Alex stated TV is very hard to get into, I did a lot research, purchased a few tv writing books and blah blah blah all while writing my series. My pilot reached the final of a contest, but still I wasn't happy with it(ask Coop) :D
I eventually gave up and went back to screenwriting.

A lot of TV companies want you to write an episode of a CURRENT tv show, including your own script.

Here is a list of TV pilots and episodes

https://sites.google.com/site/tvwriting/us-comedy/pilot-scripts

Good luck

Mark

Personally, I'd actually not watch it until you're done with writing. Why risk influence by it, even accidentally?

BTW - I've already run across that problem myself with two features, already... Both times, I conceived and wrote the idea first. Then discovered after the fact that someone had done something simliar. Fortunately, in neither case were the details the same - because I followed my own vision from the start. And I'm sure that when/if they're produced, the result would look extremely different. After all, so much goes into a TV show or film. The writing, the director, the cinematographer, the actors. You could have identical ideas, with very different results.

So - if you have a passion for the concept - follow it!

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