4

The Hateful Eight Bears A Striking Resemblance To An Episode Of An Old Western TV Show

The Rebel was a low-budget cowpoke TV serial in the early 1960s which ran for only two short seasons. However, it clearly had a fan in Quentin Tarantino. Let us know if this sounds familiar: In an episode called "Fair Game," former Confederate soldier Johnny Yuma's horse dies in the wilderness, leaving him stranded. Luckily, he stumbles upon a stagecoach. Unluckily, inside that coach is a bounty hunter transporting an outlaw femme fatale. As darkness falls, the group hunkers down in a cabin until morning, all wary of each other. Then the bounty hunter is poisoned and the ex-Confederate has to solve the whodunit before he gets got as well.

Shout! Factory

The Weinstein CompanySurprisingly, both also feature scenes wherein Samuel L. Jackson gets his junk blown off.

Of course, before we start accusing Tarantino of crossing over from pastiche to plagiarism, there are some key differences between The Hateful Eight and The Rebel. Neither the cause for the sleepover nor the identity of the killer match. Also, there's no way of figuring out if Tarantino saw the show and was making a deliberate reference. If only the episode also had a creepy, lingering shot of the femme fatale's bare feet, we could've put this mystery to bed.

3

South Park Stole A Plot About Drinking Your Own Bodily Fluids To Win At Sports

The Emmy-winning cult stop-motion show Moral Orel was a Davey And Goliath parody about Orel, a religious kid who often takes the word of the Bible a bit too literally. In a 2005 episode, he learns that it's a sin to waste anything, including his urine. So Orel starts drinking his own pee, believing that God is a fan of water sports. Incidentally, he gets better at running track around the same time. When his coach asks him what the secret is, all the other kids are put on his special "juice" regimen. That's how Orel winds up selling his urine to his teammates like it's Drug Test Friday.

Williams Street

2

Downton Abbey Stole A Subplot From A Classic Movie

In Episode 5 of the first season of Downton Abbey, a peculiar subplot focuses on Dowager Countess Violet Crawley's flower competition. Somehow, Lady Violet wins the competition, despite the fact that lowly servant Bill Molesley has obviously crafted the best rose (obviously). Afterward, Violet's granddaughter tells her that she only wins because no one dares vote against her. Stung by the insinuation that she only wins through her status, Violet protests, but eventually realizes Bill has the better flower and gives the commoner her prize, thus ending classism forever.

ITV Studios

ITV Studios"Prize money? Don't be absurd."

1

The Simpsons And Family Guy Had Very Similar Storylines About Dog Sex

In The Simpsons episode "Two Dozen And One Greyhounds," family dog Santa's Little Helper is tearing up the house out of horny frustration. Eventually he runs away from home and to the dog racetrack. He sprints onto the track in the middle of a race in order to "get to know" a female greyhound, She's The Fastest, who has no chance of winning the race with another dog now on top of her. But because this is a sort of a family show, the two animals can't just bang it out and go their separate ways -- they fall in love and become proud parents of many puppies.

20th TelevisionFor them, it's just called regular style.

Six years later, in the Family Guy episode "Screwed The Pooch," Brian meets Seabreeze, the Pewterschmidts' prized greyhound. When they go to attend her race at the dog track, Brian can't resist, sprints onto the track in the middle of a race right as she's about to win, and gives her a very loving Simpsons reference.

20th Television"No, see, they're facing the other direction. Totally different."

Many puppies are born, and the rest of the episode has Brian fighting a huge custody case over his parental rights like a canine Kramer Vs. Kramer.

Now, it's easy to assume that comedy writers simply think about dogs boning a lot more than others. To which we say: A) Yes, but B) Only six states in the country even still have dog racing, and none of them are in New England. The plot device is not a natural fit for the famously Rhode-Island-based Family Guy. Then again, in the Family Guy episode, the puppies turn out to actually be Ted Turner's. So, y'know ... that's different.

20th TelevisionNot better. Just ... different.

Alex Perry wrote a novel about a time-traveling stalker and a heartwarming kid's book about a boy and his genetically modified pig / organ donor. She wants an agent to help her sell those books, and for you to follow her on Twitter. This isn't the first time Mike Bedard has noticed when plotlines get stolen. You can stay up to date with his other observations by following him on Twitter. Dan Hopper is an editor for Cracked, previously for CollegeHumor and BestWeekEver.tv. He fires off consistent A- tweets at @DanHopp.

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For more, check out 17 Famous Movies That Ripped Off From Lesser-Known Films and 20 Movies That Stole Their Plots From Other Films.

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