Ten years prior to Mad Men's pilot, The Simpsons' Principal Skinner did the exact same thing. At a party celebrating his 20th anniversary teaching, a man claiming to be the real Seymour Skinner shows up and accuses the principal of being an impostor. As it turns out, Skinner was once a young gutter rat named Armin Tamzarian (still a better name than Dick Whitman). Armin found himself fighting in the Vietnam War under a commanding officer named ... Seymour Skinner. After the real Sergeant Skinner was presumed dead, Armin took over his identity, and you know the rest. Anyway, that's how the least sexy character on The Simpsons inspired the most sexy character of the 2000s.

20th TelevisionGet it, Seymour.

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.

South Park's "Sarcastaball" episode aired in 2012, and follows almost exactly the same plotline. Randy accidentally invents a new sport called Sarcastaball while mocking the school's concerns about the inherent violence of football. Butters, the resident wimpy kid, turns out to be really good at this compassionate sport, and believes that's because he drinks his own semen. To help all the other kids improve, Butters begins selling them his fluids.

But South Park didn't merely rip off the plot of Moral Orel; they even stole specific gags, like a post-victory celebration in which the team's coach is doused in the bodily fluids of children ...

Williams Street

Viacom Media NetworksThe drink of winners wieners.

That's also exactly what happens in 1942's Mrs. Miniver, wherein Lady Beldon wins her local flower contest every year, even though lowly servant Ballard obviously has the best rose (obviously). When Beldon is informed of this, she's stung by the accusation, protests, then changes her mind and awards the prize to Ballard.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-MayerAlso surprisingly followed by a scene wherein Samuel L. Jackson gets his junk blown off.

When this was pointed out to Downton creator Julian Fellowes, he at first protested, then admitted that he had seen Mrs. Miniver (obviously), and gave his salary to the other film's director. Oh wait, no, sorry, we got too used to typing those events in that order. Fellowes dismissed the whole affair and proclaimed, "Who can say what's lodged in one's brain?"

We can. It's Mrs. Miniver.

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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