10 TV Shows That Embarrassed Other Shows Released At The Same Time

Did you know that the US and UK version of the Dennis the Menace comic strip were both first published on the exact same day? Without either artist having knowledge of the other's existence?

Sometimes, this happens in TV-land too; two shows with similar premises will be in development and get released very close to one another. Nothing malicious, just a strange quirk of timing.

Don't get us wrong though, sometimes it very much is malicious. We'll get to that in good time.

When shows very similar to one another come out at similar times, it's natural to draw a comparison between the two. Sadly, this often leads to one show being seen as inferior to the other and fading away into obscurity.

These are the shows we'll be looking at today; the ones that just couldn't hack it against a familiar-looking foe.

Either they didn't last as long as their doppelgängers, or they were just received less favourably. Whatever the case, there are at least ten writers out there with their tails between their legs as someone else took all the glory for an idea they also had.

Sci-fi TV shows are a dime a dozen these days, so you really have to come up with something interesting if you want to stand out.

How about a show that takes place aboard a ship that's also a living entity? How many of those can there be? Well, as it turns out, there's at least two.

The first to premiere was Lexx, which was on screens from 1997 to 2002. A Canadian-German co-production with some financial input from the UK's Channel 5, Lexx takes place over several thousand years, tracking the lives of the crew aboard the titular organic spacecraft.

Unfortunately, this unique premise did little to appeal to viewers. Whilst the show has garnered a cult following in recent years, at the time it was slated for its bizarre humour, smutty content, and poor storylines.

Two years after Lexx first appeared, the Australian-American produced Farscape showed up and completely pulled its trousers down.

The show, which followed a similar concept, won multiple awards and helped guide sci-fi TV out of the Star Trek era. James Gunn even called it an inspiration for his Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Which says it all, really.