At this point we should all be able to understand that any and every story ever conceived has roots in some other story that the author or writer read, watched, or somehow experienced in the past. The idea of an original story being created without the influence of another story before it is kind of naive, not to mention next to impossible once you’ve reached a certain age. Something will have sparked the creative juices in your mind and influenced them in way that you will tend to use upon writing your own story. It’s not a bad thing so long as you take the story and make it your own without having to blatantly copy someone else’s work. That’s called plagiarism and it’s a big no-no.
Here are some TV shows and the inspirations that gave birth to them.
5. Game of Thrones
George R.R. Martin certainly has a love for the medieval type of setting that is interspersed with the largely unknown factor that is magic. His brutal rendering of the dynamics between his characters though has some basis in other stories that are similar and could have quite possibly afforded him his writing style. Much of his epic tale, A Song of Fire and Ice, was inspired by five different books, The Lord of the Rings, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Iron King, Avengers, and The Dragonbone Chair.
4. American Horror Story
Despite the horrific spin that they put on each tale, AHS actually takes after a great number of real life even that have taken place in the US. The story of the Black Dahlia in Murder House was an example, as was the story of Madame LaLaurie in Coven. Even the circus actors in Freak Show were modeled after individuals that actually existed at one point and time.
3. The Walking Dead
There are rumors that the Walking Dead was inspired by the infamous holocaust that took place during WWII, but if that’s true then the creator hasn’t said as much. Instead he credits the original Day of the Dead as his inspiration for the comic that has spawned a well-loved show that is about to enter it’s 8th season.
2. Westworld
This one is pretty simple since it was in fact inspired by the original Westworld movie starring Yule Brenner. The premise and plot were much the same but the technology and the acting have been improved upon since the original by quite a bit. The idea of the show is a lot weirder than the actual inspiration for it.
Inspired by the original movie
1. Stranger Things
It’s not so strange that this show would be inspired by the Montauk Project, as the project is an alleged secret that the US government has been keeping concerning the use of time travel and psychological warfare techniques that have yet to bear any fruit. The entire farce is one that could have given birth to a number of shows and movies but Stranger Things is by far one of the more entertaining.
You don’t always need the strangest origins to make the strangest shows come to life.
Follow Us
