The entertainment industry has often used blatant rip-offs to make money. Everybody knows this. One successful movie, TV show, indie singer, etc, will lead to a slew of copycats that are often lesser versions of the original.
However, sometimes that look can be deceiving. Though originally appearing to be something of an X-Files rip-off, the sci-fi drama Fringe soon evolved into something just as good, and in many ways better, than the prior show that it turned out it had little in common with beyond some superficial similarities.
Gabbing Geek 