Poor Man's ... (Television Edition)

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Seriously Random Lists | Comments (37)

“Mad Men” vs. “The Playboy Club”

“Friends” vs. “Cougar Town”

“Cougar Town” vs. “Happy Endings”

“Happy Endings” vs. “The New Girl”

“Glee” vs. “Smash”

“American Idol” vs. “The X-Factor”

“Rome” vs. “The Tudors”

Middle Seasons of “The Office” vs. 1st Season of “Parks and Recreation”

3rd Season of “Parks and Recreation” and 8th Season of “The Office”

“Psych” vs. “The Mentalist”

“The Mentalist” vs. “Unforgettable”

“Law and Order” vs. CBS’s Entire Procedural Slate

“The X-Files” vs. “Fringe”

“Heroes” vs. “Alphas”

“Sherlock Holmes” vs. “House”

“House” vs. “A Gifted Man”

“Alias” vs. “Covert Affairs”

“Sopranos” vs. “Sons of Anarchy”

“Doctor Who” vs. “Inspector Space Time”

“A Pile of Sh*t” vs. “Whitney”

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Oh my god Hugh Laurie is Gordon Freeman! HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THIS BEFORE!?!

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at October 4, 2011 4:04 PM

Hahahha. Whitney sucks big wangdoodle.

Posted by: klingonfree at October 4, 2011 4:04 PM

On the first one, if you're comparing Mad Men and PanAm why is there a picture from a scene in Playboy Club instead of PanAm????

Posted by: Obvious at October 4, 2011 4:05 PM

If so, good catch Obvious! I wasn't even aware they were two different shows!

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at October 4, 2011 4:07 PM

Psych is the comedic Sherlock,right down to the sidekick Watson/Gus and the archenemy Moriarty/Yin and Yang.

You forgot "Tudors" vs. "The Borgias", which I think is a much better comparison than to "Rome".

There's a poor man's "Glee"? Saints forfend.

Posted by: Three-nineteen at October 4, 2011 4:17 PM

Holy crap, yes! House totally needs a headcrabs episode.

Posted by: NateS1973 at October 4, 2011 4:18 PM

I've watched both shoes, Eddie is on Playboy Club and that is Eddie pictured next to Jon Hamm...Pan Am is the poor man's Mad Men, but Playboy Club is the poorest of the poor man's Pan Am. (it already got the ax today)

Posted by: Obvious at October 4, 2011 4:30 PM

"Lost" vs "Terra Nova"

Posted by: Figgy at October 4, 2011 4:34 PM

"Land of the Lost" vs "Terra Nova"

Fixed that for you.

Posted by: ed newman at October 4, 2011 4:39 PM

"Covert Affairs" is indeed the poor man's "Alias" because women are paid $0.90 for every dollar paid to men, and that's definitely a man wearing the black lingerie.

Posted by: sars at October 4, 2011 4:41 PM

“Rome” vs. “The Tudors”

Should be "Rome" vs. "Spartacus: Blood and Sand"

Posted by: Miss Heather at October 4, 2011 4:45 PM

cheers to ed newman

Posted by: idleprimate at October 4, 2011 4:52 PM

Yeah some of these are reaching a bit.

Posted by: Wendigo at October 4, 2011 4:58 PM

I hadn't heard about WHITNEY, so I went to IMdb to see what people were saying about it. One of the user reviewers who likes it (part of the minority) finished with this brilliant conclusion
"but if it does have good ratings this is going to be a huge hit for them."
Yogi Berra couldn't have said it better.

Posted by: Pat C. at October 4, 2011 5:20 PM

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Sons of Anarchy is nobody's poor man's anything - that is flat out one of the best shows I've ever watched.

Posted by: noodlestein at October 4, 2011 5:23 PM

I'm dating myself a bit here, but:

Upstairs, Downstairs vs. Downton Abbey.

That being said, I love Downton Abbey. I just think Upstairs, Downstairs is, at least so far, the much superior series.

Posted by: PDamian at October 4, 2011 5:31 PM

OK, so the "better" one is always on the left? Or are we supposed to take "vs." literally and assign our own winner from each pairing?

I'ma confused.

Also, is this in response to the news that Whitney got picked up for a full season? (ugh!)

Posted by: MM at October 4, 2011 5:43 PM

I know that Jennifer Garner is an attractive woman.

I know that that outfit is sexy lingerie.

I don't know how the hell that pic manages to be so unflattering to both.

Posted by: j. at October 4, 2011 5:55 PM

I found the sopranos to be tedious and never even got through the third season. it seemed too cartoonish. the one dimensional tracksuit wearing fahgeddaboudits made it difficult to get caught up in any drama. perhaps it was accurate, but still didn't fly with me.

sons of anarchy, on the other hand, I usually find completely engrossing (tho, i grew weary of the ireland story). i feel a lot more pathos and tension in the characters and the storylines.

and ron perlman; trump card.

Posted by: idleprimate at October 4, 2011 6:08 PM

Jennifer Garner is a lovely lady but she has a very boyish figure and that lingerie getup only highlights her total lack of curves.

When "Heroes" is considered the better show, you know you're in trouble.

Posted by: MelBivDevoe at October 4, 2011 6:21 PM

"When 'Heroes' is considered the better show, you know you're in trouble."

Let's give season one to Heroes. Alphas has a rather good chance of being better based on season 2 and beyond.

Posted by: Matt at October 4, 2011 7:04 PM

Considering no one has seen Smash, which doesn't come out until winter, is that a fair comparison?

Posted by: Joseph Finn at October 4, 2011 7:11 PM

Heroes is a poor man's 4400. Ripped it off pretty big actually.

Posted by: googergieger at October 4, 2011 8:07 PM

You forgot Cougarton Abbey - Cougar Town

Posted by: Ja Ja Ja at October 4, 2011 8:09 PM

"Alias" vs "La Femme Nikita"

"I, Claudius" vs "Rome"

Posted by: Fredo at October 4, 2011 8:14 PM

Cougar Town and Happy Endings are both f-ing awesome shows so STEP OFF!

Posted by: Ashley at October 4, 2011 9:29 PM

The Playboy Club has already been axed. That'll learn 'em.

I'd pit the original Upstairs/Downstairs against Downton Abbey. The new Upstairs/Downstairs didn't win me over.

What the hell is "Inspector SpaceTime?"
And is that Paul "Lazenby" McGann? Yum.

Posted by: BWeaves at October 4, 2011 9:56 PM

That would be
"La Femme Nikita" vs. "Alias".

(For one thing, it was there first. Something can never be a poor man's anything if it came before. Do it right, people)

Also, it was much better. And at least Peta Wilson didn't look like she was about to start bawling every time she had to emote. (A quality that didn't help Garner much as Elektra either)

Posted by: Arco at October 5, 2011 12:19 AM

Cougar Town > Friends

More alcohol
No laugh track
Funnier characters

Posted by: Arrogant Ambassador at October 5, 2011 12:33 AM

I prefer Fringe to X-Files. Maybe I'm one of a minority.

Posted by: Arbalest at October 5, 2011 2:15 AM

Rome vs. The Tudors? This is reaching a bit. But bless you for including Inspector Spacetime.

Posted by: Pat at October 5, 2011 2:46 AM

'What the hell is "Inspector SpaceTime?"'

It is the greatest show Abed's ever seen.

Posted by: smrtguy at October 5, 2011 2:56 AM

"'What the hell is "Inspector SpaceTime?"

I'm surprised you haven't heard of it, it's been around for a while (WARNING: Tv Tropes link)

Posted by: Ender at October 5, 2011 4:40 AM

Is that... Half life?

Posted by: Protoguy at October 5, 2011 4:46 AM

Is Whitney the new Joey?

Posted by: Max at October 5, 2011 1:05 PM

Is it just me, or does Jennifer Garner always look like a tranny?

Posted by: Rob at October 5, 2011 1:59 PM

I agree with Miss Heather. Rome vs. Spartacus:Blood and Sand then go with Tudors vs. The Borgias. How about The Sopranos vs ? or any mob show ever.

Posted by: Jennmcn at October 10, 2011 12:49 AM

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Poor Man's ... (Television Edition)

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