Series of Unmistakable Similarities

Given the number of new TV series produced each year, it’s generally understood that concepts have a way of getting recycled; still, occasionally two programs appear so similar one wonders if those ideas are being drawn from a single well.

Specifically, in what might be called a case of deja view, aspects of “Vengeance Unlimited,” an ABC series that will premiere in the fall, bear a striking resemblance to “Stingray,” a show veteran producer Stephen J. Cannell created for NBC more than a decade ago.

Both programs feature a mysterious, dark-haired vigilante loner with a shadowy past. In each show, the protagonist performs favors for people with the understanding that the beneficiary must some day repay him by doing a favor to help someone else--no questions asked, and at a moment’s notice.

Moreover, one of the new series’ creators is John McNamara, who worked for Cannell when he and David Greenwalt co-created the critically acclaimed but short-lived 1996 Fox series “Profit.”

Contacted about the parallels between the two programs, Cannell said he is “not a litigious guy,” but immediately thought of “Stingray” while reading a description of the new show.

“Nobody’s called me,” Cannell said. “I called my attorney when I heard about it and just said, ‘Would you find out what this is?’ ”

In an interview, McNamara and “Vengeance” co-creator David L. Simkins--who both wrote for “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”--cited “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Godfather” among sources of inspiration in crafting the series, but not “Stingray,” a program with which both said they were unfamiliar.

Simkins said he had never seen the show, and McNamara only remembers the poster for “Stingray” as one of many placards for past Cannell series that lined the walls near his production office when McNamara was working on “Profit.”

“I know the title of the show,” McNamara said. “I had no idea what it was about.”

McNamara called any similarities between the two programs an example of “this weird process of minds thinking alike. I should be so lucky to be as smart as Stephen.”

Inevitably, many television series invite comparison to programs and movies that preceded them. This season alone, a half-dozen comedies have been ordered that essentially deal with men raising children on their own, a la “Full House” or “Three Men and a Baby.”

There are also two series, ABC’s “The Hughleys” and Fox’s “Living in Captivity,” about black families moving into white neighborhoods, which at least share a conceptual similarity with the long-running sitcom “The Jeffersons.”

According to Simkins and McNamara, the idea for their series began with a discussion about remaking “The Count of Monte Cristo” as a movie, which led to exploring inequities and miscarriages of the justice system.

The notion of reciprocal favors, they said, essentially represents a creative device: having the hero come to people for help adds suspense by putting regular folks in dangerous situations, at the same time providing the means to introduce guest stars.

McNamara also pointed to various stories that have employed a variation on the notion of paying such debts, among them “The Godfather,” in which Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone tells an undertaker that he will do a favor for him but may ask for one in return someday.

Cannell admitted to a lingering fondness for “Stingray,” which premiered in 1986 and bounced around NBC’s schedule for more than a year before the network finally pulled the plug. The show, which starred Nick Mancuso as the nameless hero (the title was derived from his car), has resurfaced periodically since its original network run, with repeats playing only a few years ago on CBS’ late-night lineup.

“Vengeance” stars Michael Madsen, whose film credits include “Thelma & Louise” and “Free Willy,” as the solemn Mr. Chapel. The pilot episode also introduces a law clerk who will assist him in his efforts, and hazily eludes to the fact that Chapel lost his own family in a miscarriage of justice, explaining why he wants to help others.

“Sometimes when you can’t solve your own [problems], you try to solve other people’s,” Simkins said.

As for the coincidence of different producers having virtually the same idea separated by a dozen years, Simkins jokingly asked what the odds are that two asteroid-nearing-Earth disaster movies, “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon,” would be released within eight weeks of each other.

The asteroid heading toward “Vengeance,” meanwhile, may be its time period. The series has been scheduled Thursdays opposite NBC’s “Friends.”