Recycling - Good for the Environment, but TV?

Warning : this may approach venting proportions at times.

We see it all the time in movie theaters nowadays - remakes of old movie franchises, Broadway shows, and comics; all stories we've seen before which producers are determined to sell to us one more time. After all, why make something new when it's already a hit? It's even happening in video games - between last year and this year, it's been the era of sequels. Just look at Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Civ 4 and 5, Fallout 3 : New Vegas, Fable 3, Assassin's Creed 2, and Final Fantasy XIII.

Though some TV shows we always expect to see, like procedurals and teen dramas, we usually hold the hope that when a show promising innovation and quirkiness comes along, it will actually deliver. Look at Joss Whedon - that man does not know the meaning of cliche except when it comes to lamp-shading himself or others. And thanks to our relatively short attention span to TV shows, we have only maybe a decades worth of shows at a time to stand up to.

This whole issue has been brought to my attention rather painfully by my recent watching of a certain show for the first time. About a nerdy guy. Now, this guy, he fixes computers. Until one day, oops, something happens that isn't supposed to, and he has a computer in him that gives him unique abilities such that a secret spy team (as least in part comprised by the NSA) is built for him. Oh, and the computer can't be removed. Bye bye normal loser life, hello lying to everyone. Think you know the show?

It's not Chuck. Well it is. Chuck was premiered in 2007. You know what else it describes? Jake 2.0 (which was shown for one season is 2003).

Yeah. Not so original sounding the second time around. This summer I decided to watch Chuck since I'd heard so much about - and I found it fun, unexpected, and a really cool idea. However, when I posted about Covert Affairs, a friend of mine pointed out that Christopher Gorham used to be the star of a sci fi show I would like - Jake 2.0. And while watching it I thought...wow, it's Chuck. But older. And still really good.

Note: Jake Foley was played by Christopher Gorham. Which means he's been a tech guy for both the NSA and CIA. And he's damn good at it - even though his two characters are extremely different.

I could be ok with similar premises. (Think X-Men versus Heroes) But the most recent episode I watched, the third one, focuses on the manly action guy of the team, Kyle, and his past relationship with another spy. And you know what it made me think of? The Chuck episode about Casey and Karina.

So my question is, does anyone else know any shows like this? Should this not bug me this much or does this stop other people from watching new shows for the fear that they will not be anything new? And does anyone else agree that this is proof that the best super spies are incredibly adorable computer nerds?