^That's not anything different either.
Theoretically speaking, people (researchers? librarians? literaturists?) believe that there are only 7 basic types of plots and all stories are just reworkings of these plots. Also, every storyline will fulfill 7 different requirements. So..... in the course of human history starting with the caveman and their pictures on walls, there's bound to be a point where those ideas just start being repeated over and over again...
Source:
Google Answers... because I just can't remember what I learned 6 summers ago... ._.
Though, I think it's very hard to define what is innovative and what is not. Yeah, American Idol 1, 2, 3, 4,.... are just different seasons of the same show, but there are still different components within the show.
And who are you to say what is easy to do and what is not to do? Or to judge what is truly "innovative" and what is... not? There really is no set criteria.