Can I Please Have Some More Cheese?

We're all watching cable or satellite TV now, so I'm not sure if this happens today-
In my young TV watching days if a network came out with a show that garnered good ratings, the other networks would soon come out with their own imitations.
77 Sunset Strip/Surfside 6/Hawaiian Eye.
Bewitched/I Dream of Jeannie.
The Munsters/The Addams Family.

As a kid, "Lassie" was one of my favorite shows. And I've often wondered-
Did the writers of "Fury", a show with a smart, amazing horse, and "Flipper", a show with a smart, amazing porpoise, watch "Lassie" and simply adjust their scripts to allow their amazing animals to imitate what the amazing Collie did?

Imitation is the most genuine form of flattery, right?