Reference or Ripoff: "Knuck Knuck! Who's Here?!" (Sonic Boom)

We're looking at another episode of Sonic Boom.

"Knuck Knuck! Who's Here?!"

Knuckles. WHY DOES THAT NAME HAUNT ME? It's the only thing I can remember...and that gruesome redesign. 

Knuckles gets amnesia and when he recovers he realizes he's that last of his kind. Saddened, he hunts for a new family.

Conclusion: Both. 

There are some obvious references, but the second part of the episode is stealing ideas from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

• To an outsider, the title looks like a knock-knock joke, but to meme-fans, it's clearly alluding to the infamous "Knock Knock it's Knuckles."  
• The characters poke fun at the idea of amnesia (specifically on TV sitcoms), possibly with the 90s Sonic cartoons in mind as each had an episode where a character lost their memory/identity ("Blank-Headed Eagle," "No Brainer," and "Who Do You Think You Are?").
• Or Shadow the Hedgehog, who lost his memory in Sonic Heroes. 
• However, considering how common that situation is on shows, they could simply be making fun of TV in general (and themselves). 
• The ending where Knuckles (well, Amy, technically) concluded that Sonic/Tails/Sticks/Amy was his family was reminiscent of when Manic realized that his true home was with his siblings in Sonic Underground (Mobodoon).     

Group hug!

"Tails' New Home"

Didn't see that one coming. Not at all. 

After Tails is hurt, Sonic sets off to find him a new family so he'll stay out of harm's way.

Just simply the idea of finding foster parents (and ending up with "parents" that where actually bad guys). Combine this with "The Sidekick," another similar episode, and AoStH was completely ripped off.

Reference or Ripoff: "The Sidekick" (Sonic Boom)

I decided to point out parts in various Sonic games and media. In some cases, these are Easter Eggs/inside jokes for the fans, and in others, it's pretty much just a re-hash of something we've seen before. 

Today we're looking at Sonic Boom's "The Sidekick."

The Sidekick

After Tails gets hurt in a plane wreck, Sonic looks for a new sidekick so that Tails will stay safe.

Conclusion: (mostly) Ripoff.

• There are a few "references."
• Tail's plane crashing (happens often in the games--Sonic Adventure, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed). 
• Tail's being bandaged up (Sonic X) 
• Sonic fearing water (established in Sonic X and Sonic Underground, hinted in the games since he cannot swim). 
• However, the main plot was suspiciously similar to "Tailss New Home," an Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episode. 

"Tails' New Home"

Tail's New Home

When Tails gets hurt, Sonic searches for foster parents to raise Tails to keep him safe.

Yeah.

Of course, both take different paths and there's no harm in finding inspiration from a past Sonic source, but considering it was the first episode I was pretty annoyed.