Learn English – “much of the same” vs “much the same”

difference

What are the similarities and differences? I tried http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2474929&langid=6 but am contending against the differing opinions.

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2474929&p=12457352#post12457352 claims:

It sounds wrong without the 'of' unfortunately.

Yet http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2474929&p=12457975#post12457975:

From my BE perspective, two distinct meanings, exactly as KellyB says:
Much of the same – most of the things referred to are identical.
Much the same = similar.

An example from p 23, Thinking like a Lawyer, Frederick Schauer:

These seventy-one cases were almost all ones in which there was no clear legal answer, and taking these seventy-one as representative of how law works or how rules work would be a major blunder. Very much the same dynamic applies to the cases selected for law school casebooks.

Best Answer

Just passing, so this is more of an opinion than a fully researched answer. But, with that caveat, while they clearly are used almost interchangeably, there are cases where one is much better fit that the other.

To me, 'much of the same' often implies a specific condition (I usually feel that it should be followed by something - 'much of the same xxxx') whereas 'much the same' tends to be looser or more generalised. 

Q: How do you feel?
A: Much the same

Q: What programs are the ABC putting out this season?
A: Much of the same

Rightly or wrongly (largely out of tradition I suppose) I often turn to the BBC for things like this. A quick search finds:

...although they use much of the same data
...does contain much of the same material
The second half followed much of the same pattern

Against:

The Earth's atmosphere has remained much the same for the past 200 million years. 
...they all look pretty much the same
...and the picture was much the same in Wales
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