Discuss: From Big Screens to Boob Tubes
Filed under: Fandom, Home Entertainment, Remakes and Sequels
This week marks the premiere of the first of three film-to-television adaptations that will hit our TV's this year. ABC Family will kick things off on Tuesday with their spin of 10 Things I Hate About You, and in the fall, two will follow -- NBC's Parenthood and ABC's Eastwick (based, of course, on The Witches of Eastwick). In honor of this trio of shows, the LA Times has outlined not only the details of the new programs, but also the hits and misses that already litter television history.
The piece notes a few from recent memory, like The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Buffy, and The Dead Zone, but also notes some doozies that you might not remember. Did you ever catch Ferris Bueller co-starring Jennifer Aniston? Dangerous Minds? Baby Talk (an abysmal remake of Look Who's Talking)? One glaring omission -- especially in the wake of Nia Vardalos' return to film -- the shockingly bad My Big Fat Greek Life.
It's usually easy to forget that some films head for weekly programming because they're either too terrible to remember, or so good (Buffy) that they blow the movie out of the water. But with three new ones in one season, methinks we have a new trend on our hands. (One, I hope, won't inspire more Producers-esque remake vortexes.) As we come out of a holiday weekend sluggish and hopefully sated on barbecues and fireworks:
Will you partake in television's latest odes to Hollywood? And what about the ones that have come and gone? Which did you love, and which did you loathe? Or, do you just ignore Hollywood when it heads for the small screen?
Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams Reunite for 'Mission Impossible 4'
'Big Top Pee-Wee': The Original Benicio Del Toro Wolfman
Spin-ematical: New on DVD and Blu-ray for 2/9
Watch This: Brilliant Oscar-Nominated Short 'Logorama'
Chris Nolan to Lead 'Superman' Reboot!?
_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-06-2009 @ 5:25PM
Mike said...
I remember the Ferris Bueller TV show. Also the original, half-hour Parenthood with DiCaprio in the Joaquin Phoenix role. And David Arquette stepping in for Keanu. Others I can recall: A League of Their Own, Clueless, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Uncle Buck.
But my favorite film to TV show conversion is gearing up for its fourth season on NBC; the under-appreciated, yet stellar Friday Night Lights.
Oh, and though I was never a fan, there's that little show called M*A*S*H.
The move can work. You just need the talent to pull it off, which most of these shows were surely lacking in one department or another.
Reply
7-06-2009 @ 5:28PM
Mike said...
Before someone corrects me, allow me to add the disclaimer that I submitted my post before viewing the slideshow, which does include M*A*S*H.
7-06-2009 @ 9:36PM
Bubbameister33 said...
Stargate.
Reply
7-06-2009 @ 9:46PM
Midnight13 said...
The only one I'm some what curious about is "Parenthood" only cause Peter Krause will be in the cast and he's due for something good again. Not that everything post "Six Feet Under" has been bad just hasn't really been memorable. And starring in a series spinned off from a movie is very iffy. Its more miss then it is hit.
Reply
7-07-2009 @ 10:23AM
Veronica Sawyer said...
Technically, The Witches of Eastwick was a book first. So really it's book to film to tv. Wonder how much the series will resemble the book.
Reply