Here's three more:
Tammy
Beyond Westworld
Bagdad Cafe
Tammy
Beyond Westworld
Bagdad Cafe
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Good Movies That Became Bad TV Shows
- Thread starter dmargalotti
- Start date
K
KML0224
Guest
"Baghdad Cafe" was on CBS. Wasn't it with Whoopi Goldberg and Jean Stapleton?
jackdfw said:
Actually this has nothing to do with good movies that became a bad TV series, but since you brought up M*A*S*H, there was a short-lived Saturday morning program on ABC called Uncle Croc's Block in which one of the cartoon segments has a lampooned version of it called M*U*S*H (Mangy Unsung Shabby Heroes).
Kevin Lagasse said:
Yes!
The other Animal House clone was Brothers and Sisters with Bing Crosby's daughter.
"Alice" was a terrible but sucessful adaptation of Scorcese's "Alice doesn't live here anymore"
Peyton Place was adapted from a movie, as was Alien Nation.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was much better as a TV show.
My big fat greek life died a very quick death.
Courtship of Eddie's Father was a great show (American Life is re-running it, it holds up well even with the 1970 fashions)
The Odd Couple, a classic film and TV show
Weird Science, The Paper Chase, Fame, Ghost & Mrs. Muir, etc
"Alice" was a terrible but sucessful adaptation of Scorcese's "Alice doesn't live here anymore"
Peyton Place was adapted from a movie, as was Alien Nation.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was much better as a TV show.
My big fat greek life died a very quick death.
Courtship of Eddie's Father was a great show (American Life is re-running it, it holds up well even with the 1970 fashions)
The Odd Couple, a classic film and TV show
Weird Science, The Paper Chase, Fame, Ghost & Mrs. Muir, etc
Alice is interesting is that while the TV show was a sitcom, the movie was a drama and while there were a few things between the two that were the same ( Vic Tayback, Mel's Diner, the names of the characters, etc..) there was a lot more that the movie didn't have in common with the TV show, enough so that many wouldn't have guessed the TV show came from the movie.
Alice is one show that hasn't aged well despite being on TV in its original run ( nearly 10 years ) and I think it is one of the very TV shows that did NOT have a reunion, odd considering that most of the cast except for Tayback is still with us.
I heard part of that is due to Linda Lavin, the star of the series who wanted her "Alice" days be left behind her.
Alice is one show that hasn't aged well despite being on TV in its original run ( nearly 10 years ) and I think it is one of the very TV shows that did NOT have a reunion, odd considering that most of the cast except for Tayback is still with us.
I heard part of that is due to Linda Lavin, the star of the series who wanted her "Alice" days be left behind her.
...just thought of another one: BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE. As I recall, a 1973 ABC sitcom out of the 1969 theatrical hit movie. Jodie Foster had a recurring role in this one, too, as the daughter of one of the couples...
Ultimajock said:
Also,this was the first TV series for Robert Urich and the first of several that didn't last long for him with the exception of Vega$ and Spenser For Hire.
mleach said:
In the TV pilot that aired in August 1976,the interior of the diner looked a lot like the diner they showed in the movie. Also the young boy who played Tommy in the movie version also appeared in the pilot. When the show came back to stay in October 1976,the show became a more funnier show than we see in the pilot. Phillip McKeon was a much more funnier character as Tommy than the young boy who played him both in the movie and the pilot. Also in 1980,after Flo left to start her own business and her own show,"Flo",Diane Ladd came back into the role of Belle,the same role she played in the movie version. I liked her as well but I missed Flo because she was very funny and a fun character. However,I have read that Linda Lavin and Diane Ladd did not get along,and basically speaking that Diane Ladd left the show on account of that and was replaced by Celia Weston as Jolene.
Adam's Rib. The Tracy-Hepburn classic became a
series for ABC in 1973, with Ken Howard and Blythe
Danner as the battling married lawyers. The show
was gone by January 1974.
And who said M*A*S*H was "short-lived"? I don't
exactly call 11 years "short-lived."
But since someone mentioned the animated "M.U.S.H.,"
I submit for your approval (or not) The Oddball Couple,
a 1975 Saturday-morning show on ABC about a neat-
freak cat named Spiffy and his roommate, a sloppy dog
named Fleabag. Or how about the live-action The New
Odd Couple (ABC, 1982) that featured African-Americans
Ron Glass as Felix and Demond Wilson as Oscar? Actually,
I never thought it was a bad show, but it had a tendency
to redo episodes of the Randall-Klugman version, still going
strong in reruns at the time, and Glass and Wilson just weren't
as good, in the public's opinion (plus Dukes Of Hazzard was
on CBS at the same time on Friday nights).
Has anyone mentioned Barefoot In The Park (ABC, 1970)?
It, too, used African-American actors: Scoey Mitchlll (that's
how he spells it) and Tracy Reed as the newlywed couple.
Mitchlll proved to be a problem from day one; he wanted the
title changed to The Scoey Mitchlll Show. The show was
gone by January 1971 and I haven't heard much about
Mitchlll since.
Or how about The Interns, a movie from 1962 that CBS turned
into a series in 1970? Broderick Crawford played the older,
mentor doctor and it's a chance to see Mike Farrell pre-M*A*S*H.
But this was one of the first of the "relevant" shows, that did
everything but say THIS...IS...THE...MORAL...OF...THE...STORY
(see also Storefront Lawyers, The Young Lawyers, The Young
Rebels, and Hal Holbrook's The Senator). It lasted one year,
by which time All In The Family was showing how relevance
should be done.
series for ABC in 1973, with Ken Howard and Blythe
Danner as the battling married lawyers. The show
was gone by January 1974.
And who said M*A*S*H was "short-lived"? I don't
exactly call 11 years "short-lived."
But since someone mentioned the animated "M.U.S.H.,"
I submit for your approval (or not) The Oddball Couple,
a 1975 Saturday-morning show on ABC about a neat-
freak cat named Spiffy and his roommate, a sloppy dog
named Fleabag. Or how about the live-action The New
Odd Couple (ABC, 1982) that featured African-Americans
Ron Glass as Felix and Demond Wilson as Oscar? Actually,
I never thought it was a bad show, but it had a tendency
to redo episodes of the Randall-Klugman version, still going
strong in reruns at the time, and Glass and Wilson just weren't
as good, in the public's opinion (plus Dukes Of Hazzard was
on CBS at the same time on Friday nights).
Has anyone mentioned Barefoot In The Park (ABC, 1970)?
It, too, used African-American actors: Scoey Mitchlll (that's
how he spells it) and Tracy Reed as the newlywed couple.
Mitchlll proved to be a problem from day one; he wanted the
title changed to The Scoey Mitchlll Show. The show was
gone by January 1971 and I haven't heard much about
Mitchlll since.
Or how about The Interns, a movie from 1962 that CBS turned
into a series in 1970? Broderick Crawford played the older,
mentor doctor and it's a chance to see Mike Farrell pre-M*A*S*H.
But this was one of the first of the "relevant" shows, that did
everything but say THIS...IS...THE...MORAL...OF...THE...STORY
(see also Storefront Lawyers, The Young Lawyers, The Young
Rebels, and Hal Holbrook's The Senator). It lasted one year,
by which time All In The Family was showing how relevance
should be done.
If I recall correctly, the 80s version of "Odd Couple" used old scripts because it was filmed during a writer's strike, though I could be wrong about that...
Braves2005 said:
The movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore I believe was based in Tuscon while Alice was based in Phoenix.
Other Differences between the movie and TV show...
movie: Mel had a wife named Ruby (?) who was deceased ( this was never mentioned in Alice the TV show ). Mel had another chef in the kitchen at Mel's Diner which I believe was called Mel & Ruby's. On the TV show it was pretty much Mel only, and his waitresses.
In the movie Alice & Tommy came from New Mexico while New Jersey was the home of Tommy & Alice in the TV show. Also on the TV show, Alice spoke highly of her late husband and seemed to be still in love with him. In the movie Mr. Hyatt was a jerk and one got the idea ( at least I did ) that the marriage was in trouble.
Movie: Flo and Alice smoked cigarettes
TV show: other than Flo smoking a cigar playing poker, neither smoked.
J
jwgreek8606
Guest
There were pilots for tv adaptations for movies: Mr. Mom, Six Pack, Adventures in Babysitting, Big
By 1974, the "Planet of the Apes" series of movies had pretty much played out......each successive movie being worse than the one before it. YET!...That didn't stop Fox Studios and CBS from doing a weekly "Planet of the Apes TV series. Needless to say.....the show lasted only a half season.
And soap fans would remember that the wonderful 1950's movie "Love is a Many Splendored Thing"......became a late 1960's-early 1970's CBS sudzer that was neither very good, nor much like the movie on which it was based. It lasted only a brief number of years before cancellation.....part of a move by CBS to make room for a little show called "The Young and The Restless"
And soap fans would remember that the wonderful 1950's movie "Love is a Many Splendored Thing"......became a late 1960's-early 1970's CBS sudzer that was neither very good, nor much like the movie on which it was based. It lasted only a brief number of years before cancellation.....part of a move by CBS to make room for a little show called "The Young and The Restless"
"My Big Fat Greek Life" - despite having nearly everyone from the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (with the notable exception of John Corbett) - stank on ice and died quickly.
"The Dukes of Hazzard" was based on the drive-in hit "Moonrunners," with the following differences:
The movie's protagonists were the Hagg boys of Shiloh County (played by Jim Mitchum, Robert's son, and Kiel Martin, who later played J.D. La Rue on "Hill Street Blues"). Their car was called Traveler (after General Lee's horse). The villain was not Boss Hogg but Jake Rainey, a rival moonshiner.
What "Moonrunners" and "Dukes" had in common were Waylon Jennings narrating, the characters of Uncle Jesse and Sheriff Rosco Coltrane, and the Boar's Nest bar.
"Napoleon Dynamite" inspired a very short-lived animated series on Fox last year, with the voices of the entire movie cast.
"Friends with Benefits" had an NBC series based on it, which was unpromoted and burned off as a midseason replacement.
The 1979 hit "Breaking Away" was unsuccessful as a TV series a year later.
"The Dukes of Hazzard" was based on the drive-in hit "Moonrunners," with the following differences:
The movie's protagonists were the Hagg boys of Shiloh County (played by Jim Mitchum, Robert's son, and Kiel Martin, who later played J.D. La Rue on "Hill Street Blues"). Their car was called Traveler (after General Lee's horse). The villain was not Boss Hogg but Jake Rainey, a rival moonshiner.
What "Moonrunners" and "Dukes" had in common were Waylon Jennings narrating, the characters of Uncle Jesse and Sheriff Rosco Coltrane, and the Boar's Nest bar.
"Napoleon Dynamite" inspired a very short-lived animated series on Fox last year, with the voices of the entire movie cast.
"Friends with Benefits" had an NBC series based on it, which was unpromoted and burned off as a midseason replacement.
The 1979 hit "Breaking Away" was unsuccessful as a TV series a year later.
"Logan's Run" aired from September 16, 1977 to January 16, 1978.
As for "The Paper Chase," I don't think it was a bad show. True, the
CBS version did a lot of out-of-the-classroom episodes, such as the
infamous one where Hart was assigned to escort a visiting Russian
gymnast around campus (John Houseman refused to appear in that
episode), and the movie subplot of Hart's relationship with Kingsfield's
daughter was downplayed; Hart seemed to have a new girlfriend every
week. But the classroom scenes were just as effective as in the movie,
and Houseman was as authoritative as ever. The Showtime episodes are
probably better and less inclined to flashy hooks.
As for "The Paper Chase," I don't think it was a bad show. True, the
CBS version did a lot of out-of-the-classroom episodes, such as the
infamous one where Hart was assigned to escort a visiting Russian
gymnast around campus (John Houseman refused to appear in that
episode), and the movie subplot of Hart's relationship with Kingsfield's
daughter was downplayed; Hart seemed to have a new girlfriend every
week. But the classroom scenes were just as effective as in the movie,
and Houseman was as authoritative as ever. The Showtime episodes are
probably better and less inclined to flashy hooks.
F
FredLeonard
Guest
Hotel was an OK movie (good novel) that became a terrible TV show.
Airport morphed in the same year into San Francisco International Airport (I guess so they didn't have to pay royalties to Arthur Hailey).
Warner Brothers tried TV versions of Casablanca, Kings Row, Cheyenne and Colt 45.
Irwin Allen adapted his own Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea to the small screen.
The Courtship of Eddie's Father was a movie with Ron Howard as Eddie before it went to TV.
La Femme Nikita has spawned not one but two TV series.
There are also a bunch of animated series based on movies.
Airport morphed in the same year into San Francisco International Airport (I guess so they didn't have to pay royalties to Arthur Hailey).
Warner Brothers tried TV versions of Casablanca, Kings Row, Cheyenne and Colt 45.
Irwin Allen adapted his own Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea to the small screen.
The Courtship of Eddie's Father was a movie with Ron Howard as Eddie before it went to TV.
La Femme Nikita has spawned not one but two TV series.
There are also a bunch of animated series based on movies.
rnigma said:
The first season of "The Dukes of Hazzard" had a different flavor since it was actually targeting adults. Those show were sprinkled with a few "damn's" and "hell's" plus the early running gag about Enos about being the oldest living virgin in Hazzard County. When it was determined the show was a hit with kids the material was toned down. The first season episodes are actually better before the show became a live action cartoon.
bk77 said:
I'm guessing that adjustment was made for Linda Lavin's New York-tinged accent.
bpatrick said:
I loved "The Paper Chase." The Russian-gymnast episode - written by David P. Harmon, who also wrote one of the worst "Star Trek" (TOS) episodes - was the low point of that lone CBS season. Pernell Roberts stood in as an assistant professor. The main reason for the show's failure on CBS was that it was up against ABC's Tuesday-night juggernaut of "Happy Days" and "Laverne & Shirley." Not even William Paley could keep it on the network.
"The Paper Chase" was rerun on PBS before being revived with new episodes on Showtime. It had a noticeably lower budget (Kingsfield's classroom had shrunk, and the Ernie's Tavern set was different, and smaller) and was one of the first filmed shows post-produced on video. But now that it was on pay-cable, they could deal with more adult subjects and language.
The show's better scripts were written by John Jay Osborn Jr. (author of the book on which the movie and show were based) and playwright Lee Kalcheim.
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