# Big screen to small screen failures **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621 "2005-02-24T01:32:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/1 "2005-02-24T01:32:25Z")
Everyone can name a feature film that has become a successful series, things like: _MASH_ or _Naked City_ or _Topper_ or _Mr. Lucky_, or the \*Odd Couple \*but what about those that didn’t succeed. I can only remember a couple; things like **Dirty Dancing, the Series** and **Animal House** and I guess that golden monkey thing after Raiders of the Lost Ark came out and I vaguely remember a **Barefoot in the Park** tv series bombing, but I am not sure. (I’m not sure we can count the **New Adventures of Indiana Jones** as either a success or failure. I don’t think many people watched it but it was on for at least two seasons) Can anyone else recall any big screen to small screen total failures? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/2 "2005-02-24T02:00:01Z")
**Ferris Bueller**. Jennifer Aniston was the sister Jeannie and Ami Dolenz (hot) was Sloan. Lasted one season. **Parenthood**. 11 episodes. **The Net**. 1 season. More recent: **My Big Fat Greek Life**. Same cast as the movie except for John Corbett. Lasted 7 episodes. Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/3 "2005-02-24T02:01:31Z")
More than I can list here without giving the hamsters heart failure. There were actually **three** _Animal House_ adaptations on at the same time. The one you remember simply failed – the other two crashed and burned. Just within a year of so of the premiere of M_A_S\*H here are some other series that were taken from movies The Interns Anna & the King Adam’s Rib Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice Shaft Other than Shaft, which at least had Richard Roundtree reprising his role, totally forgettable, all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/4 "2005-02-24T02:12:36Z")
**Logan’s Run**. Wasn’t a great movie to begin with, but was of interest. Turned into ‘post-apocalyptic civilization of the week’ lameness. The producers later admitted that they had no clue about science fiction whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/5 "2005-02-24T02:22:37Z")
There may have been three **animal House** imitators, but only one – **Delta House** – featured actors from the original film, including D-Day and Dean Wormer. It also scored points by mentioning period icons like Ginsburg and Ferlinghetti. **Barefoot in the Park** , like many shows on ABC, started life as a pilot on **Love American Style**. The pilot was _good_. Unfortunately, the series wasn’t. One huge mistake they made was to switch all the characters from white to black. Everyone may be equal, but the black experience and the white experience do differ, and this switch didn’t fool anyone. They also didn’t put th same effort into it. Worse, they remade the pilot episode with th new cast, so you could see how badly they were doing it. It bombed. **he Third Man** was turned into a TV series. How? I don’t know – it was before my ime. They tried to ake a TV series out of **Casablanca** back in the fifties, too (there’s a episode on the enhanced **Casablanca** DVD). I can’ believe it was very good. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/6 "2005-02-24T03:04:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Barefoot in the Park** , like many shows on ABC, started life as a pilot on **Love American Style**. I thought I remembered it. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > **The Third Man** was turned into a TV series. How? I don’t know – it was before my time. As I remember, **The Third Man** starring Michael Reaine (sp) was relatively successful lasting at least three seasons back when a season was a good length of time. Granted it had no similarity at all to the original movie other than the main character’s name. Basically it was what became the\*\* Saint\*\* which also had little or no resemblance to the original books or movies that preceeded it. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/7 "2005-02-24T03:04:52Z")
Planet of the Apes ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/8 "2005-02-24T03:51:06Z")
Just for the camp value alone, **Buck Rogers In The 25th Century** is worth a mention. Since it lasted a couple seasons, I suppose it couldn’t be considered a total failure though. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/9 "2005-02-24T04:03:16Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > They tried to ake a TV series out of **Casablanca** back in the fifties, too (there’s a episode on the enhanced **Casablanca** DVD). I can’ believe it was very good. There was also a prequel TV series for _Casablanca_, starring David Soul. I don’t think anyone watched it. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/10 "2005-02-24T04:19:50Z")
**Weird Science** was, IMHO, better as a TV series than as a movie. I liked both versions, but the series had some very clever parodies and Baby Boomer references scattered through it (most of which were, I suspect, wasted, since I’ve never met another middle-aged person who watched this show). Initially I thought Vanessa Angel was a pill, but she grew on me, and by the time the series ended, I loved her. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/11 "2005-02-24T14:11:27Z")
Clerks : The Animated Series. _Sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/12 "2005-02-24T16:35:01Z")
Friday the 13th: The Series Freddy’s Nightmares Ewoks Droids ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/13 "2005-02-24T16:48:50Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > **Weird Science** was, IMHO, better as a TV series than as a movie. I liked both versions, but the series had some very clever parodies and Baby Boomer references scattered through it (most of which were, I suspect, wasted, since I’ve never met another middle-aged person who watched this show). Initially I thought Vanessa Angel was a pill, but she grew on me, and by the time the series ended, I loved her. I **loved** that show!! I still have the episode where the manniquins get zapped to life and believe that they are pirates on tape. Much better than the movie. When are they going to release it on DVD? ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/14 "2005-02-24T16:59:09Z")
The first 3 that came to my mind have all been said. Seeing that we’ve recently had an ‘annoying music fan’ OP that evolved from an ‘annoying film fan’ thread, I’m just wondering the person who starts a ‘Small Screen to Big Screen Failures’ thread will do so prior to - of after, the release of Bewitched. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/15 "2005-02-24T17:08:53Z")
Weird Science was an alright show. When I saw the movie, I couldn’t believe I’d watched anything descended from _that_. If we start including cartoons, this thread could probably run forever. I remember a while ago that there was a cartoon version of Disney’s _Mighty Ducks_. It had nothing to do with the original movies; it was about superhero anthropomorphic ducks and managed to work in hockey somehow. The mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/16 "2005-02-24T17:12:24Z")
> [@RumMunkey](#): > > Friday the 13th: The Series > Freddy’s Nightmares > Ewoks > Droids Friday the 13th: The Series was not based in any way on the film series. It might have flown if they had a different name. I think Parker Lewis Can’t Lose was a semi-successful series that was really inspired by Ferris Bueller. Personally I’m waiting for Titanic: The Series. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/17 "2005-02-24T17:34:35Z")
**Tales of the Brass Monkey** was ripped off from . . . I mean inspired by **Raiders of the Lost Ark** ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/18 "2005-02-24T19:05:14Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Tales of the Brass Monkey** was ripped off from . . . I mean inspired by **Raiders of the Lost Ark** It was _Tales of the Gold Monkey_, and it more closely resembled the magnificent Howard Hawks film _Only Angels Have Wings_ (both in characters and setting) than _Raiders_ If anything, the other new action series from that year–_Bring 'Em Back Alive_–more closely resembled Indy in structure, even though the “character” Frank Buck dates back to the 30s. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/19 "2005-02-24T19:14:11Z")
**Married to the Mob**. So awful, I risk going blind simply by remembering. FWIW, I loved the Friday the 13th tv series. I can still hum the theme music. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621/20 "2005-02-24T19:45:55Z")
> [@RumMunkey](#): > > Ewoks This lasted a couple of years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-screen-to-small-screen-failures/291621.md?page=2)