# Comedy movies made from serious TV series? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 5, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526 "2024-06-05T19:07:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/1 "2024-06-05T19:07:47Z")
There is the recent _The Fall Guy_ and the lightly older _21 Jump Street_. (I liked both TV series but had no interest in seeing either movie.) Are there other examples? I do _ **not** _ mean comedy movies of comedy series, which are much more common.) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/2 "2024-06-05T19:08:54Z")
Starsky & Hutch ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/3 "2024-06-05T19:24:10Z")
Land of the Lost was a kids’ show and had some silly stuff, but for what it was, it had a pretty serious tone. The movie version is pure goofiness. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/4 "2024-06-05T19:25:58Z")
Charlie’s Angels? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/5 "2024-06-05T19:26:34Z")
_Dragnet_ with Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/6 "2024-06-05T19:32:57Z")
Dark Shadows. The TV soap took itself more-or-less seriously most of the time, but Depp & Co. played the characters for laughs. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/7 "2024-06-05T19:33:00Z")
I haven’t seen the _CHiPs_ movie (with Michael Pena and Dax Shepard) but judging from [the trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NErwOWW7aCE) (red band trailer - NSFW) it went more for comedy than the tv series did. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/8 "2024-06-05T19:38:32Z")
I’m not sure about Baywatch. The show of course took itself seriously but the movie seems more self-aware. If Wild Wild West wasn’t a comedy, it sure sucked. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/9 "2024-06-05T23:03:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _Dragnet_ with Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd. That’s a good example. I wonder if it’s the earliest one. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/10 "2024-06-05T23:04:01Z")
I don’t know how serious you would call the original _A-Team_ but the 2010 [movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(film)) is considered an action comedy. Ditto the 1998 [film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_(1998_film)) _The Avengers_ although it failed at so many levels, who knows? I think the TV show/[movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Spy_(2002_film)) _I Spy_ contrast is more clear cut. Let’s call the Depp _Lone Ranger_ “inadvertantly funny”. _The Singing Detective_. Yes, this list is [alphabetical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_television_programs), why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/11 "2024-06-05T23:23:51Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I don’t know how serious you would call the original _A-Team_ but the 2010 [movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(film)) is considered an action comedy. I feel that, if anything, the movie was attempting to be more of a straight action thriller than the tv series was. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/12 "2024-06-05T23:27:50Z")
I will note one reverse case: “Seven Against the Sea” was a serious war drama tv-movie > **[SEVEN AGAINST THE SEA (MCHALE’S NAVY PILOT – RARE!) (ABC 4/3/62) - Rewatch...](https://www.rewatchclassictv.com/products/seven-against-the-sea-mchale-s-navy-pilot-rare-abc-4-3-62)** > > Academy Award-winning dramatic actor Ernest Borgnine first appeared as Quinton McHale in a one-shot drama called "Seven Against the Sea", which aired as an episode of Alcoa Premiere, an ABC dramatic anthology series hosted by Fred Astaire. It is... As the name of the main character reveals, this became the comedy series McHale’s Navy ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/13 "2024-06-05T23:34:24Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > There is the recent _The Fall Guy_ and the lightly older _21 Jump Street_. (I liked both TV series but had no interest in seeing either movie.) Are there other examples? I do _ **not** _ mean comedy movies of comedy series, which are much more common.) Was the tone of _The Fall Guy_ really that much different? I watched it when I was a kid and remember it as being not very serious. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/14 "2024-06-05T23:46:58Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Was the tone of _The Fall Guy_ really that much different? I watched it when I was a kid and remember it as being not very serious. I’d consider it at least as serious as something like _The Rockford Files_. [Archive dot org link](https://archive.org/details/the-fall-guy-seasons-1-2). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/15 "2024-06-06T00:15:05Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I’d consider it at least as serious as something like _The Rockford Files_. Which, in turn, brings to mind how James Garner was up for a dramatic Emmy for the TV version of _Maverick_ — which, of course, begat the big-screen comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/16 "2024-06-06T09:13:09Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Which, in turn, brings to mind how James Garner was up for a dramatic Emmy for the TV version of _Maverick_ — Emmy rules are simple: if the show is an hour long, it’s a drama, and if it’s half an hour long, it’s a comedy. Actual dramatic and/or comedic content is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/17 "2024-06-06T10:32:15Z")
All kidding aside, that was the year he was up against Richard Boone, who’d been nominated for headlining the half-hour drama _Have Gun - Will Travel_. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/18 "2024-06-06T15:25:53Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Emmy rules are simple: if the show is an hour long, it’s a drama, and if it’s half an hour long, it’s a comedy. Actual dramatic and/or comedic content is irrelevant. As lampooned by SNL: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/AMpRJwP5y9Q/maxresdefault.jpg "Funny New Comedy - SNL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMpRJwP5y9Q) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/19 "2024-06-06T15:47:00Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Emmy rules are simple: if the show is an hour long, it’s a drama, and if it’s half an hour long, it’s a comedy. Actual dramatic and/or comedic content is irrelevant. I guess that’s why Adam-12 and Dragnet were so gut-bustingly hilarious. 🙂 (I can’t think of any hour-long comedies. But there must be some…) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526/20 "2024-06-06T15:49:30Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > _Maverick_ — which, of course, begat the big-screen comedy The film Maverick was supposed to be a comedy? I guess I missed it. The TV show always had a humorous undercurrent, I admit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedy-movies-made-from-serious-tv-series/1002526.md?page=2)