# Commercials that turned into TV shows or movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048 "2005-05-09T13:27:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/1 "2005-05-09T13:27:18Z")
This may be a very short-lived thread. What TV shows and movies started out as TV (or radio) commercials? All I can think of is: Max Headroom Earnest goes to XXXX ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/2 "2005-05-09T13:40:41Z")
I assume that we shouldn’t count all the kid’s cartoons that double as a commercial, like _G.I. Joe, The Transformers, He-Man, She-Ra, Jem_, and so on? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/3 "2005-05-09T13:42:33Z")
Well, this is a bit indirect, but I think it counts. Back in the 1970’s, a Midwestern advertising executive named Bill Fries made up a character named C.W. McCall for a series of bread commercials. I never saw any of these commercials, but I gather C.W. was supposed to be a good ol boy truck driver. The character proved so popular that, a few years later, when CB radios were becoming a popular fad, Fries made a novelty record called “Convoy,” using the character he’d created. That novelty record hit #1 on the Billboard charts. A few years later, Sam Peckinpah made a movie version of “Convoy,” which starred Kris Kristofferson as the Rubber Duck. So, indirectly, the movie “Convoy” was based on a character from a TV commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/4 "2005-05-09T13:44:00Z")
The “Mean Joe Green” Coke commercial became a [TV movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257199/) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/5 "2005-05-09T13:54:55Z")
> [@JerH](#): > > I assume that we shouldn’t count all the kid’s cartoons that double as a commercial, like _G.I. Joe, The Transformers, He-Man, She-Ra, Jem_, and so on? I think that’s a seperate category, but as the examples I’m looking for will probably not constitute much of a thread, I think we can include those as well. So: Type I: Commercials that became shows/movies Type II: Products that became shows/movies as ads A few more Type II would be Pokemon, Strawberry Shortcake, and My Little Pony ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/6 "2005-05-09T13:56:41Z")
I forgot a Type I: Didn’t Joe Isuzu have a show? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/7 "2005-05-09T14:12:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I forgot a Type I: Didn’t Joe Isuzu have a show? No, but the actor who played him, David Leisure, had a role (wacky neighbor) on the '80s sitcom **Empty Nest**. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/8 "2005-05-09T14:31:43Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > No, but the actor who played him, David Leisure, had a role (wacky neighbor) on the '80s sitcom **Empty Nest**. Yeah, I just looked that up and found the same thing. I guess it was wishful thinking that the Joe Isuzu character was continued on that series. Not so wishful that I ever bothered watching Empty Nest, however. And I loved Richard Mulligan! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/9 "2005-05-09T14:40:19Z")
I didn’t need to look it up – because I did watch it! 😛 ---
**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:** [May 9, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/10 "2005-05-09T15:04:40Z")
[**Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer**](http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/rudolph.asp). The lyrics to the song were originally written for a coloring book advertising Montgomery Ward. Music was added, making it a hit song, and the TV animated special was done in 1964. [A version](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0137201/) was released as a theatrical film in 1998. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/11 "2005-05-09T16:08:33Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Max Headroom I may be fuzzy on the chronology or the geography but I’m pretty sure that Max Headroom had the show in England before becoming a pitchman. Er, pitchhead? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/12 "2005-05-09T16:11:25Z")
Type 1: Hey, Vern! ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/13 "2005-05-09T16:23:59Z")
Johnny English? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/14 "2005-05-09T16:31:00Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Type 1: Hey, Vern! Yeah, I mentioned that in the OP – the Earnest movies. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/15 "2005-05-09T16:31:29Z")
Who can forget… \*The Raisinettes \*? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/16 "2005-05-09T18:13:39Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Who can forget… \*The Raisinettes \*? I take it you mean _[The California Raisins](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0284709/)_? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/17 "2005-05-09T19:45:22Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Type I: Commercials that became shows/movies > Type II: Products that became shows/movies as ads The problem is that it’s hard to separate the two, short of making an arbitrary (and possibly inaccurate) guess. My understanding (from talks with toy designers at toy conventions) is that nowadays, development of new toy products and the associated cartoons/TV shows happen in parallel. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/18 "2005-05-09T20:08:12Z")
An actual good show, although it might a strech to say it started as a commercial, hasn’t even been mentioned yet! The Adventures of Pete and Pete started out as shorts promoting, IIRC, Nickelodon. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/19 "2005-05-09T20:26:01Z")
Didn’t Crocodile Dundee start out as a character to promote tourism to Down Under? ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048/20 "2005-05-09T20:51:46Z")
Baby Bob. Who went from commercial spokesbaby (for some Internet company) to sitcom back to commercial spokesbaby (for Quiznos). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-turned-into-tv-shows-or-movies/303048.md?page=2)