# From TV drama to movie comedy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-tv-drama-to-movie-comedy/708977 "2015-01-04T21:22:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-tv-drama-to-movie-comedy/708977/21 "2015-01-09T04:21:31Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > The Addams Family on TV was semi-serious (in contrast to The Munsters). > The movie incarnations were intentionally hilarious, **The Addams Family** TV show had a laugh track and a tone more in line with **The Munsters** than, say, **My Three Sons, Family Affair** or **The Courtship of Eddie’s Father** (which kind of define the “semi-serious sitcom” vibe you describe). ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-tv-drama-to-movie-comedy/708977/22 "2015-01-09T06:01:54Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > **The Addams Family** TV show had a laugh track and a tone more in line with **The Munsters** than, say, **My Three Sons, Family Affair** or **The Courtship of Eddie’s Father** (which kind of define the “semi-serious sitcom” vibe you describe). I grew up watching both in syndication and I would disagree.\* The Munsters\* would occasionally swell up the sympathetic music and have some kind of a ‘message’ scene. They were more of your traditional TV family. _The Addams Family_ never ever really dropped the subversive, insane ‘schtick’ to be even a little poignant. And if it seemed like they were about to, it always turned out to just be part of a bigger joke! For me, that’s why Addams was much better than Munsters… ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-tv-drama-to-movie-comedy/708977/23 "2015-01-10T03:10:00Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > MacGyver was originally light-hearted but not a comedy per-se. > MacGruber was clearly making fun of it. MacGruber was an SNL skit before it was a movie, of course it was making fun. And probably for about 3-5 times as long as it needed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-tv-drama-to-movie-comedy/708977/24 "2015-01-10T17:06:28Z")
Apparently the original pilot for the comedy “McHale’s Navy” was a drama called “Seven against the Sea” on ABC’s “Alcoa Presents” series. Which makes sense since in the 1950s Ernest Borgnine was a dramatic actor (“Marty”) and heavy (“From Here to Eternity”). The people turning into a series had worked on Sgt Bilko so it became Bilko-in-the-navy-in-WWII". Borgnine wrote in his autobiography that a college student selling magazines who failed to recognize him made him realize he had to start working. ``` Batman..Serious drama serials in the 1940s, 60s tv campfest, 90s boring dramatic movies ``` ---
**Author:** ![jrbor76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@jrbor76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrbor76)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-tv-drama-to-movie-comedy/708977/25 "2015-01-11T19:11:11Z")
_The Dukes of Hazzard_, when it was on TV, was mostly family-friendly comedic, but it had its dramatic moments, mostly early in the run IIRC. The movie, on the other hand, had Johnny Knoxville and it came from the _Super Troopers_ guys. 'Nuff said. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-tv-drama-to-movie-comedy/708977.md?page=1)