# Individual Television Episodes Based on Famous Films/Books/Plays **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873 "2008-06-13T23:52:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/41 "2008-06-16T17:21:05Z")
The murder victim in last night’s episode of _Law and Order: Criminal Intent_ bore a strong resemblance to the Burt Lancaster character in _Sweet Smell of Success_. Mike Logan even mentioned it. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/42 "2008-06-16T17:31:22Z")
“Fame” did a musical adaptation of “Othello” (“Desde- Desde- DesdeMOna!”) and also a version of “The Wizard of Oz.” The former was IIRC presented as a stage show within the episode so may not count, but I’m pretty sure the latter included the tropes of the 1939 film, including being partially in black and white. “Veronica Mars” is another that did a “12 Angry Men” episode, called “One Angry Veronica.” ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/43 "2008-06-16T17:45:39Z")
One episode of _Thirtysomething_ was definitely based on James Joyce’s wonderful “The Dead.” Surprisingly well done. And a “holiday” episode of _Xena_ was based on “A Christmas Carol.” With the help of her gang, Xena convinced a miserly old king not to foreclose on the orphanage during Equinox season. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/44 "2008-06-16T17:52:05Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] The Simpsons have done many episodes like this, riffing on classic movies (e.g. Mary Poppins, Cape Fear), or books (Lord of the Flies). Many of their “Treehouse of Horror” stories come from classic films or short stories (or, in one case, a poem). [/QUOTE] Not quite what the OP was asking for, but another Simpsons episode centered on Marge’s role in a musical version of A Streetcar Named Desire. I laughed heartily at a premise I thought too funny to ever come true, only to be nonplussed by the appearances of Andre Previn’s opera version. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/45 "2008-06-16T17:53:10Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] There was an episode of **Pinky and the Brain** that riffed pretty directly on **The Third Man.** [/QUOTE] I must have missed that one, can I get a recap? _Tiny Toon Adventures_ did a great **Sunset Boulevard** parody. (“I am big, it’s the cartoons that got small!”) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/46 "2008-06-16T18:48:41Z")
[QUOTE=Skara\_Brae] Well, there is that famous episode of [Moonlighting](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0651043/) where the cast does a version of _The Taming of the Shrew_. I think they called it “Atomic Shakespeare.” In fact, I think this is the only epsiode I can remember from that series… [/QUOTE] In high school I had to write an essay on The Taming of the Shrew, and I wrote it based on that Moonlighting episode. I got an A! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/47 "2008-06-16T19:25:45Z")
Speaking of Star Trek: wasn’t the episode (whose name escapes me) that involves the Enterprise dueling with an invisible (cloaking device) Klingon starship essentially a remake of a WWII submarine movie (possibly The Enemy Below)? ---
**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 16, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/48 "2008-06-16T23:25:29Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] MacGyver, featuring Dana Elcar, did an episode based on the The Sting, which featured Dana Elcar. [/QUOTE] Ditto [Remington Steele](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0684909). (I remember seeing this as a kid, and saying, hey, waitaminnit, about halfway through.) ---
**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:** [June 16, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/49 "2008-06-16T23:45:13Z")
[QUOTE=jsc1953] Speaking of Star Trek: wasn’t the episode (whose name escapes me) that involves the Enterprise dueling with an invisible (cloaking device) Klingon starship essentially a remake of a WWII submarine movie (possibly The Enemy Below)? [/QUOTE] Now that you mention it, and I recall it, I believe you are most definitely correct. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/50 "2008-06-16T23:54:35Z")
Best _Rashomon_ that I ever recall was an episode of **Wings**. Everyone of course was the hero in their telling, but when Antonio told his version, they showed it in black and white and treated it like an old Italian movie. Quite funny. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/51 "2008-06-17T00:18:53Z")
Does _Sliding Doors_ count as an inspiration? Because there was _Sliding Frasiers_. That show also had a slightly _Rashomon_-esque episode too, once. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/52 "2008-06-17T00:22:05Z")
**The John laRoquette Show** did a wonderful take-off on **Sunset Boulenard** , with Betty White as the aging star who thinks she’ll get speciasl coverage in TV Guide (“I’m ready for my close-up…box!”) It was called **Here we Go Again** : > **["The John Larroquette Show" Here We Go Again (TV Episode 1996) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0616639/fullcredits#cast)** > > "The John Larroquette Show" Here We Go Again (TV Episode 1996) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/53 "2008-06-18T23:20:30Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] Another _Rashomon_ take was done by _Good Times_. [/QUOTE] Yet another is Dawson’s Creek episode “The Longest Day” (season 3, episode 20.) My favorite **It’s A Wonderful Life** episode was done on a show I almost never watched: Popular. The OC’s version of it was decent too. The Lost World did a great version of **The Masque of the Red Death** at one point as well. Their take involved the cast discovering the castle from the red death, being possessed by the evil people who were in the story, and reenacting the events. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/54 "2008-06-18T23:44:03Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] I must have missed that one, can I get a recap? [/QUOTE] From [tv.com](http://tv.com): > [@](#): > > 1. The Third Mouse > Community Score > 7.4 Good > First aired: 5/12/1996 > > Pinky searches for the Brain in post-World War II Vienna. He misunderstands people when they try to tell him the Brain is dead and his misunderstandings lead to a series of misadventures. > Writer: Gordon Bressack, Charles M. Howell, IV > Director: Charles Visser > Guest star: Larry Cedar (voice of The Major) , Charlie Howarton (voice of Cribbage) It was black and white; I vividly recall Brain wading through the brick-lined tunnels of Vienna. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/55 "2008-06-19T01:57:27Z")
The British sitcom Nightingales , from 1990 ish, did a riff on King Lear and another episode which was a bit of a mishmash of Shakespear plays. It was a while ago and my memory is fuzzy. ---
**Author:** ![RoniaBorkason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RoniaBorkason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoniaBorkason)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/56 "2008-06-19T05:06:03Z")
30 Rock’s “Amadeus”? With Tracy Jordan’s gift with porn? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/57 "2008-06-19T05:30:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] The other sitcom was \*Mama’s Family \*which actually called the episode Rashomama [/QUOTE] Huh, CSI’s riff on that movie called it the exact same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873/58 "2008-06-19T20:25:17Z")
Doctor Who has done it a few times. [Planet Of Evil](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_Evil) is a mixture of Forbidden Planet and Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde. [The Androids Of Tara](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Androids_of_Tara) is The Prisoner Of Zenda. The next episode to be broadcast [Turn Left](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_Left_%28Doctor_Who%29) is rumoured to be a version of Sliding Doors. (unconfimed) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-television-episodes-based-on-famous-films-books-plays/452873.md?page=2)