There have been hundreds of plays to movies and probably an equal number of movies to television, but what about plays that made it all the way to the tube? It can be either via movies or not. Even with some thought the only one that clearly comes to mind is The Odd Couple.
Yes, I know there have been a handful that have gone the other direction (ie television to plays), but I’m not as interested in that.
There’s The Hot L Baltimore. Didn’t last long on TV, though.
Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park made it to TV. Like The Odd Couple, it was a movie first (Robert Redford, Jane Fonda!). It then appeared as a segment of “Love American Style” with David/Al Hedison. Then they turned it into a series, but with an anomalous all-black cast. (I would’ve preferred Hedison – the BitP pilot was one of the best ever to appear on LAS.)
Gee, “Happy Days” started as a “Love American Style” segment too. I wonder if any other series did?
Wasn’t there a tv series version of “Brigadoon” in which the villagers awaken each morning after another hundred-year night, to find their quaint village surrounded by progressively more incomprehensible future landscapes, until they go quite insane and start cursing God for their “miracle”? Or maybe I dreamed that.
Seriously, I seem to remember a short-lived series based on “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding started out as a one-woman show with Nia Vardalos. It’s not exactly a play, but it was a show turned movie now turned TV show.
The only other one I’m aware of is the cartoon series Wait 'til Your Father Gets Home. Although LAS was used as a launching ground for a lot of other pilots that never made it.
I think there may have been a TV adaptation of Brigadoon, but not a full-blown series.
Yes, there was. I don’t remember ever seeing it, but based on the cast list I wish I had.
There was also an earlier TV series, Here Come the Brides, which was rather loosely based on the same premise.
I think there have been many series based on plays especially if you look at series in the 1950s. It could be a sizeable list.
One series that comes to mind is the first “E/R” series, which was a sitcom on CBS that debuted in 1984. It too had George Clooney in it. It also starred Elliot Gould and Mary McDonnell and Jason Alexander.
That series was based on a long running play in Chicago of the same name.
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
Was Topper ever a play, or am I confusing it with Blithe Spirit?
Yes you are. The movie Blithe Spirit was based on the Noel Coward play of the same name. The movie and TV series Topper were based on the novel by Thorne Smith which AFAIK was never made into a play.
I REMEMBER MAMA, an early television series (1948-1956), was based on the movie of the same name, which was based on John van Druten’s stage play, which was based on Kathryn Forbes’s book MAMA’S BANK ACCOUNT.
From book to play to movie to TV series! It’s the only series that I can think of that went through all four steps. Can anyone think of any others?
Columbo began as a 1962 play called Prescription:Murder.
Alex.