# What 50s-70s TV shows haven't been made into movies in the past 20 years? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 5, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216 "2008-05-05T23:59:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/21 "2008-05-06T02:37:25Z")
They made Dragnet into a movie. I mean the one in the 80’s with Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks of course. But they haven’t made any of the spin-offs, like Adam-12 or Emergency into movies yet. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/22 "2008-05-06T02:41:53Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] So, is this where an expression I don’t understand (“living the life of Reilly”) comes from, or the other way around? And what sort of life _did_ he have, a charmed one, or a bad one? [/QUOTE] “Living the life of Riley” means living the good life, specifically living a life of luxury or spending freely without having to work hard for it. The title of the radio series, movie, and tv show **The Life of Riley** was meant somewhat ironically, as Riley was a blue-collar industrial worker. **The Life of Reilly** is a film of a one-man stage show by Charles Nelson Reilly. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/23 "2008-05-06T03:25:44Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] Some folks at work were talking about yet another TV show being made into a movie, and it made me wonder, what’s left from the 50s-70s to make into movies? Eventually they’ll run out… I came up with: … The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (I don’t think TV movies with the orginial actors should count, ftr) … And that’s about it. There’s more, aren’t there? [/QUOTE] Actually, “Dobie Gillis” was based on [this 1953 movie with Debbie Reynolds.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045479/) As for other old TV shows mentioned in this thread, over the last 20 or so years there have been talks to make movies out of “I Dream of Jeannie,” "Gilligan’s Island, “Have Gun Will Travel,” and “Hogan’s Heroes.” So far, none of these projects made it out of the early stages of development. Several years ago in another thread, I suggested “Kolchak – The Night Stalker” would make a good movie if they stayed fairly true to the source material (unlike the short-lived TV remake which was basically a retread of “The X-Files”). ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/24 "2008-05-06T04:16:26Z")
_Streets of San Francisco_. A Quinn Martin Production. Many great suspension-bashing, hill-leaping car chases possible. Hollywood likie. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/25 "2008-05-06T04:44:03Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] There are literally hundreds of shows from that era. Think about it – 3 networks (in those days it was 3) times 3 1/2 hours of programming (in those days prime time was 3 1/2 hours) times 7 days a week = 75 hours per week, for 20 years. Looking only at the #1 rated program for 1955-1975 we see: The $64,000 Question I Love Lucy Gunsmoke Wagon Train Beverly Hillbillies Bonanza The Andy Griffith Show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In Marcus Welby, M.D. All in the Family Leave out I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith (both star-driven) and the $64,000 Question and Laugh-In (both impossible to turn into a script) and you have six #1 shows with the built-in name recognition that could be turned into movies. The only one that has been is The Beverly Hillbillies. Not to mention shows like Green Acres, The Waltons, Mannix, The Defenders and a bunch of others that are either unforgettable or a sturdy enough genre that they could easily be turned into movies. [/QUOTE] It was so bad you may have blocked it from memory, but there was a _Beverly Hillbillies_ movie. I can see _The Avengers_ or _The Saint_ as movies, not to mention \*I Spy \* and _The Man from U.N.C.L.E._ ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/26 "2008-05-06T04:46:28Z")
_The Avengers_ as a movie? As long as you keep Uma Thurman away from it, it might work. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/27 "2008-05-06T04:51:46Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] _The Avengers_ as a movie? As long as you keep Uma Thurman away from it, it might work. [/QUOTE] I’m thinking more along the lines of Keira Knightly. In thigh high leather boots. And a mini skirt. And umm, I’ll be in my room. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/28 "2008-05-06T05:04:27Z")
**WKRP in Cinccinatti** I’m surprised no one has made a new **Baretta** movie. It was the grittiest show on TV at the time, and had a pretty compelling lead character. It seems like a good candidate for a modern remake. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/29 "2008-05-06T05:08:24Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] There were actually some Bonanza “made for TV” movies in an attempt to revive the series a generation later. Didn’t go anywhere. _Happy Days_ hasn’t been remade (thank goodness). There was an attempt to make _Sanford & Son_ into a film. When Chris Rock was approached for Lamont he replied (per Rock) “There’s no way you can do it without Redd Foxx- it was way more _The Redd Foxx Show_ than any of the _The Redd Foxx Show_s ever were”, which is true; it’d be about like trying to make _I Love Lucy_ without Lucy and Desi. [/QUOTE] If they had the gall to make Bilko without Phil Silvers then, believe me, nothing is sacred. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/30 "2008-05-06T10:21:48Z")
[QUOTE=Rhubarb] It was so bad you may have blocked it from memory, but there was a _Beverly Hillbillies_ movie. I can see _The Avengers_ or _The Saint_ as movies, not to mention \*I Spy \* and _The Man from U.N.C.L.E._ [/QUOTE] How quickly they forget: [I Spy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Spy_%28film%29) [The Avengers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_%28film%29) [The Saint](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saint_%28film%29) ---
**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:** [May 6, 2008, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/31 "2008-05-06T11:49:47Z")
> [@](#): > > The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Considering that **The Man from U.N.C.L.E.** was TV’s stab at James Bond, only with less sex (and more tongue in cheek), it’s perfectly understandable that there isn’t a big push for an U.N.C.L.E. movie. We already have Bond, and we already had more than enough Bond spoofs (the Flint movies, the Matt Helm movies, and Get Smart). In any event, there already HAVE been U.N.C.L.E. movies – two were released while the series ran, and with the original cast, no less. A third was a made-for-TV movie in the early 80s (and which featured George Lazenby driving an Aston-Martin as an all-but-name James Bond!) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/32 "2008-05-06T13:24:47Z")
Russell Crowe has been connected to the \*Hogan’s Heroes \* project for some time, but I don’t know if it will ever come to be. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/33 "2008-05-06T14:11:57Z")
I can barely remember a thing about it, but I know I used to love **Vendetta**. Whatever it was about! IMDB tells me it ran for 3 seasons from 66 - 68, yet it never seems to get name-checked… ---
**Author:** ![KittenKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kittenkat/32/306_2.png) [@KittenKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KittenKat)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/34 "2008-05-06T14:28:51Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] _Happy Days_ hasn’t been remade (thank goodness). QUOTE] _Happy Days_ is now being done as a stage musical. Can a movie musical be far behind? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/35 "2008-05-06T14:40:29Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In [/QUOTE] Sort of movie-d as [The Maltese Bippy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064627/) in 1969. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/36 "2008-05-06T15:21:36Z")
_The Rifleman_ Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford; who could step into those boots? ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/37 "2008-05-06T15:22:53Z")
This thread is giving me the heebie-jeebies. I’m not sure which of the movies suggested alarms me the most, but Patty Duke and the Flying Nun have got to be near the top. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/38 "2008-05-06T15:39:17Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] The Defenders [/QUOTE] [Been done.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129866/) > [@Bayard](#): > > Did they ever make CHiPs into a feature movie? [Being done.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493405/) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/39 "2008-05-06T15:44:58Z")
_Green Acres?_ ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216/40 "2008-05-06T16:26:38Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] [Being done.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493405/) [/QUOTE] Oh dear. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-50s-70s-tv-shows-havent-been-made-into-movies-in-the-past-20-years/448216.md?page=3)