The news that Kevin Bacon is to star in the remake of cult classic movie, Tremors, got us thinking of other movies that made the (not always smooth) transition to TV.
Hollywood loves a good remake. Some work, others don't. Here's our top five:
1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Some people may not realise there was a film version of this very popular TV series. That’s probably because it was such a flop. Joss Whedon wrote the script for the 1992 movie but admitted the Buffy character in the film, played by Kristy Swanson, wasn’t what he had in mind.
Persistent, he proceeded to write a script for a TV series and it paid off. Sarah Michelle Gellar took the role of Buffy this time and the series ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003. It made a star out of Michelle Gellar while also increasing the profiles of Alyson Hannigan (American Pie, How I Met Your Mother) and David Boreanaz (Bones).
2. Indiana Jones/The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
This movie franchise has proved so popular that a fifth instalment of the adventure involving Indiana Jones has been announced. On the small screen it unfortunately didn’t have the same success running for only two seasons.
The TV series, starring Sean Patrick Flanery, focused on the young Indiana and was aptly named The Young Indiana Chronicles. It involved writer George Lucas but not the other two from the trio that made the films what they are - Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford.
A TV series without this guy? It's unthinkable!
3. MASH/M*A*S*H
The finale of this TV series was watched by a record number of viewers in the US at that time. I think that tells you how well this move from big to small screen did. The movie itself did well in 1970 but the series, also set around medics in the Korean War, lasted 11 seasons from 1972 to 1983 and launching actor Alan Alda into the big-time.
Some trivia – MASH stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. The asterisks added to the TV series title are the uppercase version of hyphens which were supposed to be used to show the abbreviation. On old typewriters it was more hassle to switch from lower to uppercase so the equivalent ‘capslock’ button could be left on to write the full M*A*S*H phrase. Yes, it probably sounds lazy – but a fun fact all the same.
4. Fargo
The original movie in 1996 was written and directed by the Coen brothers. But any attempts at a TV series were done without them. It had two attempts at a TV series, first in 1997 and then in 2003 but it was brought back again in 2014 with Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman.
It did well so was commissioned for a second season – with a different cast including Kirsten Dunst and Patrick Wilson. It’s based in the same Minnesota location and involves murder, dark comedy and quirkiness similar to the movie but it’s translating well to TV so far.
The Fargo movie won a number of awards - the latest TV series is set for the same success
5. Terminator/The Sarah Connor Chronicles
'I’ll be back' is one of the most famous lines from a movie – albeit maybe not to the younger generation of today. But the 'It’ll be back' could be used to describe this other long-running franchise. A fifth Terminator movie was released this year – starring the original Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, back in his famous black leather outfit.
With that latest instalment, it brought rumours of a second attempt at a TV series, involving some of the same people from the first series - The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which, like the Indiana Jones TV version, only lasted two seasons. No more news on that to date but it does seem the use of the word Chronicles in a TV attempt at a long running movie franchise just doesn’t work.
What have been your favourite (or not so) film to television remakes? What movies do you think would work well on the small screen?
