*sigh* - yet another 70s tv show becomes a "hit movie" (that will also no doubt suck)

[acroyear]

In the great tradition of (popular) 60s and 70s tv shows becoming (really shitty) movies, such as Betwitched, Adams Family (ok, the first one wasn't too bad), Starsky and Hutch, Charlie's Angels, Dukes of Hazzard, Wild Wild West, Brady Bunch, Honeymooners, Avengers, I-Spy, SWAT, Mission Impossible, I dream of jeannie (in production now), Dragnet (ok, that wasn't *too* bad), and probably others i missed... (i'm not counting the super-hero things that are always in cycle somewhere like Spiderman, Hulk, Batman, or Superman)

and of course the cartoons that became shitty live-action movies like Fat Albert, Flintstones, Josie and the Pussycats, Scooby Doo, Thunderbirds (well, it was effectively a cartoon), and Garfield...

get ready, 'cause here comes:

Welcome Back Kotter, the Movie.

I think i'm going to throw up.  The rediculous thing about it is that Ice Cube is playing the title role, totally destroying the original premise (a white, Jewish but mainstream-looking teacher from what the neighborhood *used* to be like finds his hood and school significantly different with a diversity of minorities to deal with that he has to keep control over and still manage to educate).  Putting Ice Cube there makes it a minority-inhabited version of "To Sir, With Love", only Cube's never going to get the respect that Potier had.

and now, all that's left is Barney Miller, One Day at a Time, All in the Family, and Happy Days (with its 2 spin-offs)...

and maybe, if they're desparate (because some of those shows have too much self-respect), "Chico and the Man"!

or Maude?

they wouldn't *dare* redo MASH?

and, of course, its almost time to start remaking the 80s.  start with Square Pegs and 21 Jump Street and see where it goes from there...Cheers and Night Court?

why can't we actually have an *original* film idea somewhere?

and then if they have it, execute it well?  Thank You For Smoking looks ok, but not too promising...

Comments

[dawntreader]

my head a'splode.

One Day at a Time, the movie. AUUGH! or, wait... how about Alice!?! there's some classic TV fodder for movie rehashing.

and please, hide this entry. (lest the movie industry get more of them crazy ideers.) :P

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

Alice!?! there's some classic TV fodder for movie rehashing.

Actually, it was a movie first: "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore."

[dawntreader]

well, damn! next you'll be saying M*A*S*H was a movie, too! ;)

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

::le sigh::

The problem with the American film industry, IMO, is the constant catering to the lowest common denominator.

Sturla Gunarsson, an Icelandic director, has made a *brilliant* production of "Beowulf." I drove all the way to Palm Springs to see it. However, he's already been told that he won't be able to get an American distributor because Robert Zemeckis is making a *cartoon* version of the story.

A *cartoon* Beowulf. I am not kidding.

Gunarsson's film, BTW, went into wide release in Canada over the weekend, to uniformly outstanding reviews.

We can't get "Beowulf," but we can get shit like what you described above?

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

geeze, whatever happened to the "i don't care if someone else is doing it, i'm doing it anyways" attitude of the 90s (when we had *2* versions of the Christopher Columbus story)

[sequentialscott.livejournal.com]

Neil Gaiman's the writer, though. I have some hope for it based on his occasional comments on his blog.

[mandrakan.livejournal.com]

In defense of Beowulf, Neil Gaiman co-wrote the script. Which is almost always a good thing (erm, finally saw Mirrormask this weekend...wow).

It is performance-capture, computer-generated (not "cartoon", I think)--more like Final Fantasy or Polar Express with a few more years of CGI tech behind them. What appears to be an interesting cast, too, although Neil lets out the facts in dribs and drabs.

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

I guess my problem here is that I would rather see actual *actors* ...

Chacon a son gout, as always.

[thatliardiego.livejournal.com]

You know Michael Mann is redoing Miami Vice with Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell, right?

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

Please tell me that you are making this up ... Foxx I could see, but Farrell??

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

could be worse.

it could be *WILL* Farrell...

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

You're right ...

Still, though ... I'm horrified.

This is one of the reasons Jeff and I don't go to the movies much anymore; there is way more crap than quality at the Cineplex.

[thatliardiego.livejournal.com]

Believe it.

[theshaggyfreak.livejournal.com]

The only remake I'm looking forward to is the live action version of The Last Unicorn. At least they got many of the original cast to come back for it.

[scaleslea.livejournal.com]

The reason you can't get an original film made these days is simple: the studio doesn't know how well it will do.

It's not about pandering to the lowest common denominator, it's about pluggin into a built in fan base. Retread TV shows will make money because people who saw the show will go see the movie to see how they compare. The movie doesn't have to be GOOD, it just has to be out there.

Original movies have to be GOOD to make money, or pander very heavily. Or both.

Doc

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. Looking at IMDB.com, there are about 55 movies releasing between now and the end of May. Of those, Scary Movie 4, Mission Impossible 3, XMen 3 are the only sequels I noticed, and Poseiden is the only remake. (I may have missed a couple.)

There are a lot of original movies out there. The real question is, "Why do people keep going to remakes and sequels instead?" I think part of the answer is familiarity -- seeing characters we know is perhaps like seeing old friends again. Nostalgia is part of that, like when you hear the Mission Impossible theme. Several of the movies based on old TV shows are spoofs, reminding us of the best and worst parts of shows that we (perhaps) took too seriously when we were younger. Maybe it's also part laziness -- we don't have to invest thought or emotion in gaining familiarity with a new story and characters and place, but instead just turn off our minds and cruise.

[scaleslea.livejournal.com]

Like a said... plugging into an existing fan base.

It's all about what will make more money quickly.

Doc

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

I wasn't disagreeing about the nature of the remakes and sequels, only about "The reason you can't get an original film made these days is simple: the studio doesn't know how well it will do." 90% of the upcoming movies are original.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

plugging into an existing fan base.

Yeah, but then they sodomize the existing fans with the new scripts. Agent Phelps is a traitor! The cops in Dragnet are incompetent! The Dukes of Hazzard don't have three brain cells between them! (Well, okay, arguable...)

The only reason the Addams Family movie rocked is because they *remade the show* with higher quality. They didn't change the tone or lombotomize the characters or otherwise decide to freshen the concept by making it utterly incompatible with the original fandom's memories.

re: Addams Family

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

actually, they did.

BOTH movies (the legit ones) were based on the premise of Uncle Fester not being "Uncle Fester" and having to rediscover himself and his family.

Re: Addams Family

[neadods.livejournal.com]

But I thing I dimly recall amnesia and/or "let's deprogram the kids" plots in the original series, so while yeah, it was used to introduce the Family to people who hadn't watched the series, I'm not sure it's totally unthinkable as an Addams plot.

That they didn't have enough confidence in the material to have a new plot the second time around is a different complaint.

[tully-argyle.livejournal.com]

"Cop Rock" the movie

[dawntreader]

you're scaring me.

I'm Kind Of Looking Forward To...

[rennfoole.livejournal.com]

..."Get Smart" with Steve Carell as Agent 86. If anyone could pull this off, it would be him.

Re: I'm Kind Of Looking Forward To...

[tully-argyle.livejournal.com]

Y'know that one /almost/ works for me.

Magnum PI

[tully-argyle.livejournal.com]

Heard that one was in the works also.

Saw a really frightening fan-joke mockup pic of George Clooney in the mustache and hawaiian shirt in response to the news.

[kiltboy]

So when does "Love Boat: The Movie" hit a screen near you?

If you want to plug into an already existing fan base, just take the cast of ST:TNG and plug 'em right in!

Captain Picard as Captain Steubing!
Will Riker as Doc!
Worf As Issac the Bartender!
Councelor Troy as Julie!
Wesley Crusher as Gopher!
As in a returning role, Charo as Charo!

You know you want to see it.

I'm dating myself here....

[shalandara.livejournal.com]

but one of my favorite films from childhood was "Yours, Mine, and Ours" starring Lucile Ball. Yes it was corny. Yes it was a very stereotypical look of the 50s. But me and the TV were very good buddies on saturdays when Channel 20 used to run movies all day long. (I also saw lots of B science fiction films that later made it onto MST3000!) When it was remade this year I cried upon seeing the commercials. From what I can tell they took a hokey, but funny plot and turned it into bad slapstick comedy. I never did see it.

Then again, I hardly ever get to see films in the theater. Netflix has become my best friend. :)