For some reason, some people think that TV shows need to be made into movies. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. Jeff Mezydlow on the MSN.com page YardBarker has compiled a list of iconic TV shows that were made into movies
It's all a matter of personal opinion. Whoever wrote this seems to give their opinion strongly. I consider it a matter of personal preference. One person might like it and another may not. As long as you like it, who cares what everyone else thinks
1. The Beverly Hillbillies (1993)
-Penelope Spheeris, who directed Wayne's World, tried her hand at a movie adaptation of the much beloved TV series The Beverly Hillbillies. About a bunch of down home, good hearted folks from the Appalachia region who strike oil and get rich. The TV show was massively successful, but many think the film version was goofy, but in a bad way. Some think that comedic actor Jim Varney as Jed Clampett was not a good idea
2. Car 54, Where Are You? (1994)
-This TV series ran for a few seasons during the 1960s, at a time when police shows were starting to become popular. The movie, however, was a flop. It was thought that adding big names like Fran Drescher (The Nanny), David Johansen (post-New York Dolls) and John C. McGinley would make it work. It didn't
3. The Flintstones (1994)
-The much beloved cartoon about prehistoric life was made in to a 1994 film and was actually very successful. The sequel to it didn't fare very well, but it was during the summer and people like seeing movies during the summer. The movie seemed a lot more mature in content than the family friendly cartoon was. John Goodman and Rosie O'Donnell, cast as Fred and Betty, didn't seem right for the roles
4. Sgt. Bilko (1997)
-The film was a total bomb. It was inspired by the 1950s show of the same name starring Phil Silvers. In this film, Dan Akyroyd, Phil Hartman and Steve Martin appear. Martin plays the main character. Overall, the film did not do well
5. McHale's Navy (1997)
-The original TV show was a funny, lighthearted program of the 1960s. The film version didn't do so well. Ernest Borgnine from the original series starred in it, but other than him, Debra Messing also starred in it along with Tom Arnold, who played the lead role. To this day, this movie has become forgotten
6. Leave It to Beaver (1997)
-Many think the movie wasn't good, despite the high ratings from a lot of film critics. To any fan of the show, Jerry Mathers will always be Beaver, no matter what role he's playing. The parents in the film, Ward and June were played by Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley
7. Mr. Magoo (1997)
-Leslie Nielsen is one of those comedians who can pull off physical humor in addition to sarcastic humor. When he was cast as Mr. Magoo, the much beloved cartoon character in a film version, the movie was okay at best, but not good
8. Lost in Space (1998)
-The TV series of the same name from the 1960s was incredibly popular, especially when other generations started discovering it via streaming services. Sci-fi films usually go over well with audiences, depending on the storylines. This one, however, didn't fare well among the more popular sci-fi movies. Some think it was the casting of certain actors or actresses to blame for its low ratings
9. The Avengers (1998)
-When people hear "The Avengers" nowadays, their mind might automatically go to the Marvel movies starring the characters Hawkeye, Black Widow, The Hulk, Captain America and Iron Man, certainly not the original TV show from the 1960s. The Avengers was a 1960s British spy TV program centering around two characters-John Steed and Emma Peel. The film was a total disaster. It starred Ralph Fiennes as John Steed, Uma Thurman as Emma Peel and Sean Connery as a villain trying to control the weather
10. The Mod Squad (1999)
-During the late 1960s to early 1970s, cop shows were booming. There was a wealth of options for cop shows, such as Starsky & Hutch, Charlie's Angels, The Mod Squad, CHiPS, etc. On the original television program The Mod Squad, Michael Cole, who played Pete, Peggy Lipton, who played Julie and Clarence Williams III, who played Linc, just looked cool while fighting crime. The movie version, however, simply couldn't compare to the original. Claire Daines, Giovanni Ribisi and Omar Epps just couldn't compare with the original
11. Wild Wild West (1999)
-The original TV show was a sci-fi / spy series. Many think that the film should have done better simply because Will Smith is in it. Not everything he is in will be box office gold. Film critics all but bashed the film. The film version of the classic TV show stars Will Smith and Kevin Kline as two Secret Service agents ordered to protect then president Ulysses S. Grant
-I thought the movie was good. It was a little goofy in some parts, but that keeps things interesting. It's all a matter of personal opinion
12. Inspector Gadget (1999)
-The film version of the highly successful cartoon series did fairly well at the theaters. Matthew Broderick was cast as the lead role and while there were some good choices for fellow cast members, apparently that was not enough to save the film from being good
13. Dudley Do-Right (1999)
-The original cartoon was a spin off of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. Dudley Do-Right is a much beloved character in Canada. It was said that Brendan Fraser didn't give the character his due diligence and even the jokes in the movie seemed forced, not natural. This film was said to be a total bomb
14. S.W.A.T. (2002)
-The original program centered around the SWAT team of a police department. The film version, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell and Jeremy Renner, didn't provide much in the way of action despite the star power
15. I Spy (2002)
-The original series starred comedic actor Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. The film version starred Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson in the lead roles with Famke Janssen along for the ride. One of the thorns in people's sides about this film is that it didn't have much in common with the original TV show. While it's never a bad thing to change things up, fans expected a little more similarity to the TV show
16. Starsky and Hutch (2004)
-It seemed like a good idea at the time. Make a film version of the ultra-popular 1970s cop show. The only problem is that Ben Stiller, who played Starsky and Owen Wilson, who played Hutch, seemed to try far too hard to be like the original pair. The original pair were cool, calm and collected, what some might call "smooth operators." The film version of the detectives were a little too out there and simply not as good as the original. The only thing that made this movie somewhat bearable was the fact that Snoop Dogg took on the role of CI (confidential informant) Huggy Bear
-I can say I saw this and it was not good. The only thing I liked about it was that the original actors, Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky) and David Soul (Hutch) appeared at the end
17. Fat Albert (2004)
-Bill Cosby's life might have fallen apart because of the sexual assault allegations, but Fat Albert is one of the great animated series on TV. When it was considered as a movie, it was a good idea at the time. But many feel that the film version of the much beloved cartoon series simply didn't compare to the original
-I actually liked this. It was funny and whimsical, something that we need more of in today's world
18. The Honeymooners (2005)
-This movie simply didn't do good. Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps took on the roles of Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton. Gabrielle Union took on the role of Alice and Regina Hall took on the role of Trixie. The pranks and hi-jinks pulled by Ralph and Ed might have been updated but it simply couldn't compare to the much beloved black and white series
19. Bewitched (2005)
-Will Farrell is a master of comedy. When he's given a chance to re-enact a movie version of a TV show, that is where he seems to falter. In the film Bewitched, he plays Jack Wyatt, an actor playing the role of Darrin Stephens. The whole idea of a show within a movie is simply too confusing. Nicole Kidman and Will Farrell actually received awards for Worst Screen Couple for this film
20. The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)
-Simply put, the movie didn't fare well. Many remember the show as being a down to earth, simple but good show for the time. The movie version simply couldn't compare to the original show. Johnny Knoxville, who played Luke Duke, was a lot better than Sean William Scott, who played Bo Duke. Sean William Scott had just gotten off of the fame of the American Pie series. Jessica Simpson played their sister Daisy Duke, who was, by many, considered a useless character in the movie. The TV show version of Daisy Duke was better. Not only that, but Burt Reynolds played local criminal Boss Hogg. Simply put, this movie didn't fare well
-You're better off just watching the original show and appreciating the unique charm it offers
21. Aeon Flux (2005)
-This sci-fi TV show grew to be a popular show on MTV during the 1990s. Why not cash in on its fame and make a movie? It starred Charlize Theron in the lead role, with a storyline centering around a virus that results in people reinventing themselves for further survival. Dull would be a word best used to describe this
22. Land of the Lost (2009)
-This much beloved NBC Saturday morning program about dinosaurs should not have been made into a movie. Will Farrell already had a bad credit to his name with Bewitched. Now he has Land of the Lost to his name as well. The premise was traveling through a time warp to the era of dinosaurs. Farrell's character Rick Marshall and his friends go through a story that is better left on the TV screen. Critics consider it to be one of the worst mainstream movies ever filmed
23. The Last Airbender (2010)
-This movie is based on the popular children's anime program Avatar: The Last Airbender. There was much rejoicing and celebrating when fans heard that there was to be a movie version of their favorite program. When it came to making the movie, a lot of technical difficulties started popping up. The production seemed rushed and the audience felt denied a chance to draw opinions about the characters. Not only that, but with it taking place somewhere in Asia, many felt it was offensive to feature mostly Caucasian actors and actresses rather than including cast members of Asian descent
24. CHiPs (2017)
-In the late 1970s, early 1980s, CHiPs was a popular cop show starring Erik Estrada (Ponch) and Larry Wilcox (John) as two California Highway Patrols. The film version simply could not compare. Dax Sheppard took on the role of John while Michael Pena took on the role of Ponch and the storyline seemed messy, all over the place
25. Baywatch (2017)
-This was a guilty pleasure for most. It centered around a group of lifeguards working and living in California. It shouldn't be shocking that a movie would be made of this popular 1990s program. Dwayne Johnson played the role David Hasselhoff played on the show. But even having Dwayne Johnson or Zack Efron in the movie was not enough to save it. The plot was messy and weak and the jokes or attempts at humor seemed weak at best
