There are a surprising number of classic movies that have served as the basis for some truly great TV series — some of which would go on to match or even surpass their feature-length predecessor. However, for every Buffy the Vampire Slayer (originally a 1992 horror-comedy with Kristy Swanson) or Fargo (FX’s anthology from one of the Coen Brothers’ best movies), there is also a Ferris Bueller or My Big Fat Greek Life.
Did you not realize those existed? Well, there are plenty more forgotten TV shows based on movies, below.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1995-2000)
Given the actor’s cartoonish style of comedy, it actually makes a lot of sense that more than one of the best Jim Carrey movies wound up being reimagined as cartoons. One example was the animated series adaptation of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which, according to J1 Studios, would run for a total of three seasons — two on CBS from 1995 to 1997, with the final run airing on Nickelodeon after an extensive break.
Alienators: Evolution Continues (2001-2002)
One of the more underrated movies directed by the late Ivan Reitman is Evolution, where X-Files star David Duchovny tries lighter sci-fi. In the same year the hilarious alien invasion movie released, an animated series continuing the story debuted on Fox under two different titles — Alienators: Evolution Continues and Evolution: The Animated Series in other regions — during its one-season run.
Back To The Future: The Animated Series (1991-1992)
Marty McFly and Doc Brown’s adventures in, arguably, the best time travel movies ever ended on the big screen with their franchise’s third installment, but they would explore plenty more significant events in history on the short-lived cartoon spin-off. While David Kaufman and The Simpsons’ Dan Castellaneta voiced the main duo, Back to the Future: The Animated Series did feature a few original cast members — including Thomas Wilson as Biff, Mary Steenburgen as Clara, and — as MovieWeb recalls — Christopher Lloyd as Doc in live-action segments.
Bad Teacher (2014)
Director Jake Kasdan’s raunchy 2011 comedy, Bad Teacher, is best remembered today as one of Cameron Diaz’s last movies before her retirement, which she is pausing to film the action-comedy, Back in Action. Not as well remembered is the CBS sitcom of the same name -- produced by Diaz, with Ari Graynor as the lazy, foul-mouthed, reluctant middle school educator -- that lasted one season, despite a solid review from us and a cast of more big names like Sara Gilbert, Ryan Hansen, and David Alan Grier.
Benji, Zax & The Alien Prince (1983)
Mixed-breed stray, Benji, is the titular star of some of the most beloved dog movies of all time — the most recent premiering exclusively on Netflix in 2018 — but as some TikTok users have discovered (or rediscovered), he once had a very bizarre TV show. Produced by Hanna-Barbera and lasting 13 episodes, Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince follows a young, royal extraterrestrial (Christopher Burton) pursued by dangerous hunters who escapes with his android companion (Ric Spiegel) to Earth, where he befriends the famous dog.
Beyond Westworld (1980)
Despite its sudden cancellation by HBO in 2022, Westworld is considered to be a series better than the movie that inspired it, but it is not the first time Michael Crichton’s 1973 favorite about a high-tech theme park gone haywire was adapted for the small screen. Ignoring the 1976 sequel, Futureworld, the Emmy-nominated Beyond Westworld — which also suffered cancellation after three of its five produced episodes aired on CBS — followed the security chief for the titular theme park trying to prevent dangerous, realistic androids from infiltrating society.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1992)
The animated series adaptation of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (for which Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter initially returned to voice the titular California dudes from 1990 to 1991) is remembered by many as one of the best cartoons based on a movie. It is the eight-episode, live-action spin-off starring Evan Richards and Christopher Kennedy that saw the destined rockers indulge in more time-traveling and other bizarre circumstances — as All Your Screens mentions — that most fans do not remember much at all.
Blade: The Series (2006)
With Marvel Studios’ upcoming Blade reboot on its way, I imagine there will be many fans revisiting the original trilogy starring Wesley Snipes as the titular, superhuman vampire hunter in anticipation. Checking out the TV show led by rapper Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones that ran for one season on Paramount Network (when it was still called Spike), and is only available for purchase on Apple TV or on DVD, is optional.
Casablanca (1955-1956, 1983)
The romantic, 1940s-era Best Picture Oscar winner, Casablanca, is such a beloved and highly influential classic, it is not too surprising to learn there were two attempts to adapt it for the small screen, as Pop Culture Retrorama details in their retrospective. The first was part of a rotation of shows that aired on ABC in the mid-1950s as part of Warner Bros. Presents and ran for 10 episodes, while the second from the early ‘80s — starring Starsky & Hutch’s David Soul as Rick Blaine and Ray Liotta — only managed to last half as long.
Clueless (1996-1999)
Writer and director Amy Heckerling’s hilariously quotable modern take on Jane Austen’s Emma from 1995 was originally pitched as a TV show — according to an oral history by Vanity Fair — meaning it technically counts as the pilot for the sitcom it inspired just a year later, starring Rachel Blanchard as Cher Horowitz in place of Alicia Silverstone, as Deadline recalled. While the series would last three seasons (first on ABC before UPN picked it up for its final run) and it featured some of the original Clueless cast (including Donald Faison and Stacey Dash), it never lived up to its feature-length predecessor.
The Crow: Stairway To Heaven (1998-1999)
Following the death of Brandon Lee, sequels to 1994’s masterful non-DC-or-Marvel-based comic book movie, The Crow, would take the anthology route, but The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, acted as a direct reimagining of the original during its one-season run. It starred John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum’s Mark Dacascos as a version of murdered musician Eric Draven, tasked with restoring the balance between good and evil in order to be reunited with his girlfriend in the afterlife.
Damien (2016)
As a reverse on TV shows exploring the origins of some of the scariest movie villains — like Bates Motel and Ratched — this drama developed by former Walking Dead showrunner, Glen Mazarra, aimed to reimagine the life of Damien Thorn following the events of one of the all-time best horror movies, 1976’s The Omen. However, the 30-year-old title character (Bradley James) had only just accepted his destiny as the Antichrist in the Season 1 finale when A&E pulled the plug and damned the series into obscurity.
Delta House (1979)
Just a year after it became the highest-grossing comedy of all time in 1978, Animal House — one of the best movies of the 1970s — spawned a spin-off series that would continue the rowdy adventures of Faber College’s Delta Tau Chi fraternity. Despite several notable cast members from the original movie (and Michelle Pfeiffer in her first acting role, as SlashFilm mentions), Delta House was cancelled by ABC after just one season.
Dirty Dancing (1988-1989)
It probably comes as no surprise that the series adaptation of romantic 1987 classic Dirty Dancing was not as successful as the film, with the show’s Baby actor, Melora Hardin, chalking up its cancellation after one season to “bad timing” when speaking to TV Store Online. In addition to the future The Office cast member, the series was a noteworthy early acting gig for stars like George Lopez’s Constance Marie as Penny Rivera and successful writer and filmmaker Paul Feig as a new character named Norman Bryant.
Dumb And Dumber (1995-1996)
The second animated series based on a hit Jim Carrey movie on our list is Dumb and Dumber, which is based on the wonderfully childish Farrelly Brothers classic that would also spawn a 2003 prequel and a direct sequel in 2014 — neither of which were received quite as well. SpongeBob’s Patrick Star actor Bill Fagerbakke recalled to ComicsBeat in 2022 that he voiced Harry alongside Matt Frewer as Lloyd in the show, which was popular enough to air in reruns on Cartoon Network despite ABC’s cancellation after one season.
Ferris Bueller (1990-1991)
One of the most essential and quotable coming-of-age comedies of all time is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which was yet another ‘80s classic to be given the series adaptation treatment for a brief moment. Following the fourth-wall-breaking troublemaker’s early high school days before the events of John Hughes’ hit, Ferris Bueller starred Charlie Schlatter (who even poked fun at Matthew Broderick’s performance in the pilot’s cold open) in the title role and future Friends cast member, Jennifer Aniston, filling in for Jennifer Grey as Jeanie.
Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1997-2000)
Bringing items down to microscopic size was apparently just the beginning for the Szalinski family, who would go onto much crazier adventures over the course of three seasons on the series adaptation of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Taking place between the events of the original and 1992’s Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, the late Peter Scolari filled in for Rick Moranis as brilliant but accident-prone scientist, Wayne, on the show, which — as a Chicago Tribune article reported — was also executive produced by John Landis.
A League Of Their Own (1993)
One of the more recent examples of a successful TV series adaptation of a movie is Amazon Prime’s A League of Their Own, which also dramatizes the rise of women’s baseball during World War II. However, the first attempt to bring the 1992 sports movie classic to the small screen — for which Penny Marshall returned to direct the pilot, according Primetimer — never even aired all six episodes that were produced before cancellation.
Lilo & Stitch: The Series (2003-2006)
As fans of Lilo & Stitch — which is getting a live-action remake — know, the titular alien was just one of 626 genetic experiments and the retrieval of the other 625 was the basis of this series continuation that aired on Disney Channel. While it did not quite last long enough to cover every single one of Stitch’s cousins, the show was pretty popular and featured the returning voice talents of Daveigh Chase and Chris Sanders as the titular duo, among others.
Lock, Stock... (2000)
The Sony Crackle exclusive series inspired by Snatch, starring Rupert Grint, is not the first time one of Guy Ritchie’s movies was adapted into a TV show. That occurred in 2000 when he created Lock, Stock…, which is not a direct adaptation of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but a crime thriller of similar conceit that aired on UK’s Channel 4 for just seven episodes.
The Mask (1995-1997)
Yet another animated series based on a Jim Carrey movie on our list is The Mask, which followed the continuing adventures of Stanley Ipkiss and his mean, green alter ego, courtesy of an ancient, magical mask. Curious fans who might just want to watch one or two episodes from the show’s three-season run should try “The Aceman Cometh,” a crossover episode with the Ace Ventura cartoon, and then look at the Ace Ventura episode featuring The Mask called, “Have Mask Will Travel” — both of which Ranker highlighted in its “Wild Animated Crossovers” retrospective.
The Mummy (2001-2003)
In the same year future Oscar winner Brendan Fraser followed up his blockbuster adventure with 2001’s The Mummy Returns, an animated series debuted that continued the adventures of Rick and Evie O’Connell that lasted two season on Kids WB. However, the central focus of The Mummy, which is available to stream on Peacock, was their son, Alex, whose British accent from the film (as played by Freddie Boath) seemed to have disappeared after Chris Marquette was brought in to voice him for the show.
My Big Fat Greek Life (2003)
A beautiful wedding movie that captured the world’s hearts (and tickled their funny bones) was My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which spawned a follow-up in 2015 and an upcoming third installment opening in September 2023. Years earlier, a sitcom showing more of the Portokalos clan called My Big Fat Geek Life debuted on CBS, which featured co-developer Nia Vardalos and more original cast members reprising their roles, but poor reviews and diminishing ratings resulted in its cancellation after just seven episodes.
Napoleon Dynamite (2012)
One of the few instances of an animated series starring ALL of the main actors reprising their roles from the movie — including Jon Heder as the titular, awkward, yet overly confident teen — that inspired it is Napoleon Dynamite. Unfortunately, even its star-power was not enough to combat a critical reception ranging from mixed to negative, which led Fox to pull the TV show based on the cult favorite comedy from its Animation Domination line-up after six episodes.
Rambo: The Force Of Freedom (1986)
Arguably, the quintessential ‘80s action movie hero (and one of Sylvester Stallone’s most badass roles) is John Rambo — from 1981’s First Blood and its four sequels — who, inevitably, became the star of his own animated series for younger audiences. Also featuring narration by Don LaFontaine, prolific voice actor Neil Ross voiced the eponymous Vietnam veteran (a detail the show never mentions, as CBR recalled) who is called to lead a special crew called the Force of Freedom — hence the title.
RoboCop (1994)
Just a year after Alex Murphy returned for a third and final big screen outing, the RoboCop franchise continued in a live-action series that targeted a younger demographic during its one-season run. According to Collider, however, this was only the second of four attempts at a TV show based one of the best ‘80s sci-fi movies, including two animated series (one in 1988 and another a decade later) and a much darker, four-episode live-action show subtitled Prime Directives.
Serpico (1976-1977)
In one of his many Oscar-nominated performances, Al Pacino plays a real-life cop who blew the whistle on corruption within the NYPD — the New York Times would recall — in director Sidney Lumet’s acclaimed 1973 drama, Serpico. Frank Serpico’s story also served as the inspiration for a series that aired on NBC — with David Birney in the lead — which, according to The Rap Sheet, was not met with the best reviews and was cancelled after 14 episodes.
Starman (1986-1987)
One of Jeff Bridges’ best movies is the unusually lighthearted, 1984 sci-fi film from John Carpenter, Starman, in which he gives an Oscar-nominated performance as an alien who takes the form of a widow’s (Karen Allen) late husband while visiting Earth. He did not reprise the role for the short-lived and not-so-well-received series — according to Metacritic — in which he returns to Earth looking for his half-human son and, this time, takes the form of a man who resembles Airplane’s Robert Hays.
Tremors (2003)
Surprisingly, out of the two attempts to revamp 1990’s funny creature feature, Tremors, on the small screen, the one that made it to series was not the unaired pilot from 2018 in which Kevin Bacon returns as Valentine McKee. Fifteen years earlier, Syfy launched a show in which Michael Gross returned to play Burt Gummer for more adventures involving Graboids and their descendants, killer plants, a possible ghost, and whatever else they could come up with that, despite a record-breaking debut, was cancelled after one season due to negative responses to the network airing its 13 episodes out of order, according to Syfy’s retrospective.
Uncle Buck (1990-1991)
Another John Hughes’ film (also one of John Candy’s best movies) that was adapted was Uncle Buck, but I am not referring to the one with Mike Epps from 2016. As UCR recalls, the first short-lived attempt to bring the irresponsible Chicagoan to the small screen aired just a year after the film released and saw the title character — then played by Kevin Meaney — becoming the legal guardian to his nieces and nephew after their parents pass away in a car crash.
Thankfully, other TV shows based on movies like M*A*S*H, Cobra Kai (which continues the legacy of the Karate Kid franchise), and The Mandalorian (one of the most popular titles to ever come from the Star Wars universe), have not suffered the same curse of obscurity.
