Lately, TV commercial breaks have been filled with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams meeting, getting married, and having a kid to Lifehouse’s “Broken”. Based on the novel of the same name, The Time Traveler’s Wife is the love story of Henry (Bana) and Clare (McAdams), a man who lives life on a shifting timeline and his wife who desperately tries to hold their marriage together. I have yet to see the film, but apparently ABC execs have because the network has ordered a pilot for The Time Traveler’s Wife. The ABC pilot was created by Warner Bros. and Marta Kauffman, the creater of Friends, who have yet to set an air date.
This isn’t the first time a box-office hit has been turned into a TV-series. But just because it was a hit on the big screen, does not mean that success will transfer to the small screen.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, an independent film with a $5 million budget, grossed $368 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing romantic comedy ever. Nia Vardalos wrote and starred in the sleeper-hit as Fotoula Portokalos, a single Greek gal who lives with her parents. Being childless and 30 paints a big “Failure” on her forehead in the eyes of her parents, but that all changes for Portokalos when she meets school teacher Ian Miller…
My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a cute movie that everyone could relate to, so why not milk that cash cow? In 2003, My Big Fat Greek Life premiered on CBS. All of the original actors took part, with the exception of John Corbett who played Ian Miller in the movie. My Big Fat Greek Life only lasted seven episodes, with major plot changes from the movie and random character entrances, the show was a complete failure.
The cast of My Big Fat Greek Life
But My Big Fat Greek Life is an all-too-common occurrence. Networks are always willing to take a chance on crappy TV shows based on movies in order to get those big numbers. But the curious viewers who tune in for the first episode always dwindle away as the series progresses.
In 1990, NBC aired Ferris Bueller, a prequel to the John Hughes film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Matthew Broderick was replaced by Charlie Schlatter as Ferris Bueller, Jennifer Aniston replaced Jennifer Grey as Jeanie Bueller, and Ami Dolenz took Mia Sara’s role as Sloane Peterson. The show did not make sense; despite being a prequel to the film, the pilot episode has Schlatter cutting a board of Matthew Broderick and saying he hated Broderick’s performance. John Hughes fought against the series, and despite losing the battle against production, fans sided with him and the series was canceled after thirteen episodes. Luckily for Jennifer Aniston, no one remembers that flop.
Ferris Bueller teaches networks that they should always listen to John Hughes
But not all television shows based on movies were failures. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and M*A*S*H were huge successes. And let’s not forget about Clueless, the show about a spoiled rich girl with a heart of gold. Fans loved these shows; both Buffy and M*A*S*H have an extremely loyal following of devoted fans.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a huge success
Will The Time Traveler’s Wife find the same success as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, M*A*S*H and Clueless, or will it suffer the same fate as My Big Fat Greek Life and Ferris Bueller? We’ll have to tune in and see!