Successful TV Shows Based On Movies? (1 Viewer)

[Colin Jacobson]

Off the top of my head, I can think of three that did very well:

M*A*S*H

The Odd Couple

Alice

There must be other TV shows based on movies that were successful. What'm I forgetting?

 

[RogerH]

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

 

[Robert Floto]

Highlander

 

[Jay_B!]

not really a "hit" but Clueless ran a few seasons

 

[Linda Thompson]

La Femme Nikita

Alien Nation (only one season, but still great IMO)

The Dukes Of Hazzard (lineage from MOONRUNNERS)

Stargate SG-1

 

[Katherine_K]

MASH and Stargate SG1 are the kings of that I think.

 

[Guy Foulard]

Older series:

Naked City

Courtship of Eddie's Father

 

[MatthewA]

Defining "success" as a minimum of three seasons and/or successful afterlife in syndication or DVD:

Mama (7 seasons; live show now largely lost, adapted from 1947 film I Remember Mama)
Life of Riley (2 different series, the 1953-1958 William Bendix version being a hit, from the 1949 movie)
Naked City (5 seasons; from the 1948 movie)
Dr. Kildare (5 seasons, from the long-running MGM film series)
The Farmer's Daughter (3 seasons, from the 1947 movie)
Gidget (only 1 season but widely syndicated since then, from the 1959 movie and sequels, and a 1980s sequel series)
The Courtship of Eddie's Father (3 seasons, based on the 1963 movie)
McCloud (7 seasons, based on the 1968 movie Coogan's Bluff)
What's Happening (3 seasons; from the 1975 movie Cooley High, also 1980s sequel series)
The Paper Chase (4 seasons, based on the 1973 movie)
Fame (6 seasons, based on the 1980 movie)
Hotel (5 seasons, based in part on the 1967 movie)
Mr. Belvedere (6 seasons, based on the 1948 film Sitting Pretty and 2 sequels, there were also three pilots in the 50s and 60s before this)

 

[Jon Martin]

PRIVATE BENJAMIN ran for a couple seasons, and made it to syndication.

 

[Demis G]

Since Stargate is already mentioned I'll go for.. STARMAN

 

[Bob Hug]

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

One could argue that Alias Smith and Jones was based on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

 

[cherisland]

Harper Valley PTA ran for two seasons and was syndicated.

Flamingo Road (2 seasons)

 

[AlanP]

"PEYTON PLACE" HUGE HIT, loosely based on the book and film. Only resemblance were a few of the major characters names, otherwise plots totally different. I once read the pilot of the series was closely aligned with film and book plots. It was the first series to be in a continuing storyline similar to a daytime soap opera. They never re-ran an original episode during the entire series run of five years and it accumlated some 514 episodes in its run. I am not sure if it was ever rerun or syndicated ??

 

[Scott+W]

The Waltons? (I know the movie cast was almost completely different.)

 

[Marty M]

I know there was a TV movie called The Waltons, but this originally came from the 1963 movie Spencer's Mountain with Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara, and James MacArthur.

 

[Anthony Hom]

Baby Boom - I think it ran for one season, with Kate Jackson taking the Diane Keaton role?

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Friday Night Lights

 

[EricSchulz]

I'm surprised that two major hits haven't been mentioned, although they were "inspired" by movies and not directly based on them: "Happy Days" (inspired by American Grafitti) and "The Brady Bunch" (inspired by Yours, Mine and Ours). I also seem to think that there was a feature-length movie of "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", but not sure if it was released before or after the TV series.

 

[Mary_P]

I'd say "Bewitched" bears more than a passing resemblance to "Bell, Book, and Candle."

 

[Marvin]

Was In the Heat of the Night a successful TV show?