It's official: Lionsgate TV is adapting the 2003 Jack Nicholson-Adam Sandler comedy Anger Management into a sitcom for Charlie Sheen. In celebration of this feat, Movieline is revisiting nine other television series adapted from films with varying degrees of success. Reminisce after the jump.
The Odd Couple (1970)
Adapted From: The Odd Couple (1968)
Domestic Box Office Gross: $44.5 million
Description: Based on the 1968 comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as incompatible roommates, this ABC sitcom starred Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, both of whom went on to earn an Emmy for their roles (Klugman won two). Garry Marshall executive produced this long-running series, which welcomed celebrity guest stars like Hugh Hefner, Billie Jean King, Allen Ludden and Betty White.
Number of Episodes: 114
Success? Yes
Fast Times (1986)
Adapted From: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Domestic Box Office Gross: $27.1 million
Description: Four years after the Cameron Crowe/Amy Heckerling coming-of-age comedy hit theaters, Heckerling (as director) and Crowe (as creative consultant) backed a CBS adaptation starring Courtney Thorne-Smith (as Stacy Hamilton), Claudia Wells (as Linda Barrett) and Dean Cameron (as Jeff Spicoli). Ray Walston (Mr. Hand) and Vincent Schiavelli (Mr. Vargas) reprised their roles for the short-lived project which involved a lot of Spicoli/Mr. Hand plots -- like "Spicoli tries to get Mr. Hand to laugh" or "Spicoli starts a rumor that Mr. Hand lost an eye during World War II." The series, bereft of the drug and sexual references that made the film popular amongst its teen audience, received critically scathing reviews and was quickly yanked off the air.
Number of Episodes: 7
Success? No
Ferris Bueller (1990)
Adapted From: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Domestic Box Office Gross: $70.1 million
Description: NBC adapted Ferris Bueller for the small screen four years after its release with Charlie Schlatter playing the title character as a much less likable version of Matthew Broderick's Ferris. A then-unknown Jennifer Aniston played Bueller's sister and Brandon Douglas assumed the role of Cameron. The series was met with negative reviews from critics and after ranking 57th in television rankings, was replaced by Blossom.
Number of Episodes: 13
Success? No
Uncle Buck (1990)
Adapted From: Uncle Buck (1989)
Domestic Box Office Gross: $66.7 million
Description: Remember that time CBS adapted your favorite John Hughes movie about a fiercely protective Chicago uncle into an abhorrent TV series? For your sake, I hope not. In case you don't, brace yourself and view the show's opening credits -- which play like a low-quality MADtv parody. So how did CBS prolong Buck's babysitting duties for an entire series after his brother and sister-in-law return at the end of the movie? BY KILLING THEM OFF. Yes, the show picks up after Bob and Cindy die in a nasty car accident and Buck assumes guardianship of Tia, Miles and Maizy. This is what nightmares are made of people.
Number of Episodes: 22
Success? No
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1992)
Adapted From: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Domestic Box Office Gross: $40.5 million
Description: After CBS found some success adapting the Keanu Reeves/Alex Winter buddy comedy into an animated kids series (with both leads reprising their roles the first season), Fox tried to recreate the Bill & Ted magic with this 1992 live action series. With Christopher Kennedy as Bill S. Preston and Evan Richards as Ted "Theodore" Logan," the series boasted episodes called "As the Dude Turns" and "Hunka Hunka Bill and Ted."
Number of Episodes: 7
Success? Unsurprisingly, no.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1995)
Adapted From: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
Domestic Box Office Gross: $72.2 million
Description: Just a year after the success of Ace Ventura, Morgan Creek Productions rolled out an animated series for CBS to follow The Mask, another cartoon based on a Jim Carrey vehicle. Although the series didn't feature any talent from the film -- Canadian actor Michael Dangerfield voiced Ace -- Seth MacFarlane was a writer on the slapstick cartoon series.
Number of Episodes: 39 (3 seasons)
Success? Yes
Clueless (1996)
Adapted From: Clueless (1995)
Domestic Box Office Gross: $56.6 million
Description: Following the release of Amy Heckerling's iconic 90's film, ABC picked up Heckerling's TV adaptation for its TGIF line-up (before the series moved to UPN). Rachel Blanchard starred in the Alicia Silverstone role and David Lascher assumed Paul Rudd's part while Stacey Dash, Elisa Donovan, Donald Faison and Twink Caplan reprised their roles for the small screen version.
Number of Episodes: 62 (3 seasons)
Success? Yes
10 Things I Hate About You (2009)
Adapted From: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Domestic Box Office Gross: $38.1 million
Description: ABC Family picked up this series based on the 1999 teen comedy which was based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. In this "reimagined adaptation," Lindsey Shaw and Meaghan Jette Martin starred as Kat and Bianca Stratford while Larry Miller reprised his role as the girls' overprotective father. Although the series was first welcomed by critics who called it solid, clever and having "genuine appeal," it was canceled within a year.
Number of Episodes: 20
Success? No
My Big Fat Greek Life (2002)
Adapted From: My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2003)
Domestic Box Office Gross: $241.4 million
Description: Even with My Big Fat Greek Wedding writer and star Nia Vardalos writing and starring in this CBS series -- not to mention the film's producers Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson attached as executive producers -- this adaptation tanked on TV. The series followed life after the big Greek Wedding as a Greek woman tries to deal with her very Greek family and her WASP-y husband. The only film cast member who didn't appear in this series was John Corbett.
Number of Episodes: 7
Success? No
*All box office grosses taken from Box Office Mojo and have not been adjusted for inflation.