Hola, Sneakers! And welcome to Episode 375! Only 25 weeks to Episode 400. Let’s start the countdown now!
This week on the show: overheards; comedy colds; they’re still at at it; wild birds; not a triangular sign; short films forced watch; effective car ads; mid-life crisis mall; Skytrain’s a sell-out; Ian enjoyed Stan and Ollie; keeping up with the medias; personas; giving conversational space; tax troubles and big bullies; Y the TV series moves forward; was Lou Costello a jerk; modern monster meet up; Liam Neeson’s cold career; Hellblazer pitch; Flasho; Dave enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody; Ian’s Supernatural-a-thon; Brian May’s guitar; Dave’s “We Are the Champions” mantra; bio-pic singing; Dave enjoyed The Favourite – Ian not so much; Dave also liked Revenge; more Polar; they heartily recommend Russian Doll; more about film trilogies with listener’s picks; immature mature comics; Dave is not a monkey person; boring CGI battles versus practical fight scenes; and, finally, personas in action.
Ian’s question deserves your answer: Has there been a TV series better than the movie that inspired it?
Thanks for listening and sorry about the sniffling.
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The answer to Ian’s question is Yes, there has been.
Can’t think of one that was better than the movie (outside of Buffy), although M*A*S*H and The Paper Chase (once it moved to Showtime) were as good as the films that inspired them.
I wouldn’t say Limitless the network TV series was better than Limitless the movie, but I found it more, I guess, enjoyable? To his credit, Bradley Cooper usually chooses to play flawed characters that are hard to like and whom you like to see get put through a meat grinder of a plot to see what comes out on the other side. For the TV series, the new lead character was a more affable “Chuck” type of guy. Cooper was an executive producer on the series and appeared in a few episodes as his character from the movie so it was more like a comic extension of that world rather than a TV reboot.
Similarly, I don’t know if I’d say Westworld the TV series is better than the movie. The original was a good sci-fi horror movie but the TV series, as annoying as it can get with all its time shifting and existential musing, is a much wilder ride.
“Battlestar Galactica.”
Nice!
At last – after 375 episodes, you guys talk about a movie I’ve seen! Yes, Bohemian Rhapsody has many historical inaccuracies, but who cares? It’s a fun movie. I have heard that the singing voice is a blend of Freddie, Rami Malek and in some cases, a Freddie tribute artist. Not that you’d notice. It’s interesting that the critics have almost universally panned the movie, while the general public seems to love it. Must like Queen’s music, in fact.
In answer to your question above, Ian… I don’t know if I’ve ever watched a TV series that’s spun off a movie. Can’t help you there.
As you were.
Hannibal!
It far outweighs all the films with maybe the exception of Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs, but even there it takes what was problematic about that film’s use of LGBTQ characters and flips it so that Lector and Graham are in a deeply intimate relationship with homoerotic undertones. It’s beautifully shot, makes all sorts of interesting decisions with it’s supporting characters and showrunner Bryan Fuller’s decision to veer away from stories about rape and violence against women was a relief from all the CSI murder shows playing opposite at the time.
Too bad about the 3rd season, which seemed to cram a few seasons of plot into one. The finale of season two was some of the best dramatic television I’ve ever seen.
This was the best show ever about serial killers with a lot of free time and their own Pinterest account.
Ian’s dead right about the quality of the supporting roles in Stan and Ollie. Coogan and Reilly are pitch perfect, but the characters of the wives and the oily impresario were every bit as well written and acted as the two leads. They added depth and humour to what could easily have been a two-hander. As a Laurel and Hardy fan, I really enjoyed the movie.
Well, now I’ll have to see it!
David, you won’t be disappointed! It’s almost like a template on how to do a biopic the right way. I still don’t think Stan and Ollie gives anyone a green light to do a Marx Brothers biopic though, that still seems near impossible to me. I am, however, open to anyone proving me wrong.
Remember the Westworld movie with Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin? Now we have the critically aclaimed TV series on HBO. I haven’t seen it but I’m sure it’s a vast improvement on the 1970’s Michael Crichton film.
> Has there been a TV series better than the movie that inspired it?
Stargate: SG-1 was much better than it had any right to be. I won’t say it was _great_, but when people talk about Stargate, they aren’t talking about the movie.
… I’m also irrationally fond of the Highlander TV series. It was filmed in Vancouver *and* Paris; how can I resist that? I can’t say if it was any better than the movie, which I don’t remember, but everyone seems to hate the second film, so it’s definitely better than that.
I couldn’t agree with Ian and Chris Roberts more, Stan and Ollie stole my heart. As much of a Marx Brothers fan that I am, I was a fan of Laurel and Hardy from even earlier in life. Something about these two men still makes me laugh to this day, their physical timing is what puts them ahead of the rest. Stan and Ollie was perfect in just about every way, it wasn’t too long, it didn’t try to tell their entire life story and you guys hit the nail on the head…their wives stole the second half of the movie. The casting was great, I can’t wait to share Stan and Ollie with my parents on DVD because it was them who introduced me to them when I was very young. I know they’ll be laughing through their tears just like I was.