Firefly

Top 10 Movies Based on TV Shows

The last few years we’ve had to sit through crap like THE DUKES OF HAZZARD and STARSKY & HUTCH as they poop all over some of our most cherished childhood memories. I never thought seeing Rocky and Bullwinkle in a major motion picture would make me want to throw myself into the heart of a live volcano. It did though, and so did a lot of these other useless adaptations. Still, with all these recent announcements, I can’t help but get excited. The new TRANFORMERS pictures look cool enough, finally seeing Homer Simpson in a film trailer gave me goosebumps, and the thought of Jack Bauer taking his ass-kicking antics to the big screen makes me want to dance around my living room wearing nothing but work boots and a belt to tuck my gun into. Until then, let’s take a look at some of the best ideas to go from our boob-tube to our local theatres.

10. SERENITY (2005)

It was a dream come true for thousands of fans of the cult television hit, ’Firefly’. It’s not too often that a failed TV show gets another chance on the big screen. Even less often does that movie make almost $40 million worldwide at the box office and satisfy the majority of fanboys across the internet. It’s just proof that if you bitch loud enough, sometimes it pays off. Now about that "Arrested Development" movie....

9. TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983)

With a concept that so easily translates into film, I can’t figure out why someone hasn’t tried to make another one of these. For years, the collaboration of three amazing directors (Joe Dante, John Landis, and Steven Spielberg all direct separate segments) was overshadowed by the death of actor Vic Morrow and two children during an on-set helicopter accident. The demand for the film on DVD grows every day as does the demand for a revival of this series that doesn’t suck.

8. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)

Every geek has his own favourite STAR TREK adventure, this just happens to be mine. To be honest though I kind of lost track of these movies after Spock was f*cking around with those whales in part 4. Or was that part 5? Whatever, seeing Ricardo Montalban oil up and strut around with his shirt open while sporting a grey mullet is fantastic.

7. WAYNE’S WORLD (1992)

Turning a three minute skit into a full length movie isn’t an easy task. Most of the movies spawned by ’Saturday Night Live’ aren’t even half as funny as their spots on the show. Wayne and Garth pulled it off though, mostly because this was Mike Myers at his absolute prime and Dana Carvey didn’t really say much. It’s hard to watch SNL recently and imagine any of their characters getting their own film.

6. SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER, & UNCUT (1999)

Easily one of the top five funniest films I’ve ever seen in a theatre. Just when you thought the television show had broken every rule and offended every asshole in the world, the movie comes along and almost makes you feel like you’re doing something morally wrong by watching. I never thought I’d see a musical number in a cartoon start with the line "Shut your f*cking face uncle f*cka", continue with a chorus that consisted of just farts, and then end with such a meaningful statement as "Suck my balls."

More to come...