Tune in to Find Out What Happens Next

Scott Hardie | January 25, 2025
Making a remark about the True Lies TV series just now got me wondering: If you could pick any movie to turn into the pilot episode of an ongoing TV series, what would make for a good one?

There was a period in the early-to-mid 2000s when it seemed like every movie that enjoyed even mild success was adapted for television, and most of them were not really suitable candidates. For every Friday Night Lights that worked, there was a My Big Fat Greek Life or a Blade: The Series or a Tremors. Thus, I think it's really about choosing the right title, the one that makes you want to see more adventures of the main characters. (As bad as that period was, I guess it was better than the early-to-mid 1990s trend of terrible cash-in movies based on Boomer TV shows like The Flintstones and The Beverly Hillbillies and Dennis the Menace and Car 54 Where Are You? How did Tom Cruise's mega-grossing Mission: Impossible series emerge from that short-lived fad?)

Erik Bates | January 28, 2025
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Aaron Shurtleff | January 31, 2025
You know, the first thing that came to mind (I don't know why) was Big Trouble in Little China. But I'm uncertain. I loved the movie (loved it), but somewhat recently, I read an article that described the movie as the ultimate cultural appropriation film, and now I don't know if liking the movie is wrong, or if it even deserves to be granted a tv series.

Barring that, it's tough. I feel like most movies have a pretty good ending, and it would feel a bit too contrived to try to extend them with a tv series. Except slasher/horror flicks, I suppose.

I'd watch an extended tv series based on Kung Fu Hustle. I'd find that pretty dope...

Scott Hardie | February 1, 2025
Ha! Good answers. I haven't seen Big Trouble in Little China in decades, so I searched online whether it was considered racist (which is not the same thing as appropriation but I was curious). A lot of people argued no, of course not, it subverts racist tropes, it's anti-racist, people are too sensitive these days, et cetera. But they all kept mentioning that they're white. So, I searched again more specifically as to whether Chinese people consider the movie racist, and yeah, there were protests when it came out, and denouncements by Asian-American groups. They didn't all see it that way, but enough did in a way that differed from white viewers that I think we can ignore the white responses. Thus, I don't think I'll mention my own take on it. Would it tip my hand to observe that I've mentioned that Do the Right Thing is a personal favorite, and it's a movie that includes a whole lot of racism on the way to accomplishing its anti-racist mission?

I wouldn't mind seeing a TV continuation of Heat that followed additional cases by the same LAPD unit, but only if it was as intelligent and enthralling as the 1995 film, which is a tall order. But hey, the sort-of-official sequel is considered good.

Erik Bates | February 6, 2025
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Steve West | February 6, 2025
A show similar to A Series of Unfortunate Events that gets its material from our Knocks discussion thread. One half hour of visual story initially narrated like