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    Even More Of A Great Thing?


    2008 - 04.02

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    Posted in TV Shows/Movies | 9 Comments »

    Fans of the popular NBC comedy The Office will have even more to love in 2009. The network has just greenlit a spinoff series which will have its debut in February in the highly coveted post Super Bowl XLIII timeslot (sounds like another party to me). Little has been revealed about the series, but one possible plot seems to be giving Dwight his own series to head. Hey, it worked for Frasier.

    Spinoff series are either hit or miss. The earliest example I can think of would be The Danny Thomas Show giving birth to The Andy Griffith Show. Happy Days (which was a spinoff of Love, American Style) begat Laverne & Shirley, and Mork and Mindy. Today, it seems nearly impossible to find a show whose title does not include Law & Order or CSI. So, there are times when spinoff series are a good thing.

    However, there have been failures to the genre. Although Happy Days did give way to two very popular shows, there was also the dreadful attempt to give Joanie and Chachi their own timeslot. While Cheers gave Kelsey Grammer’s character Frasier Crane his own series, there was also the show known as The Tortellis.

    So whatever path the new series based upon the successful show takes, here’s hoping that it is another Frasier and not Joanie Loves Chachi.

    Anyone have a favorite spinoff series?

    Movie to Broadway


    2008 - 04.02

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    Posted in theatre | 2 Comments »

    Ok…. a recent trend that has come to the Broadway stage is the reimagining of Hollywood movies as stage musicals. I am not speaking of Disney animated features being adapted for the stage (I have made at least 2 postings on that subject). I have felt that the best of these cartoons easily lend themselves to staging. However, musicals such as The Producers, Hairspray, Xanadu, and most recently, Young Frankenstein all seem to be doing quite well.

    I think the strangest of these creations is Xanadu. The 1980 movie was to be Olivia-Newton John’s follow-up to the phenomenal hit Grease. I’m not precisely sure why the movie flopped but it could have been the death of disco or perhaps that the movie was just terrible. It was the winner(?) of 1 Razzie and nominated for 4 others. Hopefully, I am not going to be the victim of a mob of cultists who actually liked the movie. Strangely enough 25 years later, nostalgia (or the few people who have actually seen and enjoyed the movie) must have created the necessity to revisit the movie. I wish I could dwell on the plot of the show. However, I have never seen either version and reading synopses just gave me a headache because they made little sense.

    I suppose that this streak of bringing movies to the stage will continue as long as they are profitable. On the horizon a stage version of the Dolly Parton, Lili Tomlin, and Jane Fonda classic(?) 9 to 5 opens in Los Angeles in September ‘08. I’m certain that I have heard rumors of a Back to the Future musical being produced. Any others? While Mel Brooks seems to be on a role, he might as well develop Spaceballs or Blazing Saddles. Or how about Road House: The Stage Version Of The Cinema Classic That Starred Patrick Swayze, Except This One Stars Taimak From The 80’s Cult Classic “The Last Dragon” Wearing A Blonde Mullet Wig (oops that was not a musical,correct?).

    What other movies would make great musicals or which am I forgetting besides Footloose and Saturday Night Fever to name a few.