Does this really surprise anyone? Sanford and Son, Redd Foxx's sitcom from the 1970s, might be made into a feature film with Bernie Mac taking on the role of Fred Sanford popularized by the late Foxx. The film has been kicking around the studios for a few years now, and is currently at Sony. Nick Cannon is also slated to play Lamont Sanford, Fred's son.
I'm not a big fan of TV to movie adaptations, but I do recognize that sometimes they can work. The movie Charlie's Angels, which I found rather insipid, was at least based on three crime-fighting chicks, a concept that lends itself to a full-length movie. I'm just not sure how Sanford and Son could be stretched beyond half an hour, taking into consideration the show was essentially built around Foxx and his comedy. The show could have taken place in a bicycle repair shop and I don't think it would have made much difference. Unless some filmmaker out there has something truly amazing in mind for this flick, it seems better to just let it go.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-02-2007 @ 4:17PM
popcultureidiot.blogspot.com said...
Although it was a British adaptation, Sanford and Son became a product of '70s American culture. It was the particular time and Foxx and Demond Wilson's chemistry that made it go. Also all of those great comedians and character actors who were around then made it special too. As for a remake? I think the idea is beyond ridiculous.
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4-02-2007 @ 6:34PM
Chuck said...
Geez, can anyone say "The Honeymooners"?!? Stop remaking old TV shows! They rarely work. "Bewitched" sucked, "The Beverly Hillbillies" sucked, "Dennis the Menace" and "Leave It to Beaver" sucked, "I Dream of Jeannie" is going to suck, "Get Smart" has the potential to be good (Steve Carrell!), but will probably suck. "Mission: Impossible" pissed fans off by making Jim Phelps the bad guy. Why can't Hollywood get the message? Are they that out of ideas? The only remakes that actually worked were "The Fugitive" and "The Brady Bunch Movie." The rest sucked! What else do we have to look forward to - "Mama's Family," "Night Court," "All in the Family," "Maude," "The Golden Girls"? Stop the madness!
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4-02-2007 @ 6:56PM
Brewster said...
I happen to own a bicycle repair shop and i am mildly offended by your reference to it in the above article. We have far more interesting and exciting daily going ons then the average junkyard. Your tone seemed to imply that a bicycle repair shop is a boring and non eventful place... I'll have you know that today alone I was hit on by a mother in front of her three children, bashed my head on a hanging steel coaster brake wheel, and watched two of my emloyees having a WD-40 fight. If that doesnt scream 1/2 hour laugh-riots, I dont know what does. Please amend your article with some truly boring workplace, like an insurance agency or maybe the desk of a blogger... ;-)
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4-02-2007 @ 8:28PM
Vimal said...
They could do something like the original show did with the Hawaii episodes and the Hawaii 5-0 spoof..
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4-03-2007 @ 12:53AM
erroneous_nick said...
Maybe in the movie version they could build a rocket from junked parts, go to the moon and salvage space junk left there by NASA missions!
That'd be origi...aw, crap.
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4-03-2007 @ 1:22PM
VSJ said...
On the behalf of Hollywood:
1. No, we are not out of ideas - there are still TONS of other TV shows yet to made into movies and am pleased to say, thanks to the networks, we will be making them for a long, long, long time.
2. When you say, "Sucked" what do you mean? On the contrary the opening weekends for those movies were quite profitable for us.
3. Besides what kind of work would Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn have without these re-hashed favorites? Oh, what's that? It's Bernie Mac? Same as the above.
4. Anyway, there have been way more Horror movies released than re-made TV show movies within the past few years - nobody complains about that...
5. Finally, what else can we coerce you into seeing if we did not make your favorite shows into big screen catastrophes...Oops, I mean box office gold?
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