Thursday, July 30, 2009

Teen movie to TV transition

It's been done before - the attempt of a popular movie to transition to the small screen as regular series. And nothing is a better base for the experiement than a teen comedy.

Some of the past spin-offs include "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," a movie I love to watch from time to time - who doesn't love a campy vampire movie? I never got into the television series, though I watched quite a few "Angel" episodes at Gold's Gym while working out on the elliptical machine. The TV version of the vampire hunter lasted seven seasons so it seems to have been a success.

"Clueless" was another attempt to win the on-screen success on the little screen. I love the movie, and have probably watched it 20 times. It makes me laugh. It's the reason I have a soft spot for Paul Rudd and Alicia Silverstone. I never watched it because my favorite actors were replaced with others. It lasted three seasons.

The latest in line is "10 Things I Hate About You," which debuted on ABC Family a few weeks ago. "Sneak peeks" can be seen online at abcfamily.go.com and the show airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

The movie version came out 10 years ago and starred Heath Ledger, who was relativiely new to American audiences. He wooed Kat Straford (Julia Stiles) as bad boy Patrick Verona in the retelling of "Taming of the Shrew." In it, Kat's younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) just wants to be popular, but their strict father will only let her date if Kat gets a guy (he thinks Kat isn't interested in dating.) Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) pays Patrick to get Kat to fall for him in hopes of getting Bianca. The movie is clever and laugh-out-loud funny. Ledger showed the early acting chops that would make his career in years to come, and Oleynik and Gordon-Levitt had plenty of chemistry since they starred together on "Third Rock from the Sun."

So far I've watched one episode and the thing I liked least about the movie came along with it. Larry Miller is back to play dad to Bianca (Meaghan Jette Martin) and Kat (Lindsey Shaw). Ethan Peck, grandson of Gregory Peck takes on the Patrick Verona part.

I'm not quite sure what to think of it so far, but the one thing that would bring me back is Shaw. She played Claire Tolcheck in a short-lived Fox sitcom called "Aliens in American." She's gone from ditzy, popular girl to rebel and it suits her.

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