Films based on previously successful sitcoms - best and worst?

[Sydward Lartle]

Alphabetical list (possibly not complete)

Absolutely Fabulous (2016)
Alan Partridge - Alpha Papa (2013)
Are You Being Served? (1977)
Bless This House (1972)
Dad's Army (1971)
Dad's Army (redux) (2016)
George and Mildred (1980)
Guest House Paradiso[nb]It basically is Bottom - the Movie, no?[/nb] (1999)
Holiday on the Buses (1973)
the Inbetweeners Movie (2011)
Inbetweeners 2 (2014)
the League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005)
the Likely Lads (1976)
Love Thy Neighbour (1973)
Man About the House (1974)
Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie (2014)
Mutiny on the Buses (1972)
Nearest and Dearest (1972)
On the Buses (1971)
Please Sir! (1971)
Porridge (1979)
Rising Damp (1980)
Steptoe and Son (1972)
Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973)
That's Your Funeral (1972)
Up Pompeii (1971)
Up the Chastity Belt (1972)
Up the Front (1973)
Whoops Apocalypse (1986)

My personal top five would be Steptoe and Son Ride Again, Porridge, Please Sir!, the Likely Lads and Whoops Apocalypse, even though it's not a patch on the original series it's still not completely awful, and Rik Mayall's scene as the SAS leader is hilarious.

[zomgmouse]

I wouldn't count the Partridge film only because it's not really based on the sitcom, it's an addition to a body of work based around a character who existed long before the sitcom did.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I've not seen it, or the series, but Bad Education got it's own film, rather tiresomely called The Bad Education Movie. Oh, and your list missed out South Park The Movie and The Simpsons Movie. The former being one of the best, and the latter one of the very worst!

[the science eel]

Both Steptoe films are fucking ace, and for my money better than the TV series. They're bleak and beautifully dated - they really capture something. At least one would make my all-time top 100 films.

[Sydward Lartle]

Oh, and your list missed out South Park The Movie and The Simpsons Movie.

Intentionally so. They're animated sitcoms, and this list is live-action sitcoms.

[Blumf]

Would the films by The Goons count? Stuff like Let's Go Crazy (1951)?

And if we're allowing Guest House Paradiso then surely The Rebel (1961) counts?

[Sydward Lartle]

If you're going to split hairs, I'm going to piss off.

[Glebe]

You can chalk me up as another Steptoe and Son Ride Again fan. Eminently watchable, with and intriguingly sinister storyline... the "I want my body!" bit is fucking terrifying.

[Sydward Lartle]

You can chalk me up as another Steptoe and Son Ride Again fan. Eminently watchable, with and intriguingly sinister storyline... the "I want my body!" bit is fucking terrifying.

True enough. I'm not a big dog lover but Hercules the Second was adorable.

[Gulftastic]

'Please Sir!' for me. The film seemed to be on TV often when I was a kid, but the show wasn't. It had long since finished. Later, when one of the satellite channels aired it, I tuned in and was very disappointed. Not a patch on the film. John Alderton is great in the film version.

[Sydward Lartle]

I agree. The Please, Sir! film is absolute quality. The TV series is poor in comparison.

"Bark! Bark!"
"Shut yer mouth and give your brains a chance sunshine!"
"Double neat!"
"I'm not just a flash in the pan you know!"

[Mr Brightside]

Alpha Papa and Porridge are the best ones, but even then they're not as good as the actual sitcoms. I don't understand the point in making a film of a sitcom anyway. Just why? What's wrong with something being a TV show. Sitcoms don't usually lend themselves to stories that need the big screen treatment.

Worst one, even though I haven't seen it, is Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie because the sitcom is the worst thing I've seen in years.

I still haven't gotten around to seeing the League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. Was it any good?

[Replies From View]

I still haven't gotten around to seeing the League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. Was it any good?

Depends if you think meta-fiction is incredibly clever.

[thecuriousorange]

The best is In the Loop and yes, it is BASED on that sitcom.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I wouldn't count the Partridge film only because it's not really based on the sitcom, it's an addition to a body of work based around a character who existed long before the sitcom did.

It uses the setting and supporting characters from I'm Alan Partridge though. It is pretty much a feature length episode.

[dr beat]

Absolutely Fabulous (2016)

Watched this a couple of weeks ago over the Easter weekend, and was pleasantly surprised to find it very enjoyable indeed.  No Oscar winner for sure, but still loadsa daft fun and well-paced.  Loads of cameos but ones that all make sense in the context of the film.

[Sydward Lartle]

This is an absolutely bloody terrible trailer for one of the better TV-to-cinema spin-offs. It misses the mark so completely.

Just because I like it, the 1971 Please, Sir! film in its entirety. "Tiny tots crossing it says here mush, tiny tots crossing!"

[Brundle-Fly]

Yer bleedin' left this one 'aht !

[Sydward Lartle]

Perhaps because I'm still recovering from the utter horror that was the Alf Garnett Saga. Christ that was bad.

[zomgmouse]

The best is In the Loop and yes, it is BASED on that sitcom.

The Academy seemed to think so too as the script was nominated in the Adapted category.

[zomgmouse]

It uses the setting and supporting characters from I'm Alan Partridge though. It is pretty much a feature length episode.

It also draws from Mid-Morning Matters, though, so I'd say it's a continuation of the character in a different medium.

[FredNurke]

Blimey, is that a syrup on Alf? I might have to watch it for that alone.

[Ignatius_S]

Blimey, is that a syrup on Alf? I might have to watch it for that alone.

Part of the film is set prior to the series - it's well worth watching.

[Ignatius_S]

Alphabetical list (possibly not complete)....

Solid list – but earlier UK examples could get a shout. Off the top of my head, there was a film based on The Larkins and one on Whack-O! The latter's plot involved a seedy headmaster (Jimmy Edwards) passing off his bookmaker's son (Melvin Hayes) as an Indian prince in order to cover his debts and somehow improve the fortunes of his school – plus a schoolboy rebellion. Richard Briers was also in the cast, I think.

I know you've specifically chosen UK films, but American are worth considering. ones are worth a mention. Lum and Abner and The Great Gildersleeve both had several film spin-offs each – the former are the most solid. In the (radio) series of Lum and Abner, two actors played virtually every part and most episodes were 15 minutes long (there was a disastrous change of format) but it transferred into films quite nicely.   The characters Fibber McGee and Molly (stars of err.. Fibber McGee and Molly) also appeared in a few films.

Munsters, Go Home! Was a respectable big-screen outing for The Munsters – Herman (I think) discovers he's inherited an English estate – Terry-Thomas is one of the villains.

There have been at least two woeful, fairly recent attempts to revive US sitcoms as modern films that I can think of – The Phil Silvers Show and The Honeymooners. In the case of the former, there's an argument that Buffalo Soldiers was a better adapting of the basic Bilko idea (IIRC, there was even an decent, but hapless commanding colonel).

There's also The Flintstones ones and think the first one stacks up well against the series.

I wouldn't count the Partridge film only because it's not really based on the sitcom, it's an addition to a body of work based around a character who existed long before the sitcom did.

Roughly the same argument can be made with George & Mildred. The two main characters came out of another sitcom (Man About The House) and the film isn't really based on George & Mildred sitcom – their neighbours are seen fleetingly but other than that, it's just them staying away with a sub-plot about George being mistaken for an assassin. The characters as exactly as per MATH.

[JoeyBananaduck]

I think the Are You Being Served? movie absolutely epitomizes what could go wrong with a British sitcom to movie adaptation, particularly in the 70s. Stupid premise (since when do staff of a department store take holidays together?), comedy 'foreign setting' (Costa Plonker, if you ruddy well please), ruder jokes than on the telly just because they can, etc.

I once bought a relative the Are You Being Served box-set for Christmas knowing they were a fan.
"Oh lovely! That's great. Has that got all the lot in it?"
"Yeah, everything apart from the movie but I can get you that on a seperate one."
"Fuck no. Don't bother with that."

[Ignatius_S]

I haven't seen the TV version, but I rather enjoyed That's Your Funeral – excellent cast and a subplot involving a rival undertakers using their business as front for smuggling drugs was surprisingly fun (the coffin crammed with cannabis is cremated, natch).

Long time since I saw it, but remember The Lovers as being pretty decent – as far as I can remember, the adaptation worked well.

I've not seen it, or the series, but Bad Education got it's own film, rather tiresomely called The Bad Education Movie. Oh, and your list missed out South Park The Movie and The Simpsons Movie. The former being one of the best, and the latter one of the very worst!

Wouldn't say The Simpsons Movie is a great film but it's reasonable solid and thought it was better on the second watching. Disappointing maybe, but one of the worse adaptations, nah.

'Please Sir!' for me. The film seemed to be on TV often when I was a kid, but the show wasn't. It had long since finished. Later, when one of the satellite channels aired it, I tuned in and was very disappointed. Not a patch on the film. John Alderton is great in the film version.

Yeah, would agree with that – for me, I think it was partly because I felt the series hadn't aged well and the film set expectations higher.

I had a similar experience with Bless This House – not a great film, but found it enjoyable enough (good cast and it's one of the roles that I actually like Terry Scott in) and the series felt more dated.

[JoeyBananaduck]

I thought last year's Dad's Army film was surprisingly decent. Cliche and predictable, yes, but as an homage to the original cast, not too bad at all. And I'm fairly ambivalent towards the original series.

[Ignatius_S]

I think the Are You Being Served? movie absolutely epitomizes what could go wrong with a British sitcom to movie adaptation, particularly in the 70s. Stupid premise (since when do staff of a department store take holidays together?), comedy 'foreign setting' (Costa Plonker, if you ruddy well please), ruder jokes than on the telly just because they can, etc....

Technically, it's actually a stage show to movie (and IIRC, Sydward mentioned this in another thread). Like a number of sitcoms (e.g. Sykes), a live version was produced due to their popularity.

The stage show was a hit and the film did well commercially, which I think should be kept in mind. Although I'm not a fan of the series, it's not the worst big-screen outing from a sitcom – the film, like the series, is largely salvaged by the cast. I would much rather take it over Love Thy Neighbour or Father, Dear Father any day.

[JoeyBananaduck]

Technically, it's actually a stage show to movie (and IIRC, Sydward mentioned this in another thread). Like a number of sitcoms (e.g. Sykes), a live version was produced due to their popularity.

True enough! And bizarrely is still staged to this day - some theatre company or other was doing it in Harrogate a few months ago.

[Ignatius_S]

True enough! And bizarrely is still staged to this day - some theatre company or other was doing it in Harrogate a few months ago.

Hee - nice to know the tradition carries on!

Watched this a couple of weeks ago over the Easter weekend, and was pleasantly surprised to find it very enjoyable indeed.  No Oscar winner for sure, but still loadsa daft fun and well-paced.  Loads of cameos but ones that all make sense in the context of the film.

Most of the review I saw said pretty much the same thing – and there was no pretence that it was something more than what it was (just a fun film).

Alpha Papa and Porridge are the best ones, but even then they're not as good as the actual sitcoms. I don't understand the point in making a film of a sitcom anyway. Just why? What's wrong with something being a TV show...

Money is one reason. A TV show and a film are just commercial products – a major reason that there were so many sitcom adaptations in the 1970s is that the programmes were incredibly popular and the films (on the whole) did very good business).

However, creatively, people were able to do more – such filming on location. With something like Steptoe & Son, the film house looks far, far more squalid and disgusting than the series.

In some cases, I wouldn't say that the sitcom was that great to begin with and sometimes the films were better. For instance, Up Pompeii, looks pretty impressive as a film and benefited from a really strong cast – I'm a big fan of Howerd but the TV series (like other shows, like The Howerd Confessions) place too much on his shoulders and it's a better film that other starring roles, such as Jumping for Joy.

Sitcoms don't usually lend themselves to stories that need the big screen treatment....

Mmm, sitcom = situation comedy. That would lend itself to a film format quite nicely and something like Please, Sir works well as a film. There, I would say, it was partly to do with a much stronger plot than ones in the series and partly, because the longer format gave different opportunities.

...I still haven't gotten around to seeing the League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. Was it any good?

I would say yes – one thing about LoG I particularly like is that they always played around with the formats (e.g. they did something slightly different with each TV series; the Christmas special was a nice nod to Christmas ghost stories) rather than just play it safe.  That happens here.

FWIW, I watched the film with a few friends, one had never seen LoG and one had but didn't like there show and was watching the film reluctantly. Both really liked the film.