With the recent release and immediate box office belly flop of the comedy movie adaptation of the ‘90s popular TV show Baywatch (which consisted of 80% slow-motion boobs and 20% David Hasselhoff awesomeness), the recent trend of turning drama shows into comedy movies got one more notch on the belt. After the back-to-back box office and critical successes of 21 and 22 Jump Street, Dax Shepard tried his hand at a similar R-rated borderline self-parody approach with his comedy feature take on Chips.
Granted, that one crashed and burned as well, but I doubt that the success of the 21 Jump Street movies will stop Hollywood from taking a crack at this genre experiment for a while. Although, this approach didn’t even begin with 21 Jump Street, and has been with us for a while. Who can forget, as hard as we may try, the 1987 comedy version of the super self-serious police procedural Dragnet? McG’s gaudy and cringe-inducing Charlie’s Angels movies were also cheekier and more self-referential than the TV show.
Now it’s true that the original shows these movies are adapted from are far from bastions of dramatic heft and self-seriousness. 21 Jump Street certainly had its share of comedy, Chips was an inherently goofy ‘70s cop show, intentionally or not, and Baywatch was certainly a heaping helping of intentional camp. That being said, technically, they were one-hour drama shows and certainly weren’t as invested in the joke-a-minute structure of their movie counterparts.
This led us to imagine an alternate universe, where drama adaptations of popular comedy shows were made, and instigated a new trend? Here’s a list of popular comedy shows that could turn into somber, heartbreaking, self-reflective, prime Oscar-bait dramas.
1. Married… With Children
The Premise: Al Bundy (Michael Shannon) is a washed-up shoe salesman trying desperately to cling on to his glory days as a high school football hero. He hates his job, his family, and his life. He contemplates suicide every day, and the only thing that stops him is the reassuring thought that he’s as much of a source of grief for his family as his family is for him. His alcoholic wife Margaret (Sandra Bullock) is a shrill, backstabbing, abusive mess, who also lives in the past when she was the most popular girl in high school.
Margaret begins to realize more and more that her popularity was tied directly with her being the “school slut” who “always put out,” and her advancing age and fading looks makes her feel as if she has nothing else to give to the world. This makes her build an intense resentment towards Al, whom she blames for ruining her fun-loving spirit, regardless of the fact that she never got the respect she always believed she deserved. To make matters worse, she sees a version of herself in her daughter Kelly (Elle Fanning), who sleeps around with big, burly men in a desperate attempt to get her father to at least acknowledge her presence. When Al and Margaret’s troubled son Bud (Miles Teller) goes to jail for lewd acts with a minor, the already crumbling family unit goes down a road of inevitable self-destruction.
Director: Alexander Payne
2. Frasier
The Premise: Dr. Frasier Crane (Michael Fassbender) is a reserved, borderline anti-social Psychiatrist who hosts a morning radio show. The use of this media allows him to pretend to be an effective professional without actually talking to anyone face-to-face, as he faux-eases listeners’ deep-seated neuroses through inefficient five-minute conversations. His fear of social interaction stems from the fact that he’s a closeted gay man, who felt that he had to be married to a woman he barely liked in order to keep up appearances. Even though he’s divorced and is living thousands of miles away from his off-putting ex, his love life is non-existent, since he can’t express his real feelings to any man, and lacks the courage and fortitude to sneak around.
The only semblance of a relationship Frasier has is a co-dependent one with his brother Niles (Ewan McGregor), who suffers from chronic depression stemmed from the fact that his wife Maris is a narcissist who sleeps around and takes great pleasure in reminding Niles how much of a pathetic cuckhold he really is. One day, Frasier’s solitary existence is torn to pieces when his father Martin (Anthony Hopkins), a racist and homophobic ex-police officer with serious anger management issues, moves in with him after being forced into retirement without pension, due to being accused of an anti-gay hate crime. Martin’s hatred towards gay people causes Frasier’s secret identity to repress further, as he feels more and more tormented by his true self.
Director: Steve McQueen
3. Seinfeld
The Premise: Jerry Seinfeld (Ben Stiller) is a semi-successful comedian living as a bachelor in New York City. Dating a different woman every week and dumping them for frivolous reasons, all because he’s deathly afraid of commitment, used to be fun when he was in his 30s, but now that he’s nearing his mid-40s, he begins to realize that this lifestyle is rather pathetic and hollow. It also doesn’t help that his best friends aren’t doing much better in the adulthood department. George (Let’s happily pretend Philip Seymour Hoffman is still alive) is a neurotic mess who suffers from severe arrested development thanks to his overbearing parents. Elaine (Greta Gerwig) is Jerry’s ex and a high-strung poster child of type one personality.
Jerry and Elaine can’t help but occasionally hook up, making them constantly feel confused and dissatisfied with the nature of their relationship. Jerry’s miserable existence is compounded by his careless and crude neighbor Kramer (John Turturro), who constantly humiliates him in front of his friends by force feeding him cantaloupe and making him wear an ugly puffy shirt. Instead of working towards a concrete plan that could better their lives, these adult children do nothing but whine and moan about their station in life as well-to-do metropolitan Caucasian intellectuals.
Director: Noah Baumbach
4. Friends
The Premise: In this raw and in-your-face drama, six New York City friends struggle to merely exist and perhaps find a modicum of happiness within this unforgiving and cold city. Ross (Miles Teller) is a homophobic paleontologist whose life is shattered after he finds out that his wife of seven years is gay. His sister Monica (Shailene Woodley) can’t hold onto a job or an active social life due to her crippling OCD. His best friend Chandler (Jonah Hill) annoys everyone as he uses lame jokes and catchphrases to cover for the fact that he’s suicidal, his depression brought on by his abusive parents.
Chandler’s roommate Joey (Channing Tatum) is a struggling actor who turns to prostitution in order to make ends meet. The gang’s mutual friend Phoebe (Brie Larson) is a terrible singer/songwriter who clings to a self-destructive addiction to opioids as a last-ditch attempt to forget about her mother’s suicide. Ross has a crush on Monica’s best friend Rachel (Jennifer Lawrence), and sees a potential relationship with her as his salvation out of his miserable existence. However, Rachel’s self-obsessed, shallow and materialistic behavior pretty much guarantees that she barely notices Ross’ presence, pushing Ross deeper and deeper into self-hatred.
Director: John Cassavetes’ reanimated corpse
