On Wednesdays, I take a look at a series that lasted one season or less. Here is a look at Ferris Bueller!
FERRIS BUELLER
Programming Details:
August 23, 1990 - August 11, 1991
13 episodes
NBC
Starring: Charlie Schlatter, Richard Riehle, Sam Freed, Jennifer Aniston, Ami Dolenz, Brandon Douglas, Judith Kahan, Cristine Rose
Developed by: John Masius
Plot: Based on the hit 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris Bueller (Schlatter) is a popular and charismatic and sometimes troublemaker Santa Monica high school student who frequently talks to the camera. He navigates life with his neurotic best friend, Cameron (Douglas) while chasing his crush, Sloan (Dolenz). He also has to deal with his parents (Rose and Freed) and older sister (Aniston) as well as his main adversary, Principal Ed Rooney (Riehle).
TV series based on movies have to figure how similar to be to the movie and how much they should be their own entity. Ferris Bueller chose to tackle that head-on first thing in the pilot by implying that the Matthew Broderick character in the film was based on the real Ferris Bueller. The series then proceeded to pay a ton of homage to the film especially with the principal character but also with other things such as the monotone teacher. The connection to the film was an interesting choice but not one that I think was necessary to differentiate the TV series especially when so much of it was so similar. The only other real difference was the change in setting from Chicago to Santa Monica.
The production value was high for this pilot but the performances were average at best. Charlie Schlatter had enough confidence in the title role but his charisma was sorely lacking compared to Matthew Broderick. Broderick was so engaging with the audience in the film and Schlatter tried to do that but never really connected. Likewise, Richard Riehle was a lesser version of the antagonist compared to the very memorable film performance by Jeffrey Jones. Jennifer Aniston, a few years before Friends, was given much more material than Brandon Douglas or Ami Dolenz and had some good moments. Overall though, the series felt like a pale imitation of the movie.
There were many new shows in the Fall of 1990 that were based on hit films with Ferris Bueller joining other titles like Uncle Buck and Parenthood. NBC also made a decision that fall to preview all of their new shows in August so each episode got an early airing to try to build interest before the glut of fall shows arrived. Whether it was due to poor strategy or poor shows, the gamble didn't work as their fall slate was nothing impressive. Two of their nine new shows worked out. One was Law & Order and the other was the lead-in for Ferris Bueller on Monday nights, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Bel-Air wasn't a big hit out of the gate though so the Monday hour struggled in the Fall of 1990.
NBC was patient with The Fresh Prince but not so much with Ferris. The series received negative reviews that compared it unfavorably to the film (as well as the similar but more original Parker Lewis Can't Lose, which debuted on FOX around the same time). Ferris was yanked off the schedule after the December 3 airing with one more episode airing as a one-off in Summer 1991. Despite the failure of the show, I'm surprised no one has tried again with the Ferris Bueller property in the thirty years since. Charlie Schlatter found success on Diagnosis: Murder later in the decade and of course I don't need to tell you what happened to Jennifer Aniston.
Tomorrow: A look at the first half of Season 1 of Get Smart!
Next Wednesday: A look at the failed TV show Uncle Buck!
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