What do “Friday Night Lights,” “M*A*S*H” and “Psycho” have in common? When you look at them as movies — where they rank among classics for many – the similarities are minuscule. However, they do all share on common link: Long after they left the big screen, they all saw revivals on the small screen and became classics in their own right. With “Fargo” making its way onto TV screens, time will tell if it can join their ranks.
The “Fargo” reboot, starring Martin Freeman (“The Hobbit” trilogy) and Billy Bob Thornton, takes place in small-town Minnesota, sharing a similar plot to the original film by Joel and Ethan Coen: an everyman (Freeman in the series, William H. Macy in the original) faces a fallout from his chance encounter with the criminal world (Thornton in the series, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare in the film). The original film is a cult classic, regarded as one of the Coens’ best films and the film that won Frances McDormand a Best Actress Oscar for playing the small town’s pregnant sheriff. While reviews of the new series have been positive so far, it appears that the show’s creator, Noah Hawley, has been willing to bring his own stylistic touch to the material, reviving it in a way that works.
“Fargo” is not the only movie-to-television show currently on-air. NBC’s “Parenthood” is a loose, modern adaptation of the 1989 film, with Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia taking the roles not unlike those of Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen in the original. The new “Parenthood” has been warmly received since first airing in 2010, although it is still awaiting renewal for a sixth season. On A&E, “Bates Motel” is a modern prequel to the Alfred Hitchcock classic “Psycho,” starring Vera Farmiga as dedicated, calculating matriarch Norma Bates and the owner of the titular hotel and Freddie Highmore as her son, the infamous Norman. Depicting the Bates family’s descent into madness that consumed them in “Psycho,” the TV series – from “Lost” producer Carlton Cuse and “Friday Night Lights” producer Kerry Ehrin and Anthony Cipriano – manages to combine modern issues with old-school thrills to great success: Currently in its second season, it was recently renewed for a third.
The list goes on, and ranges from more modern films such as “Friday Night Lights,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” to classic films such as “M*A*S*H,” “In the Heat of the Night” and “The Odd Couple.” While Hollywood may currently be entering into a sequel-and-remake culture, the adaptation to television provides a better chance at emulating the original film’s style than a big-screen remake. While not all film-to-television adaptations are able to succeed, those that do make their mark on the TV landscape. A cinematic touch to a weekly television show is a welcomed addition to any show, and the prospect of seeing beloved on-screen characters once again on the small screen draws in both previous fans and newcomers alike. The quality of these shows is typically top-notch, so even if there are a few bumps along the way, they both invent their own place in the television universe and preserve the integrity and classic statuses of their big-screen predecessors.
While “M*A*S*H,” “Psycho” and “Friday Night Lights” may be hard acts to follow in terms of film-to-television adaptations, the warm reception for “Fargo” – which, funny enough, premiered two weeks after the original film was re-released on Bluray – is a good sign, but time will tell if it can live up to the massive expectations it faces from fans.
