2013 – the end of the world gets a sequel?
by Doc on Nov.05, 2009, under Television
So when the world ends in 2012, is there more story to tell? Apparently so. Roland Emmerich has plans in the works for a TV series called 2013, which will follow survivors who attempt to rebuild. Maybe he learned his lesson from Stargate and wants to make sure he owns the franchise…but other than Stargate, Movie-to-TV sequels have not done well…Logan’s Run pops up in my head first…
November 6th, 2009 on 4:27 pm
There are a few more…
… that have done well. Buffy is the obvious example. La Femme Nikita (based on the French film Nikita) also did pretty well. I believe the various animated series set in the Star Wars universe have been pretty successful, too. Although just thinking about Ewoks makes me shiver now. To think, when I was a kid, I used to watch that. Out of choice.
November 7th, 2009 on 7:23 am
Re:There are a few more…
Buffy the series was very different than the movie, mainly because although it was Whedon’s script it wasn’t his movie – but it is a very good example.
Ironically the Stargate franchise was the opposite and also successful. The creators lost the rights, and a someone else did their interpretation (albeit not much different).
Unfortunately, what works great as a one shot on the big screen doesn’t always come off on the small screen as a weekly, with smaller budgets, different writers and directors, and often different actors.
November 8th, 2009 on 12:23 pm
Re:There are a few more…
Just for kicks, I decided to see what I could find for successful vs. unsuccessful series. Limiting them to genre-related shows, and no animation, anything that survived more than a single season is a win. Probably missing a few:
Alien Nation: 22 episodes and 5 TV movies. Debatable (I thought it was great myself), but put that in the “Win” column
Westworld/Beyond Westworld: 5 episodes
Blade: 12 episodes
Blue Thunder: 11 episodes
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 144 episodes and 110 sequel episodes. Definite Win, although it may not be considered a direct sequel.
Highlander: 119 episodes + 22 sequel episodes. Win
Logan’s Run: 14 episodes
Planet Of The Apes: 14 episodes
RoboCop: 22 episodes
Stargate: 214 + 107+ sequel episodes and 2 DVD movies so far and 2 more planned. Biggest ever win.
Terminator: 31 episodes. Win
Tremors: 13 episodes.
War Of The Worlds: 43 episodes, although not a direct sequel.
I’m sure I’m missing examples…but that’s 6/13. Not terribly bad at 46%, but it drops to 36% if we take Buffy and War Of The Worlds out.