15 Best Movies Based On ‘60s And ‘70s TV Shows
Great television shows can lead to great movies. Some of my favorite shows that I watched in syndication as a kid have became some of my favorite movies as an adult. These are all the best movies based on shows from the 1960s and 1970s, including some you might not expect.
Mission: Impossible
This one is really a nod to the whole film franchise for Mission: Impossible, which is based on the show of the same name. It's hard to believe that with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, the franchise is closing in on 30 years. It's even wilder when you realize the show ended 50 years ago.
The movies are quite different from the television series, as you'd expect, but the show was one of the hippest on TV when it ran for seven seasons between 1966 and 1973. It obviously didn't have the budget that the movies have, but like the films, it brought together different crews with different skills for each mission, also relying on a core group (three or four members) who worked each job.
The Fugitive
The Fugitive TV show that inspired the 1993 Harrison Ford film was the original LOST. It was groundbreaking at the time (1962 until 1966), because it wasn't a story-of-the-week series. Instead, viewers followed weekly as Dr. Richard Kimble scrambled to avoid authorities and find the one-armed man who killed his wife. Like Game of Thrones, audiences tuned into the finale in huge numbers, and it still ranks among the top-ever ratings winners.
The movie, like the show, was a huge hit as well. Pitting Harrison Ford as Kimble (who took the role just so he could grow a beard) against Tommy Lee Jones as the Federal Marshal trying to catch him. It raked in cash at the box office and is now considered a stone-cold classic from the era. Who can ever forget the scene above the dam?
The Brady Bunch Movie
The Brady Bunch Movie, and A Very Brady Sequel are truly underrated, and based on the classic '70s show that ran for five seasons, from 1969 until 1974. Both, but especially the second one, are instant "stops" when I'm looking to see what's on TV. They are, at once, exactly like the TV show, and nothing like it at all. The '90s movies take their plots from the show and have the family act exactly as they did in the early '70s, but it's set in 1990s Los Angeles. The world has moved on, but the Bradys haven't. It makes for magic, honestly.
Charlie’s Angels
Charlie's Angels (1976-1981) was one of the most popular shows of the 1970s, and the movies based on it have been wildly popular too, but for this list, we're talking about the "original" movie from 2000 starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu as the Angels, and Bill Murray as Bosley.
Like the show, the movie follows an elite crew of female private investigators who work for the mysterious Charlie. In both, Charlie was played by legendary actor John Forsythe, though he's never on screen in either, he's just a voice on a telephone. Like the Mission: Impossible movies, Charlie's Angels keeps the cool but amps up the action to incredible heights.
Addams Family (1991)
The Addams Family TV series has spawned multiple movies, shows, and spin-offs. Surprisingly, the show only ran for two seasons, from 1964-1966. It became a staple of syndicated TV all through the '70s, '80s, and into the '90s, which is why the family has become so beloved by fans.
The 1991 movie starring Angelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, and Christina Ricci retains every bit of the creepy, the kooky, and the lovability of the weirdest family on the block. Ricci is still praised for her performance, so much so that fans rejoiced when she joined the cast of Netflix hit show Wednesday, even if she's not playing the titular role.
Starsky & Hutch
The show that the movie Starsky & Hutch is based on, which ran from 1975 to 1979 was another one of those "cool" shows. Everyone wanted to be either Starsky or Hutch and you could be defined as one, based on your personality. Another thing that made it cool, let's be honest, was their awesome Ford Gran Torino.
The car and the characters were back in 2004, with Ben Stiller as David Starsky, and Owen Wilson as Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson, two streetwise cops who come together as partners in the movie. It's an origin story about two of the most popular cops of the '70s, and while the show had a serious tone, the movie is light and campy, and very funny, especially if you were a fan of the original.
The Saint
The Saint (1997), starring Val Kilmer, is partly based on the TV show of the same name, starring a pre-James Bond Roger Moore that aired from 1962-1969 on ITV in the U.K. The character of secret agent Simon Templar, of "The Saint" goes back to a book series in the 1920s. So, while the movie is technically based on the books, its heart is right with the '60s TV show.
It's a movie that seems to completely fly under the radar, despite a fantastic performance from Kilmer and an equally superb Elisabeth Shue as his secret love interest. It's a very fun action flick that features Kilmer-as-Templar in a whole slew of secret identities, giving the actor a lot to work with. Some of it is a little campy, but that only makes watching it more fun.
The Twilight Zone: The Movie
The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) is a lot different than the others on this list, and that's the least because the show was so different from anything else on TV. The movie is made up of four independent stories, all based on original Twilight Zone episodes. Each one is directed by a big name in cinema, Steven Spielberg, John Landis, Mad Max: Furiosa director George Miller, and Gremlins director Joe Dante.
As a kid, this movie terrified me, long before I ever became a fan of the original TV show, which aired from 1959 until 1964 and radically redefined what TV could be. The movie takes fewer chances, but it updates the stories well and will definitely have you thinking about it for weeks after.
Maverick
Before Top Gun: Maverick broke all the records, there was simply Maverick (1994), starring Jodi Foster, Mel Gibson, and James Garner, and based on the 1960s western TV show of the same name. The movie, and the show, are sort of lost to time these days.
The program aired in the heyday of television westerns from 1957 to 1962 and is overshadowed by shows like Gunsmoke and Bonanza. The movie, as charming as it is (starring Gibson as riverboat gambler Bret Maverick), might have been a little before its time, coming a decade before the poker boom. It's a fun romp and was a box office hit, but it's rarely mentioned as a great gambling movie, which it is.
Dragnet
The movie Dragnet (1987), based on the two shows of the same name, falls in the same category as The Brady Bunch Movie and Starsky & Hutch. It's a satire of the show but follows the beats and rhythms of it to a T. Dan Akyroyd plays Sgt. Joe Friday, the role made famous on the TV shows by Jack Webb. Tom Hanks plays his new partner, Pep Streebek.
The first version of Dragnet aired in the 1950s, but it's the one from the 1960s, which ran for four seasons (1967-1971), that a lot of the material from the movie is pulled. Webb is still as by the book as it gets, but Streebek is a loose cannon, more akin to a comedic version of Riggs in Lethal Weapon, without the violent streak. The whole movie is worth watching simply for Hanks' performance. While it will never be remembered as one of his best, it's great to revisit those early days of his career when Hanks was... whacky. It's more than just the facts, ma'am.
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is one of the most enduring pieces of pop culture, and one reason for that is the live-action movie from 1994 starring John Goodman as Fred and Rick Moranis as Barney. Years before Disney got on the live-action remake train, The Flintstones paid tribute to what was, at the time, the longest-running primetime animated show. The original aired 166 episodes from 1960 to 1966.
The franchise has continued on in the decades since the movie, with numerous TV spinoffs, animated movies, theme park rides, and a sequel to the movie, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, in 2000. With rumors of a new movie in the works, it seems these characters could live on forever, as they should.
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
You definitely can't make this list without a movie in the Star Trek universe and there is no better than Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. Based, of course, on the classic series that famously only ran for three seasons from 1966-1969, Khan (1982) sees the crew of the Enterprise led by William Shatner as Kirk and Leanard Nimoy as Spock, locked in a death battle with the legendary Khan Noonien Singh, played by Ricardo Montalbán. Sure, there are great things in all the Star Trek movies, but keeping it real, this one is still the best.
The Great Muppet Caper
Another legendary franchise started on the small screen on the Muppet Show (1976-1981) and jumped, in a big way, to the silver screen with 1981's The Great Muppet Caper, and others, of course. This is the second film featuring Kermit, Miss Piggy, and all your other favorite Muppets. It's also the best. Not only do you get a great performance from the always-underrated Charles Grodin, but it combines the Muppets with a heist and that is a winning combo.
Get Smart
At the height of The Office came Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart in 2008's Get Smart. While the movie took a few hits from reviewers, Carell really is the perfect actor to take on the role made famous in the '60s by Don Adams, who played Smart through the show's run from 1965 to 1970.
The clumsy and quirky Smart is right in Carell's wheelhouse, and despite some uneven moments, he still shines in his performance. Anne Hathaway is, as always, pitch-perfect as well. Add in some of the really fun supporting roles, played by the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Bill Murray, and the late Alan Arkin and James Caan, and you've got yourself the perfect popcorn chomper for a Friday.
George Of The Jungle
Of all the movies and shows on this list, the one that ran for the shortest time was, by far, George of the Jungle, which was later turned into a movie with Brendan Fraser. The original animated show lasted for 17 episodes (total) as a Saturday morning cartoon in 1967. The theme song proved more enduring, and that's honestly what probably kept it in the public consciousness at all.
Still, in 1997, Fraser played the role of the klutzy version of Tarzan and like many of his movies from the time, it took a beating by critics, but has stood the test of time. It's not the best movie on this list, but it's still really funny and Fraser is great.
There are dozens of shows from the 1960s and 1970s that haven't been made into movies, so hopefully Hollywood will keep mining them. I've still got my fingers crossed for a full movie based on the oft-forgotten Emergency! and I won't be satisfied until someone makes it!
