Small screen hits that failed at the movies

Five of the worst films based on TV

There was a time when Hollywood executives were convinced that television would end the movie industry. They were certain no one would want to pay for entertainment when there was free TV to watch.

Both the film and television worlds not only survived but also thrived. To keep up with the growing demand for new products to film, the movie executives turned to the same industry they once feared. Television programs were adapted into big screen productions. The trend continues with “Baywatch” being the latest feature film to draw on a TV show for inspiration.

Some of the efforts worked while others should have been canceled before being released. The following list includes five of the worst movies based on a TV show.

1. “CHiPs” (2017): Dax Shepard and Michael Peña should have been arrested for grand theft for their part in this robbery of the moviegoing public. The effort to make this movie a spoof of the beloved TV show that ran from 1977-1983 might have worked had they had even one funny joke. No such luck as all the pair had to work with was a script — by Shepard — that banked on a running joke about masturbating to generate laughs.

2. “The Honeymooners” (2005): It was a monster mistake to make a film version of the 1955 series starring Jackie Gleason. As much as 75% of what made the original “Honeymooners” such classic entertainment was Gleason. It was his bigger-than-life personality that made the show a classic. Cedric the Entertainer has skills but not enough to be a modern Ralph Kramden.

3. “Lost in Space” (1998): The biggest problem director Stephen Hopkins faced trying to adapt this ’60s sci-fi series into a movie was that the original TV show never had a clear identity. In a span of three seasons, the TV show went from a serious space adventure to a cosmic goof.

And, the film is just as big a cosmic goof.

The casting of Gary Oldman as Dr. Smith (the Snidely Whiplash of space hitchhikers) was smart, but that’s where the clever thinking left orbit. A convoluted script mixed with a bland Matt LeBlanc as Maj. Don West should have forced the studio to have the prints lost in the space of a landfill.

4. “The Beverly Hillbillies” (1993): Few films based on TV shows have featured so much talent and potential only to end up missing the mark so much. Director Penelope Spheeris was coming off her massive success with “Wayne’s World” and put together a cast that included Diedrich Bader, Jim Varney, Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman.

The one thing everyone forgot was that the TV comedy, which started in 1962, was a painfully light sitcom that relied on juvenile jokes and backwoods humor. That’s OK when it’s free on TV and there are other shows to watch but not worth the cost of a ticket.

This was a wee-doggies of a film (with the emphasis on dog).

5. “Inspector Gadget” (1999): The only way this liveaction version of the creative animated series could have been any worse is if the vanilla version of comedy, French Stewart, had played the robotic detective rather than Matthew Broderick. At least Broderick tried to bring the same kind of dry humor to the role that Don Adams had infused in the original series. Try being the operative word.