10 Times 90s Cinema Tried To Reboot 60s Television (And Failed)
6. My Favourite Martian (1999)
From Mork and Mindy to Third Rock From The Sun, ALF to whatever that thing starring FRED! was a few years back, the alien living a suburban life on Earth has been a long-standing tradition for the American sitcom. You can at least partly owe this to My Favourite Martian. With over 100 episodes cranked out during its run between 1963 and 1966, and with the format working so well in various other incarnations during the following decades, it made sense to give it that '90s spin.
The trouble is, no one really knows what My Favourite Martian is outside of the US, so when potential international audiences saw the poster they thought “What the hell is this?” Then, when they saw the trailer, they thought “I know what this is! This is a bad movie!”
Despite strong performances from its two leads Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Daniels, the wholesome, magical vibe of the TV show was replaced by raunchiness and poop gags, and as such was met with disdain by the adults who used to watch as children looking for that little nostalgic hit.