10 Terrible TV Adaptations Of Classic Films (That Everybody Forgot About)
9. Fast Times
Adaptation Of – Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
The Cameron Crowe penned Fast Times At Ridgemont High was one of the defining coming-of-age films of the 1980s. Put together after the then 22-year-old Crowe went undercover for a year at a San Diego high school, its authenticity, blend of serious and comedic subject matter and one of the most iconic nude scenes in cinematic history, led to it becoming a sensation.
In 1986, CBS commissioned a television adaptation to capitalise on its success, bringing back actors Ray Walston and Vincent Schiavelli to reprise their roles as teachers Mr. Hand and Mr. Vargas but recasting each of the film’s teen characters with then-unknown talents (including a young Patrick Dempsey).
Despite the involvement of the film’s director Amy Hecklering, the critical response was scathing. The need to water down an R-rated comedy drama into something palatable for network television audiences and censors resulted in a massively bland affair, with the sexual and drug-related content that steered the original story was heavily toned down or outright removed.
To nobody’s surprise, the series lasted just seven episodes before the plug was pulled, having turned off audiences in droves with its sheer dullness.