10 Terrible TV Adaptations Of Classic Films (That Everybody Forgot About)

Adaptation Of – Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

In what is most excellent news, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter will return to screens next year for a third film in the Bill & Ted franchise, thirty years after the original film and twenty seven years after its sequel. Scarily enough, Keanu still looks exactly the same.

A television adaptation was originally developed in 1991, with complete unknowns (to this day they don’t even have Wikipedia articles) Evan Richards and Christopher Kennedy stepping into the roles of Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan. It was held back for a year, with its airing ultimately dependent on whether Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey ended up being a box-office success or not.

Despite sending the duo on escapades across time in each episode and including takes on Albert Einstein, Elvis Presley and King Arthur, the series was terribly acted. It lasted just six episodes before being cancelled by Fox, then in their infancy as a broadcast network.

Interestingly, it was the second take on Bill & Ted to hit television, the first being an animated series of the same name that had Reeves, Winter and George Carlin (as Rufus) on board. Much more successful (it lasted for two seasons), it remains similarly forgotten today despite the talent involved.