TEN BEST TV TO FILM TRANSISTIONS With “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men” coming to an end, all eyes are falling onto the cast and behind the scenes guys to see where they go next. Though there are some TV breakouts that straddle both TV and film, Kelsey Grammer has headed TV shows and supported in various films since Frasier Crane left the building and Aaron Sorkin is happy to win screenplay Oscars to go with his Emmy’s. Most, usually try their creative style on the big screen, so who have been the ones to do it well and succeed and not join Dean Cain and Matthew Perry? 10. Clint Eastwood The first out of the gates really was Clint Eastwood, a constant mainstay of Western TV Series “Rawhide”, Clint seemed destined for obscurity until Sergio Leone needed an actor for his western; “A Fistful of Dollars”, since then he has not looked back, becoming one of THE best of his generation. 9. Michael Douglas Another early hit, Michael Douglas first break wasn’t in front of the camera but behind it, he won an Oscar for Producing Milos Forman’s “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” while starring in the TV series “The Streets of San Francisco”, his acting career would hit new heights in the eighties, when he starred in a succession of hits and to this day is often seen as one of Hollywood’s more brilliant and versatile actors. 8 & 7. JJ Abrams/Joss Whedon The interesting thing about these two is how close their stories merge, both men spent the nineties picking up pay checks working on blockbusters for JJ it was Armageddon and for Joss Whedon it was Speed, then they made their names on a TV show that featured an ass kicking heroine “Alias” and “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, for Joss and JJ things went in slightly different directions though, whereas every TV show JJ was involved in turned to gold and was a hit, Joss watched his cherished shows be cancelled one after another. Both men directed their first feature length films from TV Shows; Mission Impossible 3 and Serenity and their sophomore efforts were massive blockbusters bringing favourite characters to the big screen; “Star Trek” and “The Avengers”. The other thing? Rumour has it, that if JJ didn’t take Star Wars, Joss was the next man. 6. Denzel Washington Before George Clooney got hearts swooning, Denzel Washington was there, the star of cult 80’s hospital drama St. Elsewhere, Denzel Washington is a two time Oscar winner who has had a massive career and is one of Hollywood’s best loved actors. 5. Steven Spielberg That’s right, Mr. Spielberg spent the sixties directing episodes of TV shows such as “Ironside”, TV movie “Duel” got him enough notices to secure a feature film “The Sugarland Express” which vanished quickly, however his next film would see that it wouldn’t be for long… see there’s this shark. 4. Mullholland Drive An unusual one this, David Lynch’s brilliantly subversive and fantastic flick was actually a pilot for a TV show that was shelved, not one to do things normally, Lynch, shot additional footage and released the feature to wide spread acclaim and launched the career of Naomi Watts in the process. 3. Judd Apatow Much like Joss Whedon, Judd Apatow had to see his television shows vanish quickly, but found greater success on the big screen, as a successful director and producer of various comedies, bringing with him alumni from his shows such as James Franco and Seth Rogen. 2. Saturday Night Live Sure, feature versions of characters from these shows have been mixed for every Blues Brothers or Wayne’s World there is a Pat’s World or A Night at the Roxbury, but for the individuals, the success has been greater; Bill Murray, Dan Ackoryd, Will Ferrell and Tina Fey all started on the show. 1. George Clooney Now one of the biggest stars, George Clooney’s success didn’t seem a sure thing following Batman & Robin, the awful movie managed to almost kill every actor’s career dead, except for his, he left E.R. and shot Out of Sight and Three Kings in quick succession, carving a name for himself as an actor where the script really does matter, most tellingly of all and perhaps why he is so good and so successful is that he has a framed picture of himself as Batman in his office as a reminder of what happens if he does a movie for the money. So there it is, for Aaron Paul and Jon Hamm to take on board and to make sure they avoid bumping into Richard Dean Anderson or Josh Holloway on the food court. --- Chris
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 17:26:05 +0000