Famous movie characters and their TV counterparts

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) cuts a menacing figure in Psycho. Did you wonder about his backstory? Probably not, but eventually, some people did. Or maybe they just wanted to see his mother alive. Thus, we got the Psycho prequel Bates Motel, where Freddie Highmore plays young Norman.

Jodie Foster won an Oscar for playing Clarice in Silence of the Lambs . For the sequel, Julianne Moore stepped into the role. Eventually, CBS decided to bring the character back for a TV series, even though they did not have the rights to the character of Hannibal Lecter. Clarice instead had to focus on, well, Clarice, played by Rebecca Breeds.

The film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was kind of a flop. Then they turned it into a TV show, and it became a cult classic, perhaps even without that “cult” modifier needed. Kristy Swanson played the teenage vampire killer in the film, but Sarah Michelle Gellar rose to fame in the role on television, a role she will always be remembered for.

Tragedy struck on the set of The Crow, as actor Brandon Lee was killed in an accident involving a gun. They made a few other films with the avenging character without Lee. Eventually, The Crow made its way to TV. There, he was played by Mark Dacascos. You may know him best as The Chairman of Iron Chef America.

There have been five different iterations of Damien, and all five have involved different actors. The most well-known of the bunch is the original The Omen, the classic horror film about the young boy who is, you know, the Antichrist. After a few film versions, Damien came to television in his titular Damien. Unlike in the first film, where Harvey Spencer Stephens plays him as a child, Bradley James plays a 30-year-old Damien in the TV show.

They call him Mister Tibbs. Who is he, though? Well, in the movie version of In the Heat of the Night, he’s the iconic Sidney Poitier. Then, they decided to turn the Oscar-winning film about race into a by-the-books police procedural. The TV version of In the Heat of the Night ran for 142 episodes. That’s not too shabby. In the show, Tibbs returns, but this time, he’s played by Howard Rollins, who may be a nice guy for all we know but is no Poitier.

He shrunk his kids. He blew up another kid. He shrunk himself and some of his adult compatriots. Wayne Szalinski just couldn’t get it right in the world of film. If he has one saving grace, it’s the fact he’s played by Rick Moranis, who rules. After three films, they decided to make a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids TV show. It ran for 66 episodes but featured Peter Scolari as Szalinski. Fortunately, the late Scolari also ruled.

The latest A League of Their Own TV series hit Amazon Prime Video in August 2022. Before that, a revival TV series lasted only five episodes on CBS. The series is a continuation of the show, but with basically an entirely new cast. On CBS, Carey Powell tried to replicate Geena Davis’ excellent turn as Dottie Hinson in the film.

Do you remember that they did a Taken TV show? If you forgot, that’s probably for the best. The two-season show on NBC is best forgotten. Frankly, we’d argue that the movies are also best forgotten. Of course, the movies at least have Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills, a man with a certain set of skills. All the TV show had was some guy named Clive Standen.

Linda Hamilton is Sarah Connor. She’s stepped into that role multiple times and completely revamped the character between The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. When they made The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Hamilton was basically retired from acting, though she was coaxed back for another Terminator film eventually. Instead, Lena Headey plays Connor. You likely know her better as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones.

John Candy is arguably the only reason the movie Uncle Buck works. It rides on his charm. After the film's success in 1989, they decided to create an Uncle Buck TV show in 1990. There, it was Kevin Meaney who played the eccentric uncle character. That series ran for 22 episodes. They tried again in 2016 with a revamped idea and with Mike Epps as Uncle Buck. That time, it only lasted six episodes.

Harrison Ford’s work as Indiana Jones in three films is iconic. Yes, we know he’s starred in four Indiana Jones movies. We stand by saying his work is iconic in three films. In The Last Crusade, we also see some young Indiana Jones portrayed by River Phoenix. This probably sparked the idea for The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. In that show, Indiana Jones is primarily played by Sean Patrick Flanery, though Corey Carrier played an even younger version of Indiana.

Yes, just “Ben.” The character doesn’t have a last name. Who is “Ben?” He’s Bradley Cooper’s character in Wet Hot American Summer. He played him in the cult classic comedy well before he was famous. By the time of the Netflix series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, he was a movie star but still showed up for that series, albeit in a limited fashion. For the next series, Ten Years Later, he was too busy. As such, Adam Scott plays Ben, the premise that Ben has had a lot of plastic surgery.

Of course, they tried to make a Ferris Bueller TV show. People love that little creep. We don’t need to tell you that Matthew Broderick played Ferris in John Hughes’ film. We almost definitely need to tell you that Charlie Schlatter played him in Ferris Bueller , which only ran 13 episodes. By the way, Jennifer Aniston plays his sister Jeannie.

Ellen Burstyn won an Oscar for playing Hyatt in Martin Scorsese’s early success Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The movie got a truly successful adaptation in the sitcom Alice. It ran for nine seasons, 202 episodes, and gave us the catchphrase, “Kiss my grits.” Burstyn was replaced by Linda Lavin, who was quite successful in the role.

Alicia Silverstone became a ‘90s icon for playing Cher in Clueless. A few members of the film’s cast returned for the sitcom adaptation, but Silverstone was not one of them. Instead, Rachel Blanchard stepped into the role. The show ran three seasons, so she probably managed just fine.

We could list both Riggs and Roger Murtaugh here. Both characters from the Lethal Weapon series of films are in the Lethal Weapon TV show. Although, the actor who played Riggs did leave the show after the second season, leaving Murtaugh to fly solo in the third and final season. Clayne Crawford replaces Mel Gibson as Riggs, while Damon Wayans replaces Danny Glover, who was, we assume, too old for this…role.

In terms of success, the TV and film versions of MASH probably win out. Robert Altman’s film was a big success, getting nominated for Best Picture. Then, it was turned into one of the most successful sitcoms ever. In the movie, Donald Sutherland plays Captain “Hawkeye” Pierce, while in the show, he is memorably played by Alan Alda.

We assume Harry is played by two different actors in the two versions of Harry and the Hendersons . Admittedly, we didn’t delve into that. Here’s what we do know. In the movie, the patriarch of the Henderson clan, George, is played by John Lithgow. In the syndicated sitcom, Bruce Davison took on the role of George. Also, it looks like three different people played Harry in the show alone.

The 1959 film Gidget was big for teenagers and surf culture. As a result, Sandra Dee became one of the iconic faces of teenagehood in the ‘50s and ‘60s. There’s a reason that they sing “Sandra Dee” in Grease. They decided to turn the film that helped bolster the beach film into a TV series. Gidget was an early role for a promising young actor named Sally Field. Sure, Gidget only ran one season, but it was the ‘60s. That meant one season ran for 32 episodes.