6 Million Dollar Man w/ J Carey (& other dubious remakes

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 9:10 pm

This news came out last year...

Wed Oct 22, 1:25 PM ET Add Entertainment - E! Online to My Yahoo!
By Josh Grossberg

"Jim Carrey is normally one of Hollywood's $20 million men. Looks like he's taking a huge paycut.

The rubbery-faced funnyguy is ready to go bionic in a send-up of The Six Million Dollar Man.

Unlike the classic 1970s ABC sci-fi series starring Lee Majors, the movie--which has long been in development as a by-the-numbers suspense thriller--will now be transformed into a comedy vehicle, allowing Carrey to parody the action genre much in the way Mike Myers poked fun at James Bond movies in Austin Powers.

Old School director Todd Philips is onboard to helm the flick for Dimension Films.

Carrey hatched the idea of doing a comic take on the character and, along with managers Jim Miller and Eric Gold, recruited Phillips, whose rsum also includes Road Trip.

Phillips immediately sparked to the concept and agreed to pen the script with his Old School writing partner Scot Armstrong, as well as direct.

Dimension, which owned the rights to the Martin Caidin novel Cyborg on which the original show was based, readily agreed to revamp the project, a no-brainer considering Carrey's last comedy, Bruce Almighty, grossed a heavenly $470 million at the international box office.

"The teaming of Jim and Todd is the perfect creative combination to launch the franchise," says Dimension chief Bob Weinstein. "Todd is a director with proven instincts and Jim is a superstar."

Universal, which produced the original Six Million Dollar Man for ABC from 1974 to 1978 (and its spinoff, The Bionic Woman), still owns the rights to the TV series and is coproducing.

Carrey, of course, would play Air Force Colonel Steve Austin, who after a horrible plane crash, is rebuilt with experimental bionic limbs that give him superhuman strength and speed. Becoming an agent for the Office of Scientific Investigation, he uses his new powers to fight injustice and battle everything from mad scientists to Big Foot.

No word whether Majors or Lindsay Wagner (news), who starred as The Bionic Woman, will pop up in the picture. (USA Network plans to launch an update of latter show, which ran from 1976 to 1978).

Phillips plans to get to work on the screenplay as soon he and Armstrong finish writing Dimension's remake of School for Scoundrels, which he will also helm. Phillips recently completed shooting on Starsky & Hutch, another movie based on a popular 1970s TV staple. Like The Six Million Dollar Man, that flick--starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson --also put a funny spin on what was a straight drama.

Before he goes bionic, Carrey needs to finish a few other projects in the pipeline, including a remake of the 1977 comedy, Fun with Dick and Jane, which will reunite him with his Mask costar Cameron Diaz (news). He's also slated to begin production on Lemony Snicket this winter for a December 2004 release and is talking with Steven Spielberg about collaborating on a remake of The Scret Life of Walter Mitty.

The Six Million Dollar Man is expected to start shooting in fall 2004. "
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On a separate note, I also read that George Clooney was involved in talks with Warner Bros about a big screen version of The Fall Guy, another favourite cult tv show. I'd just be happy to get the original tv episodes of each on DVD. Oh yeah, chuck in The Bionic Woman as well and I'll be thrilled. Some are available:

http://fp.culttv.plus.com/dvdtv/six.htm
http://fp.culttv.plus.com/dvdtv/bionic.htm

In other news:
http://www.thezreview.co.uk/comingsoon/ ... ardthe.htm
"Monday 1st December 2003: Dukes of Hazzard Update:
Writer John O' Brien has been signed up by Warner Bros. to rewrite the script for Dukes of Hazzard. They are hoping to film the movie next year. Rumoured casting has Ashton Kutcher and Paul Walker as Bo and Luke, with Anthony Anderson rumoured for Boss Hogg."
I don't know who those actors are, but I also just read about who was a contender for Daisy Duke... (just got a star on Hollywood Boulevard, initials B.S).

The new Starsky & Hutch remake with Ben Stiller is also due soon, another "send up". From all indications, it looks like it'll be crap. http://www.impawards.com/2004/posters/s ... _hutch.jpg

Obviously they can't touch the integrity and style of these 70's and 80's originals so they have to drag their names through the mud with big cash ins (and send ups), like with the The Hulk. What next, the aforementioned The Bionic Woman? Kojak? But, who knows, given that Universal (who own the rights to the 6Mil tv series) are co-producing, it could be a pleasant surprise...

Bring on DVD serieses of all those classic originals. TV is so often looked-down upon it seems compared to big screen movies, but the fact is that a lot of these old (probably 45 min per episode without the ads) tv show episodes were better than most movies today. I'd much rather watch an episode of Kojak on tv than waste $ on the latest hype. Anyone remember the 6 Million Dollar Man episode where Lindsay Wagner originally had her skydiving accident? (causing them to have to operate on her and turn her into the bionic woman, "We can rebuild her.")

Misha · Post by **Misha** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 4:13 am

Shouldn't this be under the Another Sign thread?

Gillibeanz · Post by **Gillibeanz** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 7:55 am

Jim Carrey is so over the top and unfunny he makes my skin crawl

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 5:07 pm

Dumb and Dumber is one of the greatest film comedies OF ALL TIME, Cable Guy is good in a cult way, everything else is a bit 'meh'...Liar Liar and Bruce Almighty were way too wholesome!

I thought he was gonna star as the bloke in the new film version of Bewitched, with Nicole Kidman as Samantha! That would be great casting!

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 6:33 pm

Dumb and Dumber is well-named.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 8:53 pm

Carrey can be very funny, but I wish he wouldn't always try to push things to the Nth plus degree.

Actually, the Hulk wasn't really based on the TV show, but was more from the comic book.

And, I gotta say that most seventies U.S. network TV was really, really bad (not that most of these movies will be any better). Between 1960 or so and the early nineties, U.S. network TV was ruled by the concept of the LOP -- Least Objectionable Program" which tended to bland everything out to a frightening degree.

Now, because of cable, the Internet, etc., people are watching more on an "appointment" basis. As a result, show aren't trying so hard to appeal to EVERYONE, they're trying to get niches -- and fortunately "smart people" is one (and only one, I'm afraid) niche. Of course, most TV is still really bad, it's just that the good stuff is a lot better than it used to be.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 12:36 am

Bobster, what would you consider to be the old good stuff?

Another couple of shows I sometimes really liked were Hunter (great drama and stories, and interesting psychological cop stuff especially when it brought out the sexual tension between Hunter and his sexy partner McCall) and Quantum Leap (faithful period reconstruction of different eras including convincing accents, attitudes, historical events and so on -- I'm thinking of the Lee Harvey Osward trilogy in particular but there were several -- and great twists).

Chris Farley was way funnier than Carey.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 1:41 am

Well, "Quantum Leap" is more or less during the cable era (I think...time sure gets hazy), so I wouldn't consider it to be old. Never watched it though or Hunter.

I'm thinking of the following....(Sticking to US TV -- no "I Claudius" or "The Prisoner")

The Twilight Zone
Mary Tyler Moore
The Rockford Files
Bob Newhart (the first series, with Suzanne Pleshette)
Maverick
Carol Burnett
Original Star Trek (first two seasons...maybe....)

Most of the other shows that were once hailed as "good TV", like MASH, were, for the most part just "good FOR TV", not really good on their own.

I want to say that I don't want to seem to be diminishing them. What I said before was more of an overall look at things. Still, I do think that "The Simpsons" or even "King of the Hill" pretty much blows away MTM, much as I love that show (and "Lou Grant" too!).

These shows are all from the LOP era. I think the show that signalled the beginning of the end of that era was "Hill Street Blues" which boggled my mind back in the day. Wonder if it holds up. (The latest from Bochco, NYPD Blue, does nothing for me) -- though I'm pretty sure it doesn't hold a candle to "Homicide." Firefly, shortlived and as underseen as it was, was about gogol+ times better than Star Trek.

Believe me, TV is the ONLY medium where I think the new stuff is better! (And that's probably because most of Playhouse 90 and other very early TV classics are simply not available)

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 9:19 am

Wow, guys. You're bringing a smile to my face just thinking about some of those shows.

Bamboo: I LOVED Quantum Leap. I didn't get into it until it was already into a couple of seasons, but then I was hooked. I still try to catch reruns when I find them. And I miss Chris Farley, too.

Bobster: I still remember an episode of the old Bob Newhart show from when I was a kid - Bob and the guys were drunk and ordering chinese food. I laughed as hard as I ever laughed during my childhood. I don't know why, but at the time it was just the funniest thing I had ever seen.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 9:27 am

since you didn't ask, I'll tell you some of my old faves. The Andy Griffith Show--only the episodes in b&w, do not go Mayberry RFD. Kolchak, The Night Stalker--I don't think this ran very long at all. Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, Adam-12 and Emergency!--all kind of the same thing in different locations.
Quincy, M.E.--autopsies solve crimes! The Wild Wild West--this was such a goofy show. Lost In Space--used to scare the shit out of me when I watched it alone. WKRP in Cincinnati--as god is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

I have probably mentioned this before, but I always like to take an opportunity to say Thanks, Mom! She gets the Nerves Of Steel award for the summer of '72 when thanks to Mayflower losing our furniture for three weeks we lived in a motel. There was nothing to do but swim in the tiny pool and watch I Love Lucy reruns which came on about 17 times a day. I would last about 17 minutes before I had my kidlets duct-taped to the wall.

ice nine · Post by **ice nine** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 12:09 pm

Remember the episode of 'The Dick Van Dyke' show where Laura goes on national TV and inadvertingly tells the audience that Allan Brady wears a toupee? Allan summons Laura into his office and asks her. 'What can I do with all these toupees now? I can't wear them anymore.'

Laura: "There must be a homeless bald man out there you can give it to"

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 12:43 pm

somewhere, my best friend Ian from 3rd grade is rolling his eyes at me. how could I forget The High Chaparral?

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 2:43 pm

mood swung wrote: WKRP in Cincinnati--as god is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

That is definitely an immortal comedy moment. "The Night Stalker" was great too. (Fun fact: The first time I went to Las Vegas -- age 7, they were shooting the original "Night Stalker" TV movie at the Sahara hotel, where we were staying. When I heard it was about vampires, I became a bit freaked.)

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 10:08 pm

and who could forget the Godless Tornadoes??

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 8:34 pm

Me, apparently.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 8:41 am

tornado warning in Cincinnati--the only warning Les has to read is one about what to do in the event of a Soviet invasion. Andy tells him to substitute "tornado" where ever it says "communist." People of Cincinnati, the godless tornadoes have arrived.

I guess you had to see it.

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 9:35 am

I was always a fan of NIGHT COURT, personally.

As for Jim Carrey, I'm with Gilli (not often the case, love you though I do, 'Beanz, ya nutcase)-- he and Robin Williams both creep me out in the same way.

They're both hugely talented and funny as mimics and physical comedians, but they so crave attention that it no longer seems like acting at all. It comes through in everything they do-- neither one leaves 'character' in most interviews, and they just strke me as pathological. I'm embarrassed to watch them, like I'm being asked to laugh at mild mental illness. I'd say the same of Andy Kaufman, and it's no surprise Carrey was drawn to that role.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 8:38 pm

Williams is an interesting case. His early material was as brilliant as his performances, but the more recent stuff does kind of scream of "pathetic plea for attention" without much wit or bite.

I think a lot of artists -- not just comedians or actors -- kind of fall into their own heads. I've seen in live and in person with a couple of famed science fiction writers (or at least that's how it seemed).

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 7:03 am

bobster wrote: The Rockford Files

Alright!

I did a search on Bochco to see if he was involved with Hunter, and found out that The Rockford Files had well known writer Stephen J. Cannel in common with Hunter for some episodes.

Spooky, I watched Quantum Leap religiously when it was on, late at night a few years ago, then it disappeared from aussie tv. The 60's The Fugitive series also ran here, a similar concept with the main character finding himself in a completely different scenario each time. The Harrison Ford movie remake of that one was excellent.

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 7:39 am

Quantum Leap was brilliant.....Al for god's sake, the man was a lord! He must have had a billion wives! That little box he had called Ziggy! Genius!

Wasn't there one where he leapt into the body of a CHIMP!!!!!!!
Who understood the last episode though? Madness! I heard that he leaped into a universe where he became the captain of the starship enterprise!

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6 Million Dollar Man w/ J Carey (& other dubious remakes

6 Million Dollar Man w/ J Carey (& other dubious remakes

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