The best and worst movies made from TV shows, from 'The Many Saints of Newark' to 'Serenity'

Movies used to turn into TV shows — not the other way around.

Like hand-me-downs passed to a kid sister, Hollywood routinely sent its castoffs to the small screen. "Peyton Place" (1957) the movie became "Peyton Place" (1964) the TV soap opera. "The Odd Couple" (1968) hit film became "The Odd Couple" (1970) TV sitcom. "Planet of the Apes" (1968) the movie became "Planet of the Apes" (1974) the cheesy sci-fi series.

There was no question, then, which was the prestige medium — and which was the poor relation, imitating its betters. TV was the little league.

Today, though, it's Hollywood's turn to play catch up. Where TV used to borrow from movies, now much of the traffic seems to be going in the opposite direction.

Case in point: "The Many Saints of Newark," opening in theaters Friday (also streaming on HBO Max). Will it create anything like the buzz of the "Sopranos" TV show, from which it derives? It's creators can only hope.

Likewise, "Downton Abbey" (2019), "Sex and the City" (2008), "The Honeymooners" (2005), "The X-Files" (1998), "Miami Vice" (2006), "Baywatch" (2017), and so on, are clearly shining in the reflected glory of the shows they're named for.

Sometimes, a film like "Downton Abbey" will capitalize on a trend when it's hot: hitting theaters while the show is on, or soon after, with the original actors and production team.

Sopranos prequel: In 'The Many Saints of Newark,' Tony takes a back seat

Other films, like "Charlie's Angels" (2019) or the "Mission: Impossible" series, are reboots: taking advantage of a familiar brand name to relaunch with a new cast and a new look. And then there are special cases, like "Serenity" (2005), based on the cult show "Firefly" (2002) — a victim of early cancellation — that attempt to satisfy the longing of fans for closure.

"The Many Saints of Newark" is another unusual case. Not a sequel, but a "prequel." Not the original cast (the film takes place decades earlier than the series) but much of the original creative team, and a special fillip for fans: teen-age Michael Gandolfini playing the role originally played by his father, the late James Gandolfini.

Will the public bite? One thing's for sure: translating TV to movies is a high-risk, high reward business. It's as easy to get a familiar property wrong as right. It's as easy to count on audience recognition of a name like "McHale's Navy" (1997) as it is to confuse it with audience interest.

Good, bad or unspeakable, movies based on TV shows have now become routine. Here are some of our favorite hits, and misses. Starting with the bullseyes.

'Many Saints of Newark' (2021)

Bada bing! The new "prequel" scores as a successful, self-contained "Sopranos" appetizer, with Tony as an impressionable kid in 1960s Newark. It helps that the film has a pedigree — written and produced by series creator David Chase, with young Michael Gandolfini taking on his late father's role.

'Serenity' (2005)

Though Joss Whedon's cult sci-fi western "Firefly" (2002) was quashed by Fox mid-run, the DVD sales were strong — so strong what Universal gave Whedon the opportunity to tie up the loose ends in a feature film. And there were a lot of loose ends. Somehow, they managed to get a coherent two-hour movie that pleased fans while not being off-putting to newbies. It didn't quite have the loose, quirky quality of the show — but why ask for the moon when you have the stars? Mission accomplished!

'The Fugitive' (1993)

A good premise, by way of "Les Misérables" — wrongly-accused man pursued by relentless detective — is recast with superior performers. Certainly, no one watching Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones in the leads was thinking that they'd much rather be watching David Janssen and Barry Morse in the original 1960s series. Come to think of it, how many people even remember the original 1960s TV series?

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'The Brady Bunch Movie' (1995)

TV's corniest show, rebooted for the 1990s? It should have been a non-starter. But the filmmakers had a wicked plan: put the super-square Bradys in the Nineties, with their goofiness intact, and watch the feathers fly. The resulting meta-comedy was both a comment on, and a surprisingly affectionate tribute to, a show many people won't admit to watching. You did, though. You know you did.

'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' (1982)

Who says there are no second chances? When Hollywood bowed to a decades' worth of pressure from Trekkies and first brought Captain Kirk to the big screen, in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979), it was a washout. But when director Nicholas Meyer took the reins for "Wrath of Khan," everyone loosened up and the results were — well, stellar.

Now for the lemons.

'Twilight Zone: The Movie' (1983)

Submitted for your approval: a movie that had everything going for it, from top directors like Steven Spielberg and John Landis directing different segments, to great performers like Scatman Crothers, Kevin McCarthy and John Lithgow, to the matchless pedigree of Rod Serling's classic 1959 sci-fi series. The "Twilight Zone" twist? It all went horribly wrong — from the mawkishness of Spielberg's segment, to the horrible real-life helicopter accident in Landis' segment that decapitated actor Vic Morrow. Dante's '"It's a Good Life" segment probably came off best.

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'Mr. Bean' (1997)

Two hours of flatulence jokes — by way of the British TV show that, like the film, starred Rowan Atkinson. This from the culture that gave us Shakespeare.

'Pennies from Heaven' (1981)

This started life as a charming BBC series. Bob Hoskins was a 1930s sheet music salesman, transported out of real life and into the romantic world of the songs he sells. But the film version, starring Steve Martin, "real" life is rendered as a series of stylized, bleak Edward Hopper landscapes. Which is to say, real life is now as unreal as the musical numbers that Martin (uneasily) dances in. So what's the point? But kudos for Christopher Walken's strip-tease: the film's best moment.

'The Flintstones' (1994)

John Goodman playing Fred Flintstone. OK, that was a no-brainer. But was there any other reason to see a live-action version of the old 1960s cartoon? Well, it was one more reason that you had to see the 2000 sequel, "The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas." That one didn't even have John Goodman.

'Lost in Space' (1996)

Meet the Robinsons — the first dysfunctional family in space. Probably the adorably crummy space fantasy from the 1960s didn't need to be rebooted at all. But we could have told you adding '90s attitude wouldn't help. Netflix has since taken this property full circle, back to TV.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: 'The Many Saints of Newark': Best and worst movies made from TV shows