‘Uncle Drew’ and 5 More Movies and TV Shows Based on Commercials (Photos)
Pepsi’s commercials featuring NBA star Kyrie Irving as the elderly basketball superstar Uncle Drew have become so popular that they decided to make a full-length movie out of it. Turning an idea for a 30-second advertisement into the basis for a full-length movie or TV series is the Hollywood equivalent of alchemy. But in our modern age of high-concept filmmaking, that hasn’t stopped studios from trying if they think an ad has a strong enough premise. Here are seven commercials that became something much more before “Uncle Drew.”
“Cavemen”: Probably one of the most infamous examples of commercials becoming a TV show. “Cavemen” was based off a series of Geico ads about modern-world cavemen insulted by the insurance company’s slogan “So easy a caveman could do it.”
The commercial’s creator, Joe Lawson, turned it into a sitcom in 2007 that aired on ABC, and it is widely regarded as one of the worst TV shows ever made. Fortunately for Lawson, he has gone on to write episodes for critically acclaimed comedies like “Modern Family” and “BoJack Horseman,” the latter of which earned him a WGA Award.
“Baby Bob”: Often joining “Cavemen” on the Worst TV Shows list is this 2002 CBS sitcom based on a talking infant that appeared in ads for the internet provide FreeInternet.Com. Ordered for 14 episodes, this series about a couple who discovers their six-month-old child can talk was taken off the air after nine episodes. The Baby Bob character later appeared in ads for Quiznos, and the concept was later used in ads for E*Trade.
“Space Jam”: While the full plot of “Space Jam” didn’t come from an ad, Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan first teamed up in the ad “Hare Jordan,” which aired during the Super Bowl in 1992. The ad was such a hit that Warner Bros. looked for a way to bring that duo to the big screen. “Space Jam,” a cult classic among 90s kids, was the result.
“The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid”: This 1981 NBC TV movie was based off one of the most famous Super Bowl commercials of all-time, in which Pittsburgh Steelers star “Mean” Joe Greene, known as one of the most intimidating defensive linemen in football, hands a starstruck kid his towel after the boy offers him a Coke. The kid was played by Henry Thomas, who would become a big star a year later as Elliott in “E.T.”
“Hey Vern, It’s Ernest”: In the 80s, actor Jim Varney became known on TV as Ernest P. Worrell, a denim & baseball-cap wearing pest who became recognized in local TV ads for his catchphrase “Know What I Mean?” The ad became so popular that Varney played Ernest in a series of low-budget TV shows and movies from 1983 to 1998.
“Convoy”: This one is a little bit more indirect. In 1975, a novelty song about citizens band radios called “Convoy” went to No. 1 on the country charts. The song was written by Bill Fries, who performed under a character named C.W. McCall, whom he created for a series of bread commercials.
Three years later, the song became the basis for Sam Peckinpah’s action film of the same name about a group of truckers who do battle with a corrupt sheriff. It was the most financially successful film of Peckinpah’s career, but the production was fraught with struggle as Peckinpah dealt with substance abuse that damaged his reputation in Hollywood. The director would make just one more film after “Convoy” before his death in 1983.
“Uncle Drew”: Now, in 2017, Pepsi is trying to turn follow the same route as “Hare Jordan” with a 2012 commercial in which Kyrie Irving surprised the crowd at a New Jersey pick-up game disguised as the elderly Uncle Drew. The new film from Lionsgate will build a plot around the character, with retired basketball stars like Shaquille O’Neal, Reggie Miller, Chris Webber, and Lisa Leslie getting into the old man makeup.
