The very best (and worst) TV-to-movie adaptations, ranked (including 'Charlie's Angels')

The Angels are back in cinemas, though they have groovy history on the small screen as well.

Director Elizabeth Banks' revamped "Charlie's Angels" is the second time Hollywood has tackled the uber-popular, female-centric 1970s action TV show. This time around Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska are cast as the trio of secret agents, following in the butt-kicking shoes of Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, who took on the franchise in the 2000s.

On the heels of this fall's "Downton Abbey," the new "Angels" is the latest in one of film's favorite subgenres, the TV-to-movie adaptation. Sometimes it's a continuation of the show, other times it's a complete redo, and there have been plenty of good and bad examples on either side.

Where do the "Charlie's Angels" reboots factor into the annals of channel-changing properties brought to the big screen? Let's start with the bad:

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15. ‘Baywatch’ (2017)

The revamped take on the sun-drenched syndicated guilty pleasure is big on biceps and not much else. When even the teaming of Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron as crime-solving lifeguards doesn’t work, you’ve got problems.

14. ‘Bewitched’ (2005)

The 1960s sitcom conjured some whimsical magic – and multiple Darrins – but the remake is a total botch, even with its meta take of Will Ferrell as an actor on a “Bewitched” reboot and Nicole Kidman as the fresh-faced spellcaster.

13. ‘The Mod Squad’ (1999)

In addition to just a cool title, the OG 1968-73 crime show was all about a diverse crew of hip young cops in groovy undercover threads. The film is that in name only, a half-hearted cop drama with prime-time actors of the moment (Claire Danes, Omar Epps, Giovanni Ribisi) and that’s it.

12. ‘Sgt. Bilko’ (1996)

Steve Martin brings back the eccentric Army schemer from “The Phil Silvers Show,” with Phil Hartman as the foil to his military-base shenanigans, in a comedy that’s more hacky than wacky.

11. ‘The Avengers’ (1998)

Nope, not that one. This travesty is based on the British spy show, with Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman as forgettably flirty secret agents and Sean Connery as a weather-obsessed mad scientist. Even Captain America wouldn’t be able to save this thing.

10. ‘George of the Jungle’ (1997)

Before Disney redid its own animated classics with live-action redos, it tackled old cartoons like the 1967-70 show with the Tarzan-like jungle dude. Brendan Fraser crashing into pretty much everything is symbolic of this whole unfortunate exercise.

9. ‘CHIPS’ (2017)

Larry Wilcox, an original star of the cheesy late ‘70s/early ‘80s show, tweeted that the modern action comedy with Dax Shepard and Michael Pena “ruined the brand.” Which is all that needs to be said, really.

8. ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ (1993)

There’s probably an interesting class-warfare satire to be had redoing the ‘60s sitcom about backwoods folk discovering oil and moving to Southern California to live the high life. This isn’t that, though a silver lining is a “9 to 5” reunion with Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman.

7. ‘Entourage’ (2015)

The HBO show actually was pretty good – and foreshadowed an “Aquaman” movie! This film, though, was a completely unnecessary revisit of A-list star Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his Hollywood dude posse.

6. ‘Masters of the Universe’ (1987)

It’s a hoot seeing Tony Award-winning stage thespian Frank Langella chew up scenery as the evil Skeletor. There’s not much else, however, to the woeful fantasy based on the ‘80s cartoon and featuring Dolph Lundgren as the buff He-Man and an early Courteney Cox film role.

5. ‘Wild Wild West’ (1999)

Based on a ‘60s Western, the abhorrent steampunk-y reinterpretation cast Will Smith (in his summer blockbuster prime) and Kevin Kline as a couple of do-gooding Secret Service agents fighting a megalomaniacal, no-legged Confederate scientist (Kenneth Branagh) who pilots, yes, a mechanical spider.

4. ‘McHale’s Navy’ (1997)

Tom Arnold takes on the old Ernest Borgnine role from the ‘60s sitcom as the naval officer commanding a misfit crew, and it is not a step up. Bruce Campbell and Tim Curry are also on board, however, so it’s not completely bad. Just mostly bad.

3. ‘Inspector Gadget’ (1999)

It might be a stretch to say Matthew Broderick’s terrible take on the ‘80s cartoon detective ruined childhoods. But the sight of his hat turning into a helicopter, and everything from drink umbrellas to little scissors coming out of his bionic fingers, is pure nightmare fuel.

2. ‘The Flintstones’ (1994)

The prehistoric family from the ‘60s cartoon should have stayed animated. The live-action version was atrocious, headed up by national treasure John Goodman (as Fred Flintstone) in one of his worst roles. Yabba dabba don’t do this ever again, please.

1. ‘Car 54, Where Are You?’ (1994)

The better question is why would you ever watch this redo of the ‘60s cop sitcom unless you were handcuffed and forced to? Only for Jeremy Piven, Tone Loc, Rosie O’Donnell and Ramones completists.

Now on to the goodness:

15. ‘Get Smart’ (2008)

Steve Carell’s bumbling spy Maxwell Smart matches the lovable-loser vibe of Don Adams from the late ‘60s comedy, and the big-screen treatment teams Carell up with Anne Hathaway in Barbara Feldon’s Agent 99 role. Bonus points for the return of the shoe phone as well as a Dwayne Johnson appearance.

14. ‘The Naked Gun’ (1988)

It was gags, puns and slapstick galore when the 1982 procedural spoof “Police Squad!” made the jump to successful film franchise. The first “Gun,” though, was the best, throwing absolute nincompoop Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) into the important role of protecting the queen on a royal visit.

13. ‘Dragnet’ (1987)

The buddy-cop comedy acts as a follow-up to the 1950s detective series and also sends up its “Just the facts, ma’am” seriousness. Dan Aykroyd’s take on Joe Friday is the strait-laced nephew of the original character, and he plays it straight opposite Tom Hanks (in his pre-America’s Dad days) as his fun-loving man-child partner Pep Streebeck.

12. ‘Charlie’s Angels’ (2000)

Into every generation comes a peppy private-eye trio: Though a new incarnation of the 1970s female-fronted ensemble is now in theaters, the last film reboot was a style explosion with Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore as its karate-kicking, totally glam girl squad.

11. ‘The Brady Bunch Movie’ (1995)

A new take on the squeaky-clean 1970s family shrewdly went meta: While the Brady Bunch are as PG as ever, everybody around them gives them side eye and wonders what the heck is wrong with these weirdos. It’s both spoof and loving ode to the TV of the period, with cameos from the original cast as well as The Monkees.

10. ‘Downton Abbey’ (2019)

If you’re not familiar with the enormous cast of characters, good luck getting through what amounts to a two-hour episode of the popular British series. If you’re a fan, though, there’s a lot to love, including old banter, new relationships and even a major revelation by the end of it.

9. ‘Sex and the City: The Movie’ (2008)

The first film off the super-popular HBO comedy successfully catches up with Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) by focusing on a plot close to the heart of every fan: the ups and downs of Carrie finally marrying Mr. Big (Chris Noth).

8. 'Charlie's Angels' (2019)

No, it isn't a case of deja vu. The new film also charts high because of how well it ties all the various iterations together. There are multiple Bosleys, action and empowerment galore, plus cool cameos, though it's Kristen Stewart's sexy and smart operative Sabina who's the main reason these "Angels" get their wings.

7. ‘South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut’ (1999)

The shenanigans of those crazy kids Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny hit the big screen with an animated satire that involves censorship, Canada, Satan, Saddam Hussein and the source material’s own controversies. Plus, at its heart, the movie version of the cable comedy is also a sneakily brilliant musical.

6. ‘The Muppet Movie’ (1979)

Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and all the regulars from “The Muppet Show” jumped to cinema with the meta plot of a cross-country trip to Hollywood. Armed with songs and humor to spare, the Muppets also brought along famous friends (Steve Martin, Mel Brooks) to take their pop-culture fame to a new level.

5. ‘The Fugitive’ (1993)

With Harrison Ford as a doctor framed for his wife’s murder and Tommy Lee Jones as the U.S. marshal hunting him down, the thriller was so good you forgot that it was actually based on the 1960s TV drama. Come for the one-armed man, stay for a great cast including Jane Lynch and Julianne Moore.

4. ‘Mission: Impossible’ (1996)

Take a dash of the old-school spy show (self-destructing messages!), toss in a healthy amount of Tom Cruise entering a new action-hero phase of his career, and you’ve got the recipe for one of the most popular movie franchises in recent years – and America’s answer to so many James Bond flicks.

3. ‘21 Jump Street’ (2012)

How do you adapt a campily serious ‘80s cop drama about police who look way too old be in high school working as undercover students? Lean way in to the ridiculousness of the concept. It totally worked in this fantastic buddy comedy with Jonah Hill as the nerdy half of the duo and Channing Tatum as his science-challenged jock pal.

2. 'Star Trek' (2009)

The final frontier needs to slot in here somewhere, since it started on TV – though 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" leaves much to be desired. So let's warp right to J.J. Abrams' refreshing, "Star Wars"-esque reboot that cast Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and brought "Trek" back in a huge way.

1. ‘The Untouchables’ (1987)

The life of famed Prohibition agent Eliot Ness was dramatized by Robert Stack in the 1959-63 TV crime drama but best by Kevin Costner in Brian De Palma’s excellent gangster epic. Costner and Sean Connery step up to hoodlums “the Chicago way” though find a fearsome foe in Al Capone (a vicious Robert De Niro).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Charlie's Angels': The best and worst films based on TV series, ranked