Forgotten scifi / horror / fantasy TV shows that would make great movies!

Based on a blog post I read called "10 Obscure 80s TV Shows That Need Movie Adaptations," I started thinking of some of the great scifi / horror / fantasy TV shows I used to watch that were "before their time" and canceled.

Here's a few I'd like to see new versions of:

1. Land of the Lost - yeah, I realize there is a new version out now. But I'd like to see this show treated better than that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0MRU1f2SJ0

2. Voyagers! - Phineas Bogg (played by Jon-Erik Hexum) was one of a society of time travelers called Voyagers who, with the help of a young boy named Jeffrey Jones (played by Meeno Peluce) used a hand-held device called an Omni (which looked much like a large pocket watch) to travel in time and ensured that history unfolded as we know it. For instance, in the first episode Jeffrey ensured that baby Moses' basket traveled down the Nile river where it was met by the Pharaoh's daughter.

Bogg and Jeffrey first met when Bogg's Omni malfunctioned and took him to 1982 (the circuitry of Bogg's Omni was set to allow him only as late as 1970), landing him in the apartment of Jeffrey's aunt and uncle, who were caring for him after his parents' death. Jeffrey accidentally fell out of a window, causing Bogg to jump out to rescue him by activating the Omni. Bogg's Guidebook, which contained a detailed description of how history should unfold, had been grabbed by Jeffrey's dog Ralph so Bogg had to rely on Jeffrey (whose father was a history professor) to help him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm-o_7AGJRQ

3. The Fantastic Journey - The current show "Lost" owes a lot to "The Fanatastic Journey." The series concerns a family and their associates who charter a boat out into the Caribbean for a scientific expedition. After an encounter in the area of the Bermuda Triangle with an unatural green cloud the group find themselves shipwrecked on a mysterious uncharted island from which they are unable to escape.

They encounter Varian (Jared Martin), initially disguised as an Arawak Indian, who is later revealed to be a 23rd-century pacifist, musician and healer. Varian explains to the travelers that, like many before them including himself, they have been caught in a space/time continuum where people from the past, present, future and from other worlds are trapped, co-existing on the island in a series of timezones. The only way home can be found in a place called "Evoland" which lies "far to the rising sun" (It was indicated in interviews of the time that Evoland was also the name of the island itself). The only way to travel between timezones is via invisible gateways which instantaneously transport individuals or groups from one zone to another. In one episode "Beyond The Mountain" the group also encounter a second cloud which has much the same effect, but which also splits the group up.

After the initial pilot story, a steady group of travelers forms around Varian as de facto leader, and the series then follows this group as they travel across the many timezones of the island to find Evoland. On their way, they encounter people from different planets and times who are also trapped on the island and who have adapted to their plight in different ways. The pilot initially suggested the historical past would be explored, however the producers of the show rapidly adopted a consistently futuristic tone during the series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SauJnxxn1M

4. American Gothic - is an American satirical horror series created by Shaun Cassidy and executive produced by Sam Raimi. The show first aired on CBS on September 22, 1995, and was cancelled after a single season on July 11, 1996.

The story takes place in the fictional town of Trinity, South Carolina, and revolves around Caleb Temple (Lucas Black) and the town's corrupt Sheriff, Lucas Buck (Gary Cole). Though appearing affable and charismatic, Sheriff Lucas Buck is a murderous rapist whose powerbase is backed by apparent supernatural powers, which he generally uses to manipulate people to "fulfill their potential" and make life-changing choices (usually for evil).

Caleb Temple is a normal child whose paternity masks a horrific secret: Lucas Buck is his biological father, having raped his mother in front of Caleb's older sister Merlyn (Sarah Paulson). The horror of watching her mother be sexually assaulted caused Merlyn to become severely emotionally traumatized and withdrawn from the rest of the world, made even worse when her mother committed suicide after giving birth to Caleb.

During the pilot episode of the series, Sheriff Buck murders Merlyn in cold blood and manipulates Caleb's "father" (Sonny Shroyer) into committing suicide in order to eliminate Caleb's family and claim his biological son for his own. However, the newly arrived doctor Dr. Crower (Jake Weber) begins to uncover the Sheriff's role in the death of Merlyn and Merlyn's father and with help from Caleb's out-of-town cousin Gail Emory (Paige Turco), struggle to prevent Lucas from corrupting young Caleb. They are aided in part by Merlyn's ghost, who personally appears before Caleb throughout the series in order to try to keep him from Buck's corrupt grasp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz658wWITn0

5. Dark Angel - Yes, I'd drop $10. to see Jessica Alba reprise the role of Max Guevara (X5-452), a genetically enhanced super-soldier in a Third World country - The United States circa 2019. First season was awesome. Second season kinda sucked.

"Girls kick ass!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuNbYbiKw5o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLNVyQpgTUI

The Invaders, alien beings from a dying planet. Their destination: the Earth. Their purpose: to make it their world. David Vincent has seen them. For him, it began one lost night on a lonely country road, looking for a shortcut that he never found. It began with a closed deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey. It began with the landing of a craft from another galaxy. Now David Vincent knows that the Invaders are here, that they have taken human form. Somehow he must convince a disbelieving world that the nightmare has already begun.

By now there's been so many takes on the alien invasion thing that this may seem old hat (The Arrival was a pleasant surprise), but I loved the show as a kid.

I'm also amazed that no one has done a remake of Land of the Giants.

And for the record, I'd drop $10 to see Jessica Alba do almost anything. :)

a few years back, with Scott Bakula as David Vincent and Richard Thomas as the lead alien.

Did you get the original on dvd? I hear it's an outstanding set.

:)

Was there a season 3?

I'm going to have get those DVDs when I get the extra cash. Some time around 2020 at this rate. :)

There are merchants selling used copies I'm sure. Or deepdiscountdvd.com. They have good prices.

Good idea. :)

how about a movie based on Lidsville, directed by Guillermo del Toro? Make it a horror movie, since it scared the bejeezus out of most of the kids who saw it anyway.

Good idea on Lidsville.

You'll be glad you did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpd8zg5VWA

Make NEW movies, from stories that have not been done to DEATH!!!!!!!!

I agree. I'm sick of terrible remakes of old science fiction movies.
The recent remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" was absolutely
awful. Only the special effects were good. The story and acting sucked.
The remakes of "The Time Machine" and "Things To Come" were also horrid.
Poor H.G. Wells must be spinning in his grave.

I loved the way it ended.

In the first episode, the Sterling family (Hal, June, Trace, Gina, Smith) take a tour of the interior of the Great Pyramid of Giza at the same time as a once-in-ten-thousand-years conjunction of the planets. Inside, they are abandoned by their guide, and as they try to get out, they are mysteriously transported to a parallel universe Earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otherworld_%28TV_series%29

this actually is going to be made into a movie just recently announced...

about the series:

http://ufoseries.com/index.html

about the upcoming movie:

http://ufoseries.com/new.html

official movie site:

http://www.ufo-themovie.com/shado/