Why Haven't More Brat Pack Movies Been Made Into TV Shows?

Bring back Molly Ringwald

The idea of adapting St. Elmo's Fire into an hour-long dramedy series makes us think two things: 1. Thank God it wasn't another Joel Schumacher film, like 8mm or Batman Forever. (Although a Lost Boys TV series would be amazing). 2. As good as it is, could there be a more generic movie to turn into a TV show? Half a dozen friends hanging out in a bar/restaurant? We can think of three shows like that off the top of our heads... although it's probably not a bad thing to want to re-capture the magic of a Friends or a How I Met Your Mother. Because you know every TV executive in Hollywood is doing the same thing, we dug deep and came up with eight other "Brat Pack" films (meaning films containing cast members of either Saint Elmo's Fire or The Breakfast Club) that are undoubtedly being considered for the small-screen treatment.

The Breakfast Club
How do Weird Science and Ferris Bueller's Day Off get their own TV shows, and The Breakfast Club doesn't? Each episode would follow our five protagonists (nerd, jock, princess, basketcase, criminal) in their high school careers for 30 minutes, and then the latter half of the show would be dedicated to Saturday detention. Not every cast member would be in detention every week (although the five stars would be fairly detention-prone), but the show could cycle in supporting players and special guest stars, as well as spotlight perpetual detention monitor Dick Vernon.

The Outsiders
If Sons of Anarchy can follow an outlaw motorcycle gang, then The Outsiders can follow a group of 1960s greasers as they try to avoid rumbles and score with foxes in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cast members will die, of course, so the turnover would be steady, a la Oz or The Wire.

Sixteen Candles
Kicking off with the disastrous events of Sam Baker's 16th birthday (minus the happy ending, of course), the show would continue from there. Sam still longs for the school hunk who's dating the school's rich queen bee, and a gang of geeks haunt her every move, threatening to show off "the panties" if she doesn't help them with their get-popular-quick schemes. To top it off, her grandparents' exchange student, Long Duk Dong, has recently arrived at her school, and she has to act as ambassador between him and American youth culture.

Pretty in Pink
Duckie Roberts is the most stylin' geek at school, and he's friends with a rockin' chick who makes her own clothes, but she's totally into Blane, a preppie! What's a Duck to do?

Class
Prep school roomies Jon and Skip have a lot in common -- they like the same music, the same movies, and Jon once hooked up with Skip's mom in a bar. Skip's mom is keeping it quiet for now, but she's certainly visiting a lot more now that she's found out who her son's roommate is.

Oxford Blues
After meeting a beautiful Englishwoman the summer after graduating high school, college-bound Nick decides that he needs to be with her and follows her to Oxford. Once there, a chance encounter with a patron gets him the tuition to attend, as well as a spot on the rowing team, but he has to keep his grades up and row the team to victory to keep the money coming. Will he win over his British dream girl with his newfound gentility, or fall for the Yank rower who sees through his facade?

The Pick-Up Artist
Forget about the short-lived reality series -- we want a romantic comedy in the spirit of the original. When a serial womanizer meets a serial manizer in New York City, the sparks fly, and so do the clothes. The next day, they both move on, but when it turns out they now work for the same tour bus company, they realize that their hot-and-cold feelings for each other are a lot more complicated than either one could imagine. They still pick up strangers, but every now and then, they pick up each other, turning every episode into a "will they or won't they" scenario.

Less Than Zero
In this Showtime series, college freshman Clay is kicked out of school for drug use, and comes back home to L.A. to deal to the rich and vapid. Finding his ex hooked up with his best friend, he starts his own business to compete with the local dealers, but through clashes with them and the occasional overdose, realizes that maybe crack isn't all it was cracked up to be.

What Brat Pack movie would you like to see as a TV show? Do you think any of these might have legs? Will you watch How I Met St. Elmo? Sound off below.

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