‘Source Code’ to Receive the Television Treatment

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news last week that Duncan Jones’ sci-fi thriller ‘Source Code‘ is headed to CBS in the form of a new TV series. Because little is known at this point, it’s unclear whether the show will feature the same characters from the film or entirely new ones. The series will follow three top secret federal agents using the “Source Code” technology the jump back in time to tragic events.

I can only think of three movie-based television series that were hits: ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, ‘Stargate‘ and ‘Friday Night Lights‘. Most typically result in failure. Remember the ‘Blade‘, ‘Big Fat Greek Wedding’, ‘Indiana Jones’ or ‘Terminator‘ series? Of course not. They were terribly received and nobody watched them.

Although ‘Source Code’ only grossed $54.7 million domestically, the film earned a surprisingly high 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Personally, I loved the movie and want to see ‘Source Code’ be a huge success, but it’s following a dangerous trend. To help stay positive about the whole affair, here are a few things to consider:

1. ‘Source Code’ Will Not Be Animated

An interesting phenomena occurs when studios attempt bringing their big screen pictures to small screen series – many of them take a turn for the animated. ‘Ace Ventura’, ‘Back to the Future‘, ‘Bill and Ted’, ‘Jumanji’, ‘The Mask’, ‘Men in Black‘, ‘Ghostbusters‘, ‘RoboCop‘, ‘Rambo‘, ‘Spaceballs‘ and ‘Star Wars‘ all switched to kid-friendly animation. Just as I wouldn’t want to watch an animated ‘Back to the Future’, I don’t want to see an animated kids’ version of ‘Source Code’.

2. ‘Source Code’ Has a Credible Producer

Even if you’re not a fan of television series ‘Criminal Minds’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Private Practice’, ‘Army Wives’ or ‘Reaper’, you cannot discredit producer Mark Gordon for his film productions. Not only did Gordon produce ‘Source Code’, he’s also the Oscar-nominated producer of ‘Saving Private Ryan‘, ‘2012‘, ‘Speed‘, ‘Broken Arrow‘ and ‘The Day After Tomorrow‘. At least ‘Source Code’ is not being produced by the folks who gave us bad canceled shows like ‘Flashforward’.

3. ‘Source Code’ Has a Seasoned Writer

Steven Maeda may not be a household name, but the guy has written some fantastic television episodes. Maeda was brought on as a writer and story supervisor for the last few seasons of ‘The X-Files’, produced and/or wrote up to a dozen episodes of ‘Lie to Me‘, and wrote and co-executive produced a few of my very favorite episodes of ‘Lost‘ (including ‘What Kate Did’ and ‘The Long Con’). Bringing on board someone attached to arguably one of the best series of all time is definitely a positive.

Yes, the thought of a ‘Source Code’ series is very reminiscent of ‘Quantum Leap’, but remember that film ‘Source Code’ is very aware of the likeness, making it more of an homage than a rip-off. ‘Quantum Leap’ star Scott Bakula voices the lead character’s father in the film, and even starts a phone call with his catch phrase, “Oh boy.”

There’s no word when ‘Source Code’ will make its way to the small screen, but the Blu-ray has been out for months. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can make right that wrong from your past and check it out now.

6 comments

  1. My goodness you say some pretty stupid things sometimes… Indiana Jones not well recieved?!?! Of course not, it was only nominated for 23 emmy awards and won 10 of them. Pretty terrible tv show to only be nominated and won so little in only three seasons and then you go put it between Big fat Greek Wedding and Terminator.

    Wow… just wow.

    As for source code, i hope its a good TV series, ’cause we dont have many left anymore.

  2. Luke Hickman

    Gentlemen, gentelemen. This post isn’t about successful tv shows based on movies, it’s about Source Code. Mash came to mind, but I couldn’t list them all.

    As for Indiana Jones, I’m not a fan. I was a kid when that show aired and I wasn’t a fan then either. We’re not in the UK, so if a series doesn’t last more than three seasons, it’s not a big success here. We can argue this idea all day, but that’s not the purpose of this post. And even if it was, I never go as far as to say your opinion is stupid. Come on. HDD is better than that. There’s no need to try insulting someone based on their opinion.

    • I agree. Luke shouldn’t be bashed and/or insulted.

      Three seasons seems like “a minor success” in my books. After all, some shows never make it past the first season. Heck, some not even finish their first.

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