The name Colt Seavers makes many older TV viewers sit up and take notice. The 80s cult figure will soon also be known to younger generations. In the movie “The Fall Guy” (from April 30th) none other than Hollywood star Ryan Gosling (43) will take on the role. Like “A Colt for All Cases,” several TV series from the 80s have already received a film sequel. Here are some examples.
Lee Majors (85) portrayed Colt Seavers between 1981 and 1986 in the series “A Colt for All Cases”, which was originally called “The Fall Guy”. Douglas Barr (74) as Howie and Heather Thomas (66) as Jody played the main roles alongside him. In the series they formed a team of Hollywood stunt people who also work as bounty hunters. Seavers and his helpers use their knowledge and skills as stuntmen to catch escaped criminals.
“The Fall Guy,” an action comedy that is loosely based on the television series, is now coming to the cinema. Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) stars as a stuntman who is scarred by his job. Then Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 33), star of a multi-million dollar film project, disappears without a trace. The film is directed by Colt’s ex Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt, 41). The stuntman sets out to track down the missing film star.
Even before he became Colt, Lee Majors starred in The Six Million Dollar Man in the 1970s. The series about the astronaut and test pilot Colonel Steve Austin, who is saved after a crash by a six million dollar operation with bionic body parts, was shown in Germany in the 1980s.
There have been attempts in Hollywood since the 1990s to bring the “Six Million Dollar Man” to the big screen. At the beginning of the 2000s, reports emerged that Jim Carrey (62) could take on the leading role. In 2014 it was said that a feature film with the tentative title “The Six Billion Dollar Man” was to go into production, starring Mark Wahlberg (52) as Steve Austin. However, there is said to be a dispute over the rights to the substance. It is apparently still unclear whether the project will now be implemented. After all, there is already a spin-off with the television series “The Seven Million Dollar Woman” with Lindsay Wagner (74) in the lead role. From 1987 to 1994, three television films starring the two characters were also produced.
Hollywood had more success with “The A-Team”. The popular action series from the 80s is about former members of a special unit of the US Army. The four main characters were innocently sentenced to imprisonment in a military prison. They escape to Los Angeles and help people in need while they themselves are hunted by the military police. The main roles were played by George Peppard (1928-1994) as Hannibal, Dirk Benedict (79) as Face, Dwight Schultz (76) alias Murdock and Mr. T (71), who played B. A. Baracus.
In 2010, the action comedy “The A-Team – The Film”, which is based on the series, was released in cinemas. Liam Neeson (71, Hannibal), Bradley Cooper (49, Faceman), Jessica Biel (42, Charisa Sosa), Quinton Jackson (45, B.A.) and Sharlto Copley (50, Murdock) took on the main roles. However, the film was less well received than the series.
“Miami Vice” is considered a flagship 80s series. Not only did it influence numerous other TV formats, it even set new fashion trends. The main roles were played by Don Johnson (74) as James “Sonny” Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas (74) as Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs, two detectives who work undercover in Miami. They primarily hunt drug traffickers, arms smugglers and money launderers.
The film “Miami Vice” followed in 2006 – with Colin Farrell (47) as “Sonny” Crockett and Jamie Foxx (56) as Tubbs. The film initially received mixed reviews, but this would change in the following years as the thriller gained popularity.
In the late 1980s, the police series “21 Jump Street” focused on a group of youthful-looking undercover police officers who investigated crimes in schools or gangs. The series was the breakthrough for Johnny Depp (60), who starred in one of the main roles.
A film adaptation was released in 2012. Stars of the original series, Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson (59) and Peter DeLuise (57), made cameo appearances. Jonah Hill (40) and Channing Tatum (43) played the main roles in the film, which was well received by critics and audiences. The film sequel “22 Jump Street” followed two years later.
In the crime series “The Equalizer”, former CIA agent Robert McCall, played by Edward Woodward (1930-2009), ensured justice on TV at the end of the 80s. In 2014, the series was remade for the cinema by director Antoine Fuqua (58). Denzel Washington (69) can be seen as Robert McCall in “The Equalizer”. The sequel “The Equalizer 2” was released in 2018, “The Equalizer 3” was released in 2023. All three films with Washington in the lead role were released in cinemas with great success.
The film “The Naked Gun” is also based on a series from the 1980s. The comedy series “The Naked Pistol” about the clumsy police officer Frank Drebin celebrated its premiere in 1982. Already in the lead role back then: Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010). He returned to his character in the 1988 film “The Naked Gun.” This was followed by the films “The Naked Cannon 2 1/2” (1991) and “The Naked Cannon 33 1/3″ (1994)”.
There have also just been reports of a new film adaptation of “The Naked Gun,” which is scheduled to hit theaters in July 2025. Pamela Anderson (56) is apparently returning to the big screen, as “The Hollywood Reporter” reported. She plays one of the main roles alongside Liam Neeson (71). According to the report, plot details are being kept strictly under wraps. Liam Neeson is supposed to play Frank Drebin. Pamela Anderson could be seen as his lover, in a similar “sexy and silly” role to that played by Priscilla Presley (78) in “The Naked Gun”.
The successful “Mission: Impossible” film series is also based on a television series. Starting in 1966, the first “Mission: Impossible” series, which was called “Kobra, take over” in German, ran for seven seasons. In 1988 there were two more seasons that were shown in this country under the title “In a Secret Mission”.
The series inspired a series of films starring Tom Cruise (61), the first of which was released in 1996. “Mission: Impossible” is now one of the most successful Hollywood franchises of all time. The seventh film in the series, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”, was released in 2023, and number eight is scheduled to be shown in cinemas in 2025.
The crime series “Charlie’s Angels” (originally “Charlie’s Angels”) caused a sensation in five seasons until the early 1980s. It was about the adventures of three women who work in a private detective agency in Los Angeles. The original cast consisted of Kate Jackson (75), Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009) and Jaclyn Smith (78). John Forsythe (1918-2010) was heard as the voice of their boss, the invisible Charlie Townsend, who directed the “Angels” operations via a speakerphone.
The series was followed about 20 years later by two movies with Cameron Diaz (51), Drew Barrymore (49) and Lucy Liu (55). The first movie “Charlie’s Angels” was so successful in 2000 that a sequel, “Charlie’s Angels – Full Power” was made in 2003. However, a new film from 2019, in which Kristen Stewart (34), Naomi Scott (30) and Ella Balinska (27) play the three angels, was less successful. “Charlie’s Angels” was considered one of the biggest disappointments of 2019 by some US media.
