Green Lantern Screenwriter Heads to 77 Sunset Strip
By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (10)
“77 Sunset Strip” was a television show that ran from 1958 until 1964 about a pair of womanizing, wisecracking L.A. detectives based on a series of novels and short stories written by Roy Huggins. It starred Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Roger Smith. If that means nothing to you, don’t feel too bad. I’d never heard of it, either.
That doesn’t change the fact, however, that Warner Brothers and Laurence Mark Productions are adapting the series for the big screen. It’s not unusual, of course, to adapt a television show into a movie, but one generally does it because the television series carries a certain brand cachet. I’m not sure how much of a built-in audience there is for “77 Sunset Strip,” or at least a built in audience under the age of 60.
Still, perhaps there’s some interesting dynamic between the wisecracking L.A. detectives, or a conceit within the show that makes it different from every other buddy cop movie in existence. I don’t really know.
What I do know, however, is that Greg Berlanti, the screenwriter behind Ryan Reynolds’ forthcoming Green Lantern, is set to produce and direct the adaption. Berlanti is working his way quickly up the Hollywood ladder, having worked as a producer and/or writer on “Everwood,” “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Brothers and Sisters,” and “Eli Stone.” He’s also wrapping production on his directorial debut, Life As We Know It, starring Katherine Heigl, Josh Lucas, and Christina Hendricks (woah! On the one hand, Katherine Heigl; on the other, Christina Hendricks. I suppose one could kill rainbows while the other could resurrect them).
Anyone know anything about this show? Old-timers? People who watch a lot of reruns?
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Comments
Posted by: Uncle JR at March 12, 2010 9:20 AM
Yeah, I vaguely remember this show. I mostly remember the theme song from it.
If I recall it was just another one of the multitude of private eye shows on during that time. (Peter Gunn, Hawaiian Eye and others of that sort were big then).
Why am I not surprised that they're remaking this.
As for remaking shows with a certain cache, I don't know if that's particulary the case. (cf, Sgt Bilko, Car 54 where are you, etc.)
Guess Hollywood is on the fast track for "My Mother the Car, the movie" where the car will be a Delorean and the mother will be played by Betty White.)