From Film To Series: To Boost Viewership CBS And FOX Reach Deep Into The Box

John Foo & Justin Hires

It is no secret the that in recent years cable
networks and streaming websites like Netflix and Hula have taken a deep bite
out of Broadcast television networks ratings and decreased the viewership
numbers of most of them. Although some viewers don’t appear happy about popular
movies and old series being adapted anew, 
it is a given that the viewing choices for this year and beyond are becoming
interesting. To battle their low viewership numbers CBS and Fox, two major broadcast
networks, have come up with a solution that appears most interesting.

First out of the box is CBS' new series Rush
Hour,
based on the blockbuster movie franchise of the same name.  With John Foo filling the shoes of Jackie
Chan as Hong Kong Detective Inspector Lee, and Justin Hires walking the path of
Chris Tucker as Detective James Carter this CBS series Rush Hour looks
promising as a high energy, action pack show that will be an engaging and an entertaining
watch for its new fans as well as old ones of the films. 

To briefly recap, in the film Rush Hour, Detective
Inspector Lee comes to LA to track the kidnap daughter of a Chinese diplomat.
Because the FBI has no interest in the case, Lee is paired up with LAPD
wisecracking Detective James Carter.  For
two men coming from two completely different worlds solving the case proves to
be a combination of hilarious happenstances and cultural mind melding that
helps the two detectives work as a team.  

Jackie Chan  & Chris Tucker

In the CBS series Rush Hour Detective Lee is 
said to be a stoic, by-the-book Hong Kong police detective who comes to
LA to investigate the theft of Chinese artifacts that he believes is the cause
of  the murder of his sister, Kim, played
by Jessika Van.





Like in the film, Lee is paired  up
with a young LA cop named  Carter who is cocky
and likes working  his cases alone.  As the series progresses Lee discovers that
his sister Kim is alive and has strong and possibly more sinister ties to an organized
crime family known as the Quantou.





The series Rush Hour is a Doozer and Warner Bros. Television production and
is scheduled to debut on CBS this March 31st at 10:00 PM ET/PT.

Damon Wayans Sr.

Next out of this box of films reinvented into series
is Fox new series Lethal Weapon, which is 
based on the blockbuster movie franchise of the same name that began in
the late 1980s. While there is not much in the way of details on this Fox
series, it has been recently announced the Damon Wayans Sr. will play the
role of Detective Roger Murtaugh, a role played by Danny Glover in the movies.
As for who will play Martin Riggs, who was played by the award winning actor
and director Mel Gibson, there is no news at this time. 

Now to briefly recap the film Lethal Weapon.
Detective Murtaugh is called in to investigate what appears to be a drug related
suicide of a young woman who turns out to be the daughter of an old military
buddy of his. However, it is to Murtaugh displeasure that the detective
assigned to help him with the case is a broken and suicidal Martin Riggs, who
is deeply grieving the murder of his wife. 

Murtaugh is also assigned to report on Riggs
emotional and mental state while on duty. 
He soon discovers that Riggs is reckless and throws himself in cases
where the chances of getting himself killed is high, but to Riggs own
displeasure he survives in each case. 

As the pieces of the case begins to pile up and
converge in a direction that ties the lives of both

Mel Gibson & Danny Glover

detectives together, their
bond grows both on and off the job and lasts throughout three films sequels.

Armed with this brief movie recall, the expectation
on Fox series adaptation of the famed film franchise is a welcome one, and with
Damon Wayans Sr., who has many outstanding series and writer's credits to
his name, such as In Living Color , Major Payne, Blankman, and My Wife and
Kids, Lethal Weapon the series looks to be headed in the right direction.

Lethal Weapon the series is a Warner Bros production
and its airing is unscheduled at this time.