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U~hen you were eight
and wore Dino
pajamas, The Flint-
stones were really
hip. By the time
you got to college, you probably
thought you'd outgrown them
both.
Well, don't count on the folks in
Hollywood thinking so. And don't think
for a moment they're above exploiting
those lovable childhood characters to
make a buck. Next summer, Fred and
his gang will be yabba-dabba-dooing to
theaters across the country.
And in case you haven't outgrown the
Brady clan, or aren't tired of the
Christmas reunions, kiss-and-tell book,
spoof play, Sunshine Day albums and
talk show appearances, you can expect
to see them at your local cinema before
long as well.
What's up with the TV shows that
never die? The Flintstones and The Brady
Bunch follow Star Trek, Dragnet, The
Fugitive, Dennis the Menace, The Addams
Family, Wayne's World and The Beverly
Hillbillies as some of the latest popular
TV concepts to make the transition to
the silver screen.
And even though you may not want to
admit it, people are watching this stuff.
(You know who you are.)
According to Lynn Spigel, an associ-
ate professor of critical studies at the U.
of Southern California's School of
Cinema-Television, shows like The
Beverly Hillbillies provide a sense of
shared history in a world of alienating
circumstances. Spigel, author of Make
Room for TV, also says the regeneration
of these shows eventually forms a "new
cultural literary."
"People really do relate through this
stuff," she says.
On other words, you'd be laughed out
of college if you couldn't snap your fin-
gers to The Addams Family theme song
(da-na-na-na, snap snap, da-na-na-na,
snap snap) or sing the lyrics to The
Beverly Hillbillies ("Come 'n' listen to
my story 'bout a man named Jed... ").
And the film industry counts on just
that kind of familiarity, knowing it can
mean big bucks. The first Addams
Family flick made more than $110 mil-
lion and raked in $14.5 million the week
it opened. It's not surprising that it
spawned a sequel - and already there's
talk of a third.
Soon, even the most dubious TV
show will get its own picture deal
By Anne Bergman, DailyTrojan, U. of Southern California
Screenwriter Paul Rudnick, who
worked on the first Addams Family film
and wrote the sequel, says, "I think
there's a sense of familiar characters. I
also think there's a certain reason the
Addams Family have endured through
the cartoon family, through the TV
shows and through the film. They're
icons, part of the culture."
Jill Young, a senior at the College of
William and Mary and a big fan of the
Addams family, watched the first movie
several times. "I liked the movie better
than the series," she says. "It was more
current, in color and more three-
dimensional."
Even Kevin Connolly, the 19-year-
old who plays Morgan Drysdale in The
Beverly Hillbillies movie, says when
moviemakers get their hands on the
shows from his night-light days, he gets
sucked in by his own curiosity. "As far
as The Hillbillies is concerned, I didn't
really watch them growing up because
that was a little before my time," he
says. "But I watched Batman." And he
watched The Flintstones.
"I actually want to see The Flintstones
[movie] because I want to see how the
cast looks. Is John Goodman a good
Flintstone? That's what I'm interested
in seeing," Connolly says.
Universal Pictures is banking on both
baby boomers and Generation Xers to
fork over big bucks for a peek at the
new and improved, live-action Bedrock.
Along with Goodman as Fred, The
Flintstones stars Elizabeth Perkins
(Wilma), Rosie O'Donnell (Betty) and
Rick Moranis (Barney). And according
to producer Bruce Cohen, the movie
offers dialogue for adults, sets and props
that capture the essence of the original
cartoon, and even an Industrial Light
and Magic Dino (from the special
effects folks who brought you Jurassic
Park). Plus, he says it will have a wide-
range appeal. "Everyone knows the
Flintstones," he says.
Retreading successful ideas is certain-
ly not a new trend in entertainment.
The evolution dates back farther than
some might guess - even farther than
prehistoric Bedrock.
Consider this: Fred and Wilma are
loosely based on the characters in the
1950s television series The
Honeymooners. Both Dennis the Menace
and The Addams Family began as car-
toons and comic strips. And Batman and
Superman leapt from comic book pages
into radio, movie and television before
finally landing in feature films.
And you can expect even more resur-
rections in the future. The Love Boat
soon will be making another run, as will
Lassie, The Little Rascals, and, in January,
that all-time favorite Car 54, Where Are
You? (which will star none other than Al
Lewis, known to you as Grandpa from
The Munsters). Touchstone is even mak-
ing a movie about Pat, that androgy-
nous character of Saturday Night Live
fame.
But is there a danger to all this
rehashing? What if some of us have just
plain matured past the appeal of Uncle
Fester and Elly May?
Stephanie Evans, a freshman at
Pepperdine U., says, "I think they
should let those sitcoms from the '70s
die because they were good and not try
to revive them again because it
become trendy. Too moth of a good
thing can be bad."
Even Connolly, who is profiting from
the trend, admits, "It's going toget old
pretty quick."
And when it does, then what? When
they run out of '70s shows, will studios
green light a live action Ren and Stimpy
or Beavis and Butt-head?
Well, yes. As a matter of fact, the
Beavis and Butt-head project is already
underway. "Beavis and Butt-head the
movie?" Connolly asks incredulously.
"Wow, I think that I'll probably have to
go see that." U
A closer look
I am writing about the article "Student races to find
donor for miracle match" in the December 1993 issue. In
this article, there is the statement that a bone marrow
transplant is the only chance a leukemia patient has to
survive. This is not true. Many victims of leukemia sur-
vive without the need of a transplant. I commend U.
Magazine for addressing this issue, but make sure all your
facts are straight before making such broad statements
about a complex issue. Sharon R. Boyle, graduate stu-
dent, East Carolina U. +
Egg on their faces
After reading the article about the sorority sisters at U.
of North Texas [U. Magazine, December 1993], I was
dumbfounded. THAT'S what they call hazing? OK, so
maybe the paddling part was a bit rough, but eggs? Eggs
are even good for your hair, for Christ's sake! And forc-
ing them to eat hot peppers? SO WHAT??? IT'S
FOOD!!! Please, just because these sisters wanted to have
a little clean fun is no reason to give them $500 fines,
much less a jail sentence! I sincerely feel bad for the five
sisters convicted, but I truly pity the court members who
sentenced them. They deserve rotten eggs in m book.
Lis Barbiero, freshman, Dartmouth College 4*
Criminal record check
I was nearly dismayed after having read your article in
December's issue concerning St. Augustine's College's
policy of conducting criminal background checks of its
applicants. St. Augustine's is, I would assume, a private
school, and by all means has the right to conduct said
checks with little fear of legal intervention. However, I
would like to think that if a government-funded school
were to adopt such a policy, it would be shot down with
great expedience by the courts. Would it not serve a great
The Campus Dialogue
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Jon Nilsen, The Minnesota Daily, U.of Minnesota
injustice to the principles of the university itself to disal-
low an individual the opportunity to make something bet-
ter of him/herself? Is this not what the intent of education
is? Brian Patrick, sophomore, Eastern Illinois U. 4*
Cyberreaction
I appreciate the fact that you are enlightening the col-
lege masses by covering subjects such as cyberspace and
the cyberculture [U. Magazine, November 1993].
However, those of us who have known about cyberspace
and have used it for many years find that many of the
media seem to have "jumped on the bandwagon." All we
- the cyber-enthusiasts - ask is that the media back off
for once. If everybody were to find out about cyberspace,
it would be choked. John Patrick, junior, U. of
Oklahoma 4*
We're not losers
In regards to "Surfing the Information Superhighway"
[U. Magazine, November 1993], I must say that I am dis-
appointed and offended by the negative way you depicted
COVER PHOTO: ADAM BAKER, WASHINGTON STATE U., VANCOUVER
Northwest Missouri State U. I cannot deny that many
students have failed classes because of the Electronic
Campus, but that would be inherent to any university
that offered a similar service. Of all the references to
schools in that article, only the one referring to
Northwest was negative in context. I truly hope that the
size of our university had nothing to do with the decision
to portray us as losers. I do hope it was just ignorance on
the part of the author of the piece and the editor who
presumably proofread it. In the future, please take care to
understand what you are talking about before your rag
goes to print. (Aside from that offense, I did enjoy the
article, though.) J. Phillip Koebbe, junior, Northwest
Missouri State U. -4*.
PC has not gone too far
I am writing in response to the October 1993 edition's
opinion poll ["Has political correctness gone too far?"],
with regards to Conja Summerlin of the U. of Missouri.
You say that you find it offensive that you have to call
your neighbor African-American. Well, I find it offensive
that you wouldn't want to call him just that. For a brief
bit of history, you must remember that your ancestors
robbed Africans of their land, history, name and religion.
They were brought to America to be slaves and nothing
else. Now that we know our history, it is politically cor-
rect to call a black person African-American. We are
African because Africa is where our ancestors were stolen
from, and we are American because we choose to live and
pay taxes here.
Furthermore, if you desire to be called European-
American, fine, no one says you cannot. However, please
do not take hostility toward people who have chosen to
find what was lost. Vianesa Penn, freshman,
Grambling State U.
continued next page
U-MAIL: Address your correspondence to Letters to the Editor, U. Magazine, 1800 Century Park East, Suite 820, Los Angeles, CA 90067; fax it to (310) 551-1659 or E-mail to umag@Owell.sf.ca.us. All Senders: Include your name, year, school
and phone number for verification. Internet users should also include permission to reprint their submission. Letters should be 200 words or less. U. reserves the right to edit submissions for length and clarity.
Do you think Clinton is
doing a good job?
Calls: 931 From: 210 campuses
Yes: 282 No: 649
"No, I do not feel that Mr. Clinton is
doing a good job. I think that he's trying
hard, but he's trying to please every single
person who lives in the United States and
he needs to just consider trying to please
the majority and also try to limit the num-
ber of topics he wants to cover at one
time." Larry Minton, sophomore, U. of
Tennessee
Oinion 1.011
Whereare You?(abe
the relics being res
"Yes. He conveys a sense of authority,
knowledge and passionate concern.
Finally, after 12 years of neglect, a presi-
dent who will listen to the American peo-
ple and try to the best of his ability to meet
their needs." Shane Merrill, junior, U. of
Alabama, Birmingham
"I think it's impossible for him to do a
good job only because his staff is way too
young. What he needs is experience."
Kevin Morra, freshman, George
Washington U.
"No. Most of the ideas he supported dur-
ing his campaign, he's come out against or
denies he ever supported them. He should
be sued for violating a contract that was
signed and sealed when those confused
people out there voted him into office."
Brittany Naujok, junior, U. of
Wisconsin, Milwaukee
"No. I think it's one thing to compromise
on issues and completely different to flip
your position on the issues to please peo-
ple." Warren Cheets, senior, Wichita
State U.
"Definitely. He has promised to help stu-
dents with the National Service Plan and
he has kept to that promise. He's also
guaranteed civil rights not only for the
majority groups but also minority groups
who deserve just as much consideration as
anyone else." Heather McCarthy, fresh-
man, U. of California, Riverside
"Thumbs down to the most powerful man
in the world, who will not use that power
to get anything done here at home. I'm
not expecting miracles, but I am expecting
a decent effort and maybe a little progress
on the domestic side of the fence." Simon
Bouie, junior, U. of LaVerne
Do you teei sate
on campus?
'The U.-Views Opinion Poll is a sampling of comments from
college students across the country. The toll-free number
invites responses to questions posed to students each month
in the pages of U. The poll is not scientfic, and percentages
are tigured on verhal responses received each month.
22 " u. Mmgke
22 _.UM.nazeJ...R.,..I10,..1004J.,.rOIY/F...A...1094....M agaz.....e.......
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1994 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1994
U. Magazine " 7