Ferris Bueller

Originally Published January 1st, 2004

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The film Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a cult classic. This television version, which saw Charlie Schlatter take over the role of Ferris Bueller from Matthew Broderick, was an attempt to bring the vibrancy and humor of the film to the small screen. Ami Dolenz, Brandon Douglas and Jennifer Aniston co-starred. Despite a strong promotional push from NBC, Ferris Bueller only ran for twelve episodes during the fall of 1990 before it was cancelled. Strong competition from CBS's Major Dad contributed to the show's demise. A thirteenth episode was belatedly aired in August of 1991.

Released in June of 1986, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, starring Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara and Alan Ruck, ranked as one of the ten highest-grossing films of 1986 (others included Top Gun, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and The Karate Kid, Part II) [1]. The film was shown on NBC on Sunday, May 14th, 1989 following the series finale of Family Ties and drew a 17.6/29 rating and beat its network competition, which included the final chapter of ABC's "War and Remembrance" miniseries [2].

On May 24th, USA Today reported that NBC was working on a television version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off as a midseason replacement for the 1989-1990 season [3]. Although a series never materialized during that season, NBC's interest in the property had only begun. The network repeated the film on Sunday, March 4th, 1990 and despite ranking third in its timeslot and 43rd for the week, it still drew a 12.7/20 rating [4].

Later that month, NBC listed the thirty pilots it was considering for the 1990-1991 season; a version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off was included [5]. It was one of ten pilots spread across ABC, CBS and NBC based on movies. The others included series based on Parenthood, The Witches of Eastwick, True Believer, K-9, Look Who's Talking, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Big, Uncle Buck and Steel Magnolias [6].

When NBC announced its fall schedule, Ferris Bueller was given the Monday, 8:30-9PM timeslot following The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, another new sitcom, with Charlie Schlatter in the lead role. NBC President Brandon Tartikoff called Ferris Bueller "a contemporary, hip show" while lavishing even more praise on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, predicting it "will be the hottest show ever; it has a possibility for a 30-plus share" [7].

Some changes were made for the television version. Although the film was set in Chicago, Ferris Bueller is set in sunny, suburban Los Angeles, where Ferris attends Ocean Bay High School. He starts off his first day of junior year in the premiere episode, despite being a senior in the film.

Also, Ferris mentions "meeting" Sloan Peterson in the first episode, which makes little sense considering their relationship in the film version. In spite of these contradictions, the producers of Ferris Bueller decided to have their Ferris be aware of the film.

Within the universe of the television series, Ferris Bueller's Day Off was based on Ferris's life he wasn't thrilled with Broderick's portrayal. Breaking the fourth wall, television Ferris pulls a cardboard cutout of Matthew Broderick from his closet and proceeds to cut it in two with a chainsaw.

Joining Charlie Schlatter in the series would be Ami Dolenz (daughter of The Monkee's drummer Micky Dolenz) as Sloane Peterson, Ferris's girlfriend, and Brandon Douglas as Cameron Frye, Ferris's best friend. The three had big shoes to fill: Matthew Broderick simply shined as Ferris in the film version and along with Mia Sara and Alan Ruck formed a wonderful triumvirate with perfect chemistry and comic timing.

Jeanie Bueller, Ferris's obnoxious sister, would be played by future Friends star Jennifer Aniston. Appearing as the Bueller parents were Cristine Rose and Sam Freed (in the film, Cindy Pickett and Lyman Ward were Mr. and Mrs. Bueller -- the two would later marry in real life). The role of Principal Ed Rooney, Ferris's nemesis, played to perfection by Jeffrey Jones in the film, was taken over by Richard Riehle; his secretary, Grace, by Judith Kahan (Edie McClurg in the film).

View a Scene from Ferris Bueller

Comparisons with the actors and actresses from the film were, and are, understandable. In taking characters with limited depth and little-to-no back story and placing them in a television series, the producers of Ferris Bueller were asking a lot of their cast. Unfortunately, for the most part, they were unable to rise to the occasion. Rather than branch out and bring new approaches to the characters, the television cast tried to duplicate the characters as they appeared in the film

As Ferris, Charlie Schlatter couldn't match Matthew Broderick's mannerisms but he was able to duplicate Broderick's tone. Schlatter delivered his lines with the same faux obnoxious flair Broderick had in the film. Ami Dolenz made a very pretty, very sincere and very amusing Sloan and Brandon Douglas played up Cameron's hypochondria hilariously, but the trio just didn't shine the way Broderick, Mia Sara and Alan Ruck had on the big screen.

Of the rest of the cast, only Jennifer Aniston stands out. Her take on Jeannie -- the scheming, whining sister -- was brighter than Jennifer Grey's dour, brooding portrayal in the film. The emotional shift made all the difference and Aniston's interactions with Schlatter were a highlight of the series.

Television critics were overwhelmingly negative in their reviews of Ferris Bueller. Matt Roush, writing for USA Today, lamented the fact that the series lacked the "undertone of ebullient youth and innocence" seen in the film and labeled the television version of Ferris Bueller a "ferret" [8]. Tom Shales, in The Washington Post, discussing the opening sequence in the premiere which saw Charlie Schlatter cutting through a cardboard cutout of Matthew Broderick: "Oh, then this is the 'real' Ferris Bueller? Fine. Now will the real Ferris Bueller please shut up" [9].

View the Opening "Chainsaw" Scene from Ferris Bueller

The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jonathan Storm wrote that Ferris Bueller "has a central character with no soul" [10]. Howard Rosenberg, however, in The Los Angeles Times, was very enthusiastic about the series, which he called "a likable addition to the NBC schedule." He saw Charlie Schlatter as "sharper-edged [but] nevertheless an appealing Ferris" and called executive producer John Masius "a master of the amusing throwaway line" [11].

Many critics compared Ferris Bueller to Parker Lewis Can't Lose, another new sitcom, this one on FOX, that was arguably just as inspired by Ferris Bueller's Day Off as NBC's Ferris Bueller was. Unlike the official spin-off, Parker Lewis Can't Lose drew modest praise. John J. O'Connor, for The New York Times, wrote that "Ferris's character gets away with his antics precisely because of his seemingly innocent facade, and so Mr. Broderick was perfect for the role. The smirking Mr. Schlatter is likely to leave most viewers reaching instinctively for their wallets" [12]. Corin Nemec as Parker Lewis, on the other hand, "is indeed white-bread perfect for the kind of fellow who finds the very concept of school totally bizarre" [13].

And Matt Roush, who was so critical of Ferris Bueller, argued that Parker Lewis Can't Lose had "a giddy sense of the absurd that keeps it from being a total turnoff" [14].

In July of 1990, NBC announced it would "double pump" six of its new series before premiere week -- in other words, debut the series twice before premiere week -- starting with Ferris Bueller on Thursday, August 23rd, and including such shows as Working It Out, Law and Order and Hull Street High [15].

The "preview" of Ferris Bueller aired at 8:30PM, following a repeat of The Cosby Show, and was seen by 22.9 million viewers, easily winning its timeslot (but losing roughly one million viewers from The Cosby Show) with a 14.2/25 rating, placing it 6th for the week [16].

When the premiere episode was repeated in its regular timeslot on Monday, September 10th at 8:30PM, it ranked second in its timeslot with 18.2 million viewers and a 12.4/20 rating, good enough to tie for 26th for the week [17]. The following week, however, Ferris Bueller fell to third in its timeslot against Major Dad on CBS and MacGyver on ABC, with a 10.7/17 rating, ranking 57th for the week (it also lost nearly four million viewers from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air) [18].

On October 2nd, USA Today reported that Ferris Bueller was in danger of cancellation. Brandon Tartikoff was quoted as saying "it is a little too early to make a decision on Ferris Bueller," but he pointed out that even the NBC/McDonald's "McMillions on NBC" sweepstake was not bringing viewers to Ferris Bueller (the "McMillions" sweepstake had its first drawing on Monday, September 24th, 1990 -- during Ferris Bueller's third episode) [19], [20].

NBC pre-empted Ferris Bueller on Monday, November 19th, to try out the pairing of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air with The Parenthood, after previously airing an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air with Amen on a Saturday. Reportedly, whichever show held more of its lead-in would replace Ferris Bueller on Mondays [21]. However, the special showing of The Parenthood fared no better than Ferris Bueller -- in fact, it did somewhat worse, drawing a 9.1/14 rating, tied at 52nd for the week [22].

View a Scene from Ferris Bueller

In mid-December, NBC announced its midseason line-up, dropping both Ferris Bueller and The Parenthood (plus Grand and Working It Out), with Blossom replacing Ferris Bueller Mondays at 8:30PM [23]. On Sunday, December 16th, NBC broadcast an episode of Ferris Bueller that drew only 8.3 million viewers, beaten by True Colors on FOX (Ferris Bueller did out rate True Colors, 5.9/10 to 5.5/10), ranked 85th for the week. An episode of Parker Lewis Can't Lose at 7:30PM on FOX drew 9.9 million viewers; this was the closest the two shows came to competing head-to-head [24].

Ferris Bueller's cancellation came just in time for critics to make note of it in the year-end wrap-ups. Matt Roush listed Ferris Bueller among "Shows we're glad are going away" [25]. Tom Shales ranked Ferris Bueller fifth in his "10 Worst Shows of the Year" list [26]. And John J. O'Connor included the show in his rundown of "truly dreadful moments" in the television year -- it, along with Hull High, was one of "those teen shows assuring young audiences that teachers are dopey and education is a drag" [27].

NBC burned off a leftover episode of Ferris Bueller on Sunday, August 11th, 1991. It tied for 90th for the week with a 3.5 rating [28]. For the 1990-1991 season overall, Ferris Bueller ranked as one of the most popular series among viewers aged 12-17, behind The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and America's Funniest People but ahead of its replacement Blossom and Doogie Howser, M.D. [29].

Television shows based on feature films are notoriously tricky to pull off. It is tough enough to recapture the spark of a successful film in a sequel, even with the original cast, writer and director returning. To take a film, reshape it for the small screen, and recast every role, is magnitudes tougher.

In the case of Ferris Bueller, perhaps not even Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara and Alan Ruck reprising their roles could have made the television series a hit. After all, the plot of the original film was built around a single "day off," not a continuing school year. Seeing Ferris Bueller make a mockery of authority, Cameron worry about infectious diseases and Jeannie whine about the inherent bias her parents hold towards Ferris in a movie running less than two hours is entertaining -- the same cannot be said about a weekly series.

Still, some blame for the failure of Ferris Bueller can be attributed to its timeslot. NBC intentionally plugged one of the weakest parts of its schedule with The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Ferris Bueller, two untested sitcoms. For Ferris Bueller, competition included Major Dad which, in its second season, saw an unexpected rise in ratings allowing it to end the 1990-1991 season in the top 25 [30]. The 1990-1991 season as a whole had no new hits. Even The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which ended the season as the highest-rated new sitcom, only ranked 41st [31].

As for Parker Lewis Can't Lose, the FOX series would run for three seasons and 73 episodes, ending its run in June of 1993. In a nod to its rival, the October 22nd, 1990 episode of Ferris Bueller was titled "Ferris Bueller Can't Win," in which Ferris has a run of bad luck. Several months later, after Ferris Bueller had left the airwaves, the season finale of Parker Lewis Can't Lose (aired May 19th, 1991) was titled "Parker Lewis Can't Win," which saw Parker Lewis dealing with his own bout with bad luck.

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Last Updated June 26th, 2008