# TV Series Based On Books



## sighdone (Feb 4, 2011)

Just wanted to list a few television shows that are based on books.

Dexter
Frost
Inspector Morse
Men Behaving Badly
Friday Night Lights
Homicide: Life On The Streets
Generation Kill
True Blood
Rebus
Game Of Thrones
The Dresden Files
Pretty Little Liars
Vampire Diaries
Gossip Girl
Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy

Add your own, and I'll update the list.


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## Jennybeanses (Jan 27, 2011)

True Blood and Game of Thrones


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## sighdone (Feb 4, 2011)

Yes, True Blood, can't believe I missed that, it was the first one that occurred to me. Will add Rebus too.


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## alexisleno (Mar 4, 2011)

Does this count for canceled series? There was one based on Sword of Truth called Legend of the Seeker. Alas, it was canceled . 


EDIT:

I thought of more while sitting here...

The Dresden Files
Pretty Little Liars
Vampire Diaries
Gossip Girl


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## RobynB (Jan 4, 2011)

An oldie, but goodie: _Spenser: For Hire_ (I'm from Boston, so there's special love for it and the late Robert B. Parker)


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Bones
Rizzoli and Isles
Castle (kinda sorta but in reverse  )


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

sighdone said:


> Just wanted to list a few television shows that are based on books.
> ...


Ummm...why?


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Little House on the Prairie
Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys Mysteries


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## Jamie Case (Feb 15, 2011)

Flashforward

Sweet Valley High
The Babysitters Club
Little House on the Prairie
Avonlea
Welcome to Pooh Corner
Adventures in Wonderland

I watched a lot of The Disney Channel growing up...


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## Jayniepanda (Feb 5, 2011)

Jeeves and Wooster - PG Wodehouse


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## alexisleno (Mar 4, 2011)

I love Castle! I didn't know there were books


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## deckard (Jan 13, 2011)

M*A*S*H

Book to movie to TV series


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

alexisleno said:


> I love Castle! I didn't know there were books


There are 2: Heat Wave, and Naked Heat. . .written by the folks that write the TV series, which actually came first. . . . .both available for Kindle. Decent stories.


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## alexisleno (Mar 4, 2011)

heh Nice. Nathon Fillion makes me wish Richard Castle was real


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## Brian Lindenmuth (Mar 3, 2011)

I don't think I saw it on a quick skim.

The show Blue Bloods is based on the non-fiction book Blue Blood by Edward Conlon.

You might as well put The Wire up there next to Homicide.  

Also Boardwalk Empire


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## sighdone (Feb 4, 2011)

Not sure I agree about adding The Wire.


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## Patrick Skelton (Jan 7, 2011)

Castle is a good one for sure!


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## sighdone (Feb 4, 2011)

Castle doesn't count - it's a spin-off from the series. Very good though from all accounts, and a lovely idea.


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## Brian Lindenmuth (Mar 3, 2011)

Since Generation Kill is a a mini-series then The Corner should be added too.

I'll respond more thoroughly to this soon:



sighdone said:


> Not sure I agree about adding The Wire.


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

There are a lot of kid programs based off books, Eloise, Max and Ruby, Berenstain Bears, Olivia, Pinkalious, Harold and the Purple Crayon....I am sure there are quite a few more I am not remembering at the moment.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

_Haven_, based on Stephen King's _The Colorado Kid_.

I've read the book, and completely fail to see how the book could have inspired the TV series. Nothing in common, except the names of two characters.

The book _The Curse of Capistrano_ by Johnston McCulley was the source of the _Zorro_ TV series (and movie serials).

Likewise, the book _The Virginian_ by Owen Wister was the source for the TV series of the same name (and at least one movie).

Mike


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## Bob Mayer (Feb 20, 2011)

What book was Flashforward based on?

Don't get me started on Lost and my Atlantis series.

The Wire wasn't based on a book, but David Simon who invented it was a reporter in Baltimore. I still believe it was the best television of the last decade. I use a term from it all the time to describe the way traditional publishing is dealing with eBooks: juking the stats. Film clip here at end of blog http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/digital-book-world-contentconsumer-tweet-notes-wrap-up/

I really liked The Dresden Files. Wonder why it wasn't picked up.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Bob Mayer said:


> What book was Flashforward based on?


_Flashforward_ by Robert J. Sawyer.

Mike


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

None of the others matter because GAME OF THRONES STARTS IN APRIL!

*ahem*

I'm not a GRR Martin fan, you realize.


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## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

Peyton Place
Perry Mason


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Bob Mayer said:


> I really liked The Dresden Files. Wonder why it wasn't picked up.


If I recall correctly, it was considered too expensive in light of the indifferent ratings. The network delayed telling the production company whether it was being picked up for so long that I think Paul Blackthorne may have already signed for another series by the time it was known that it was not renewed.

Curiously, the network refused to let the production company put the 2 hour pilot on the DVD set, and then they only aired it once, at 2AM a year after the series ended. I'm lucky I happened to catch it on a TiVo search.

Strange are the ways of TV suits.

Mike


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Also:

Ellery Queen
Nero Wolfe
Hamish MacBeth
Midsomer Murders
Inspector Lynley
Wodehouse Playhouse
Miss Marple
Hercule Poirot
Lord Peter Wimsey


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## Jorean (Jul 31, 2010)

The Waking Dead was a comic.... so would that count?

And Castle is great. I went to a Nathan Fillion book signing for Heat Wave and well... I think everyone in line just melted.


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## Brian Lindenmuth (Mar 3, 2011)

The Wire: A rebuttal

The shows Homicide and The Wire and the mini-series The Corner all draw heavily from David Simon's two books, Homicide and The Corner. The five of them comprise a tone poem of the city. It's demonstrable that The Wire should be considered a related adaptation of Simon's books. At the very least considered parenthetically.

Here are a few examples:

*[note: there are quoted book passages so there is some language below.]*

1) The character Cutty from The Wire appears in the book The Corner.

2) Remember the scene where Bunk talks about shooting the mouse?

Here's the passage from Homicide the book:



> "McLarney, who once drove home on a bust shift to rescue his wife by using his .38 to shoot a rampaging mouse in the bedroom closet. ("I cleaned it up," he explained on his return to the office. "But I thought about leaving it there as a warning to the others.")"


3) How about McNulty thanking Bunk for fucking him gently?

Here's the quote from the book:



> Nothing is so amusingly pathetic as when one cop tries to bond with another. Conversations descend into vague mutterings. Compliments are transformed into insults. Words of genuine affection become comically perverted.
> 
> "Really, you taught me a lot," says McLarney. "But that's not why I respect you. I respect you for one thing."
> 
> ...


4) Remember the classic story relayed to McNulty in the very first scene of the series, you know, Snotboogie?

Here's the passage from the book:



> On the surface it all resembles a nightmare, but dig a little deeper and McLarney can show you the perverse eloquence of the thing, the unending inner-city comedy of crime and punishment.
> 
> That corner there, the one where Snot Boogie got shot.
> 
> ...


5) And finally one last one that bridges the gap between Homicide the book, Homicide the series and The Wire. Remember the scenes where the detectives used a photo copy machine as a lie detector machine.

Here's the passage from the book:



> The deception sometimes goes too far, or at least it sometimes it seems that way to those unfamiliar with the process. Not long ago, several veteran homicide detectives in Detroit were publicly upbraided and disciplined by their superiors for using the office Xerox machine as a polygraph device. It seems that the detectives, when confronted with a statement of dubious veracity, would sometimes adjourn to the Xerox room and load three sheets of paper into the feeder.
> 
> "Truth," said the first.
> 
> ...


Finally I submit the character Jay Landsman from The Wire who was one of the real police that Simon followed for the book Homicide. Over five seasons fans of The Wire came to appreciate the comedic stylings of the character Jay Landsman. According to one of the documentaries on the season 5 DVD release Jay Landsman tried out for the role of Jay Landsman but didn't get the part. He would however eventually land the role of Sgt. Mello. So let's take one more quote from the book, one about Landsman, and if you've never read David Simon's books please do, they are stone cold classics.



> A mental case. They give him a gun, a badge, and sergeant's stripes, and deal him out into the streets of Baltimore, a city with more than its share of violence, filth and despair. Then they surround him with a chorus of blue-jacketed straight men and let him play the role of the lone, wayward joker that somehow slipped into the deck. Jay Landsman, of the sidelong smile and pockmarked face, who tells the mothers of wanted men that all the commotion is nothing to be upset about, just a routine murder warrant. Landsman, who leaves empty liquor bottles in the other sergeants' desks and never fails to turn out the men's room light when a ranking officer is indisposed. Landsman, who rides a headquarters elevator with the police commissioner and leaves complaining that some sonofabitch stole his wallet. Jay Landsman, who as a Southwestern patrolman parked his radio car at Edmondson and Hilton, then used a Quaker Oatmeal box covered in aluminum foil as a radar gun.


That's my case


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## sighdone (Feb 4, 2011)

All good points Brian, and it's absolutely clear that The Wire draws heavily on Simon's print work.

But, the point of this thread is to list books that became TV series directly - ie, in name as well as content.

Thus, Homicide counts, The Wire does not.

It's also why Lost would not make the list. Nor Battlestar Gallactica.


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## Brian Lindenmuth (Mar 3, 2011)

I gave it my best


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## sighdone (Feb 4, 2011)

Brian Lindenmuth said:


> I gave it my best


And it was brilliant.


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## Frank Marcopolos (Dec 29, 2010)

ABC is doing a series with Edgar Allan Poe as a detective, set in the 1800's. Not quite based on a book, but in the ballpark, anyway.

Re: The Wire, while it was not based on a book (though you could argue it was based on THE CORNER by David Simon and Ed Burns), every season had the feel of a novel, with each episode as a chapter of that novel. Also, the writing staff boasted the likes of George Pelecanos, Richard Price, and Dennis Lehane (in addition to Simon and Burns), so that adds to the novelistic feel to it.


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## Brian Lindenmuth (Mar 3, 2011)

Here's one that skirts the line but I'll mention it anyway in case folk don't know.  The series Justified is based on the Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole".  It's not too often that you see a series adapted from a short story.


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

Dang.  I loved The Wire.  After that post by Brian with his argument, I need to watch it again (wish it was available on Netflix Instant Watch or part of Amazon's prime-eligible On Demand!).

Justified is really good too, I haven't started watching this season yet but last season was great.  Even better that Elmore Leonard remains involved, writing at least some episodes, so he can retain the feel of the original character.  I'd think that one should count and doesn't just skirt the line!


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## sighdone (Feb 4, 2011)

I tend to watch the entire series of The Wire in a marathon once or twice a year.


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## tim290280 (Jan 11, 2011)

Brian Lindenmuth said:


> Here's one that skirts the line but I'll mention it anyway in case folk don't know. The series Justified is based on the Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole". It's not too often that you see a series adapted from a short story.


Just finished watching episode 5 of season 2, love this show. The short story is good too. If anyone hasn't read it check it out: http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060586164

I'm also a big fan of The Wire. I was at a writing workshop on the weekend and it was repeatedly referenced by all of the crime writers.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

MLPMom said:


> There are a lot of kid programs based off books, Eloise, Max and Ruby, Berenstain Bears, Olivia, Pinkalious, Harold and the Purple Crayon....I am sure there are quite a few more I am not remembering at the moment.


Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!
Thomas the Tank Engine
Curious George
Caillou


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## BuddyGott (Feb 4, 2011)

It didn't last long, but a good series was Karen Sisco. It was based on one of the lead characters from Elmore Leonard's "Out Of Sight," which I think was originally titled something else before it was turned into the movie starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez.


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## xxevilolivexx (Mar 10, 2011)

Blood Ties was based on Tanya Huff's Blood Books


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## WilliamM (Feb 10, 2009)

Brian Lindenmuth said:


> Here's one that skirts the line but I'll mention it anyway in case folk don't know. The series Justified is based on the Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole". It's not too often that you see a series adapted from a short story.


and the character of Rayland appears in a couple other Leonard books as well..including the one Im reading now..Pronto

The Wire..best series hands down...a lot of the characters were based on characters from Homicide just liek the tv series Homicide was..


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## sighdone (Feb 4, 2011)

With a name like Fuzzy Dunlop it's no surprise you like The Wire.

Did you see Snoop's been arrested?


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## WilliamM (Feb 10, 2009)

sighdone said:


> With a name like Fuzzy Dunlop it's no surprise you like The Wire.
> 
> Did you see Snoop's been arrested?


hah..yea..a lot of people dont knwo where thats from..and did not know about snoop..will have to look it up


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## sighdone (Feb 4, 2011)

It's in many papers, but I thought it apt to link to the Baltimore Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-drug-raids-20110310,0,5092225.story


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## WilliamM (Feb 10, 2009)

sighdone said:


> It's in many papers, but I thought it apt to link to the Baltimore Sun:
> 
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-drug-raids-20110310,0,5092225.story


wow just makes one wonder why..and yes the Sun is most fitting!


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## Brian Lindenmuth (Mar 3, 2011)

I saw that earlier. I can give you one that runs deeper. One most won't have noticed unless you've read the original book, remember the names and keep up with local news [which I live here so...].

One of the original Detectives that David Simon followed to write the book was named Terry McLarney. He has since risen through the ranks.

This past weekend we had a lot of rain here (lot of rain today too). His police car was found abandoned on the side of one of the main highways. It's assumed that the abandonment was weather related but since he never reported it he has been suspended pending an investigation. He _was_ heading up a redball here.


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## sighdone (Feb 4, 2011)

Intriguing and a little unsettling.

McLarney was McNulty's inspiration wasn't he? Or at least his name in the original pilot script.


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