AMC Studios is developing a television series based on Stay Tuned, the 1992 cult classic film that starred John Ritter and Pam Dawber. According to Deadline, the television adaptation comes from Fear The Walking Dead co-showrunner and executive producer Ian Goldberg and writer and producer Richard Naing who will write the series. The project, which will be executive produced by Morgan Creek Entertainment which also produced the original film, is part of Goldberg’s overall deal with AMC Studios.
Stay Tuned starred Ritter and Dawber as married couple Roy and Helen Knable who, find themselves transported into television where they are forced to survive Hellevision, a twisted and satirical world of sitcoms and movies. If they can survive for 24 hours, they are free to go. If the get killed, their souls belong to Satan. The film satirizes a wide range of entertainment, including Wayne’s World, The Silence of the Lambs, Driving Miss Daisy, Looney Tunes, The Golden Girls, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and even Three’s Company — the iconic late 1970s/early 1980s television series that Ritter is perhaps most famous for.
The film was originally set to be directed by Tim Burton who left the project for Batman Returns. Peter Hyams ultimately directed the film which also starred Jeffrey Jones, David Tom, and Eugene Levy among others and featured appearances from Salt-N-Pepa. The film grossed $10.7 million at the box office in the United States and received mixed to negative reviews from critics. The film has a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
At this point, there’s not much in the way of information regarding what entertainment might be satirized in the television adaptation of Stay Tuned nor is there any information about casting or release.
Goldberg is currently serving as co-showrunner of Fear the Walking Dead with Andrew Chambliss and previously co-created Dead of Summer. That series aired for one season on Freeform. Naing previously worked with Goldberg on that series. The pair also wrote Netflix’s 2019 horror film Eli and sold the feature adaptation of Keith Donohue’s book The Boy Who Drew Monsters to New Line and the Stephen King short story, Little Green God of Agony, to Lionsgate.
What do you think about Stay Tuned getting a television adaptation? Are you a fan of the original film? Let us know your thoughts about the Stay Tuned adaptation in the comments.
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