Hey everyone, PushingUpRoses here and I have something very special for you today.
And when I say special I mean baffling, boring, and bonkers.
The three Bs.
We’re looking at the incredible flop that is the Ferris Bueller TV show.
(Ferris!
BUELLER)
You are no doubt familiar with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a John Hughs coming of age story
about a young man’s adventurous journey in Chicago while carrying out a complex scheme
to play hooky from school and foil anyone who gets in the way.
It’s full of grand shenanigans, humor, and some touching moments, typical of the John
Hughs format.
It stars Matthew Broderick as Ferris, Mia Sara as Sloan Peterson, Ferris’s girlfriend,
Jennifer Gray as Jeannie, Ferris’s sister, and Alan Ruck as Ferris’s best friend.
It’s definitely a beloved film that did well when it was released, so perhaps that’s
why someone had the idea for a Ferris Bueller TV show.
Sounds good on paper, ended up like a disappointing, wilted head of lettuce in execution.
Before we continue I want to give a quick shout out and thank you to my friend Luke
over at Rocked.net for finding this show for me to review, without him I would have never
known it existed so thank you.
He’s a great pal and producer so if you like all things music, go check him out.
The show, simply titled Ferris Bueller, debuted on NBC on August 23, 1990, about four years
after the film.
John Hughes didn’t want anything to do with the project, and none of the original actors
reprised their role for the show, so we’re off to a great start.
It stars Charlie Schlatter, as Frankie Valli, as Ferris Bueller, Ferris: “Life is one
damn thing after another.
Mark Twain said that, after he changed his name.”
Ami Dolenz as Sloan Peterson, Richard Riehle as Principal Roony, and an unknown Jennifer
Aniston as Jeannie Bueller.
Schlatter has a very prolific acting career, particularly in voice, Ami Dolenz, the daughter
of goofy Monkee Micky Dolenz, has been in several movies over the years, Riehle has
also been in a number of things but I immediately clocked him from Office Space, and Jennifer
Aniston, of course, is known for Bad Bosses, and ONLY Bad Bosses.
So you’re probably wondering how this show ties into the film.
Well, the first episode can tell you that.
Ferris: “Matthew Broderick?
As me?
No way.”
Before anything else happens, Ferris tells the audience in a 4th wall breaking scene
that the movie was based on HIS life and goes on to mock a cardboard cutout of Matthew Broderick.
Wow, way to just shit all over the source material.
Ferris: “This is television.
This is real.”
Ferris goes on to tell the audience a few things about his life and mentions that there’s
a new girl, Sloan Peterson, transfering to his high school.
Right, okay, so let me get this straight.
The movie, where Sloan already existed and was dating Ferris, was inspired by THIS Ferris’s
real life where another girl named Sloan just also happened to exist?
Ferris: “We’re about to fall in love.
Now all we have to do is meet.”
How did that stretch feel?
Did you pull something?
Let me take you through the first episode as briefly as I can.
The first big change you’ll notice is that we are no longer in Chicago; the show takes
place in Santa Monica.
And if you know anything about John Hughs, you’ll know how much of an insult that really
is to his work.
I’m not necessarily against a new location, but Chicago was such an important place for
Hughs himself.
He once said “Chicago is what I am”, and went on to say that Ferris Bueller’s Day
off was his love letter to the city.
He specifically chose the art institute for Cameron’s identity crisis scene and this
sweet moment with Ferris and Sloan, referring to it as a refuge of his.
The entire movie is really about this journey through the city, so to have the show set
in Santa Monica really takes away some of that John Hughs magic.
After Ferris destroys his weird Matthew Broderick cutout, he introduces the audience to his
sister Jeannie in the way of making fun of her appearance.
Ferris: “She has a car, and a nose job.”
Mention of her nose job comes back several times, by the way.
You know, for humor.
After a brief intro of the other main characters, the theme starts up.
“FERRIS BUELLER” oh GOD.
Look, intros don’t necessarily have to be flashy, but was green screening Ferris walking
in and out of buildings the best choice?
You didn’t have an actual building you could film?
If I can recreate your green screened sitcom introduction, you didn’t do a good job,
trust me.
Get used to the music, because it is non stop and obnoxious.
I heard this guy shout FERRIS BUELLER so many times in varying ways that I wanted to die.
“FERRIS.
BUELLER.
Ferris…
BUELLER.
F-f-f-f-f-f-fFERRIS.
BUELLER.
Ferris BUELLER…
ferris…
BUELLER!
Ferris Bueller!”
The MIDI music also makes me want to boot up a JRPG.
I feel like I’m being introduced to an important character.
FUN FACT: Johnathan Lynn directed this first episode, the director of cult classic movie
Clue.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Everyone has breakfast together before the parents go off to work and Jeannie and Ferris
go to high school.
There is something wrong with these parents in the way that…
they have VERY flat characteristics.
Mom: “Ferris, will you do me.”
Ferris: “You never have to ask.”
They are nothing like the parents in the movie.
Jeannie tells Ferris to keep a low profile at school and he ignores that completely by
taking a limo to school, best friend Cameron in tow.
Rome, a popular song by new wave super group The b-52s starts playing, and… really?
You could afford to get mainstream pop music for this show but kept this abomination of
a theme song?
“”Ferris B-b-b-b-b-b-bUELLER!”
They take a detour to the beach and are late for a quote, “state of the school address”
to be given by Principal Ed Rooney.
He hears a student heckling him and decides to expel someone.
Grace: “Oh Ed, that’s the wrong student.”
Ed: “Close enough.”
Rooney is a bumbling fool character, always foiled by Ferris, and Grace is just… kind
of… grandmotherly?
Which is too bad, her character in the movie was so cute and vibrant.
The show just sucks the soul right out of her.
As Rooney is about to expel a random student for no reason, Ferris presses a button on
a remote control and he falls through the platform.
Rooney seems to know Ferris did it and yet, doesn’t punish him.
The majority of the episode shows Ferris pestering Sloan for her attention.
He hacked her into all of his classes, creepy, so he could get close to her.
I find this frog dissection scene in the first episode baffling because later on, Sloan refuses
to dissect a frog during biology, and it becomes the main plot for that episode.
I guess the writers didn’t think that far ahead.
Eventually Sloan gives in and agrees to go to the beach with him, showing that if you
harass someone enough you can get the girl.
Ami Dolenz is lovely, but this was such a miscast for Sloan.
In the movie, Sloan was just as mischievous and confident as Ferris, they were partners
in crime.
In the show, Sloan is a meek, soft spoken girl who has dreams of being a ballerina,
but is tragically clumsy.
Aw look, she tripped and fell.
Isn’t that relatable, ladies?
They are caught coming back from the beach by Rooney, and Ferris tells him they were
at the hospital getting Sloan’s tonsils checked out.
Rooney threatens Sloan with a bunch of permanent record bullshit and she panics and tells him
the truth.
Rooney is about to expel Ferris, but Ferris says he wants to call his attorney?
Who is, of course, fake, and because it happens off screen we have absolutely NO idea what
he did or said to get Rooney to fold.
He was able to lessen the punishment to detention, which Ferris also forgoes.
Ferris ditches his best friend to hang out with Sloan, who apologizes to Ferris for telling
the truth.
She informs him that due to his encouragement, she’ll be transferring to a performing arts
school.
As they walk away into the sunset, Ferris tells her he has a bad back and can’t carry
her books, so she carries his bag.
Phew, lying about a medical condition so you don’t have to do something nice for someone
really churns my butter.
The episode ends with a LOT of monologue from Ferris, recapping the day and giving some
flimsy words of advice that get quickly overshadowed by some attempt at humor.
Ferris: “If mom and dad give you a hard time, it’s only because they’ve been there.
And they do love you, warts and all.
Which reminds me, I gotta see a dermatologist.
Now that I’ve taken through that, let’s just talk about the series as a whole, because
the subsequent episodes are not much different.
In fact, by the 13th and final episode, I was so bored I wasn’t sure if I could even
watch it.
The format is always the same.
It always starts with Ferris talking to the camera.
Then he goes downstairs to chat with his parents, Jeannie comes down and squashes the mood,
then high school shenanigans happen.
Some of the themes are really heavy handed - for example, the second episode shows Ferris
campaigning to be school president, and it gets oddly political.
Ferris: “Ooo, too Dukakis.”
Because I have a garbage brain in this here skull, my mind thought he was talking about
Olympia Dukakis.
Leave my queen out of this.
In episode 4, it’s about talent, in episode 5 it’s about respecting people’s boundaries,
to which I say, SHYEAH RIGHT.
AS IF.
So one of the great parts about Ferris Bueller’s Day off, as well as most of John Hugh’s
coming of age stories, is how the characters grow with each other.
The movie takes time for heartwarming interactions, difficult moments with meaningful conflict,
and growth.
In the show, Ferris continually uses people like Sloan and Cameron to get what he wants,
as well as other high school randos that pop up in the series.
What the, is that guy 40?
He is a Zack Morris type from Saved By The Bell - you know how Zack becomes aggressively
jealous and possessive of Kelly Kapowski throughout the series?
Ferris resembles that - instead of encouraging Sloan to pursue her dreams, he conducts plans
to keep her at their high school, and then later on discourages her from dancing by blatantly
saying she isn’t good at it.
Sloan: “You think I can’t dance?”
Ferris: “It’s not a question of can, it’s a question of those who can…better…”
The show tries to insist that Ferris is growing throughout these episodes, becoming more mature,
but he literally convinces Principal Rooney to develop their own dance program so Sloan
won’t go to the prestigious arts school she had been dreaming about, and this is all
portrayed as fine and dandy.
The characters are just very unlikeable, it’s amazing how few fucks I give about any of
them.
I think Charlie Schlatter and Jennifer Anniston are great performers, even in this show, but
they are only as good as the writing, and this writing is sewage.
I’m not going to say the movie was this amazing piece of comedy, it was fine for its
intended audience, but the show is negative funny.
I am not sure the writers fully understood the structure of a joke.
(Sloan trips, loudly.)
Ferris: “My sister, I think I’ll trade her.”
Nerds: “I hate that statue.
I despise it.
Well I DETEST IT.”
(Jeannie laughs until she chokes) Cameron: “Your sister really as fun as all the skinheads
say?”
Chicken: “TRAMP.”
(Crickets) Crickets is RIGHT.
That isn’t to say every light hearted quip didn’t stick, some did.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day” kind of deals.
For the most part though, the clock is broken.
On top of bad writing are the baffling artistic choices like the editing and the music.
I’ve already mentioned the crazy sounding Midi songs that make me feel like I’ve just
found someone’s gold medallion in an adventure game, and that is bad enough, but it’s also
used inappropriately.
The tone never matches what is happening in the show.
Imagine I had something serious to say, then threw in some jaunty circus music in the background.
“Hey everyone, I just want to inform you that my great, great Aunt Mildred died peacefully
in her sleep yesterday.
She was known for her 50 years of charity work, dedication to homeless shelters, and
her relationship with her dog, Snickerdoodle, and I will just miss her SO MUCH.”
In regards to the editing and directing, Ferris is always talking to the camera.
Always.
It’s egregious.
Imagine Saved by the Bell but it’s all just time outs with Zack Morris.
The camera is ALWAYS cutting to Ferris and I never know where he is relative to other
people; sometimes it just looks so bizarre.
In the film, Ferris does famously talk to the camera, but it’s used sparingly because
nobody just wants to hear this kid monologue for 2 hours.
Ferris: “Help me, I’m drowning.”
But mostly, I think this idea flopped because nobody is interested in the daily life of
Ferris Bueller.
The charm of the film comes from the fact that it is this one amazing day of grand adventure;
putting it into a sitcom form just gets exhausting.
Even if the writing was better, I still think the format would get tiring.
According to Jennifer Aniston, the dynamic between her character and Ferris started to
feel incenstuous because she and Charlie Schlatter cultivated a relationship while they filmed
the series, and after watching the whole thing, I can honestly say that yes, it’s a bit
of a weird dynamic.
But EVERYONE has a weird dynamic in this show - there are a couple weird romances that take
place throughout the series - Jeannie and Cameron share a moment in one episode, then
it’s never referenced again, and there’s a weird relationship between Grace and Principal
Rooney.
The creators really tried to spark interest in this show with some well known guest stars:
Cloris Leachman, Buddy Hackett, and Tone Loc, but due to poor ratings and low viewership,
it was canceled after 13 episodes.
Another thing that may have contributed to the show’s downfall was the fact there was
already a Ferris Bueller-like sitcom airing at the exact same time called Parker Lewis
Can’t Lose.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Parker Lewis Can’t Lose.
Same syllable count and everything.
And then there’s the synopsis:
“Parker Lewis is a teenager who apparently can't lose.
He's cool, cute, popular, hip - and seems to get away with anything.
That's not to say he's got no problems.
His nemesis is his high-school principal, Grace Musso, whose sole purpose in life seems
to be getting Parker expelled.
Then there's Parker's little sister, Shelly, whose sole purpose in life seems to be tattling
on Parker.
However, with best friends Mikey and Jerry, Parker takes on the world and makes the best
of high school.”
It’s the exact same thing.
It’s so blatant it feels like plagiarism.
So that was the crash and burn of the disastrous Ferris Bueller TV show.
This is definitely a strange, forgotten piece of media, and if you are curious to watch
it after this video, go ahead, but be warned, it is not funny.
It is not heartwarming, and it is not Ferris Bueller’s Day off.
If you’re one of the 12 people who saw this series, let me know what you thought about
it, especially if you saw it when it aired.
Until next time, remember: “Life moves pretty fast.
If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
“FERRIS.”
(theme song outro.)
Hey everyone, thanks for watching my video on the short lived Ferris Bueller television
show, I hope you enjoyed it.
If you want to see more content from me I have plenty of other videos, but first I want
to give a quick shout out to my patrons, because without him doing videos like this would be
way more insufferable.
If you’re interested in supporting me and my channel please consider joining my campaign
and if not, likes and comments cost nothing but a moment.
If you want to see more from me, here’s a few recommendations: On the right I have
an episode from my flagship series, that time on murder she wrote, and on the left I have
a short and sweet video game review on a detective game I very much enjoyed.
Thanks again and as always, I’ll see you in the next one.