MovieChat Forums > Breaking Away (1979) Discussion > The movie vs. the TV show

The movie vs. the TV show

posted 11 years ago by TVholic
5 replies | jump to latest

I didn't watch the TV show back in 1980 and looking at the pilot now, maybe I should have left it unwatched. Maybe I'm just too used to the movie, but there's just very little of the charm that I liked so much. Only three actors returned from the movie, and they were okay. Obviously, Jackie Earle Haley was fine as Moocher. Mom and Mike's cop brother didn't have very big roles. The new "Mike" didn't have the looks or charisma Dennis Quaid did. Hated the new "Cyril." The guy didn't even try to play it the same way as Daniel Stern, with that kind of dumb but likeable goofiness. This Cyril just annoyed me with lots of unfunny jokes. Shaun Cassidy was rather bland as Dave. Dennis Christopher's Dave seemed to have a little bit of rough edges, while Cassidy was just kid of dull. The worst loss was Paul Dooley. His replacement had none of the spark and energy he did. Not much music in the episode, either. Also seemed like the writing was all over the place. Dave goes to an opera to meet a college girl but that's quickly dropped for the rest of the episode.

Did the show get any better in the remaining six episodes? Not sure if I want to keep punishing myself.

[–] pakcyclist 11 years ago

I thought the pilot was OK, but certainly up to the movie. I believe the rest of the shows were written during a writers strike, so it certainly didn't get better. If you didn't like the pilot, you definitely won't like the rest. (I've only seen the 2 or 3 others that I found on You-Tube. Are the rest of them out there?)

[–] TVholic 11 years ago

No, only four episodes so far and it looks like no more to come.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] stevde2 8 years ago

Wasn't very memorable that's for sure. The quality just wasn't there in any remote way.

[–] liscarkat (16652) 4 years ago

Cassidy rode around on a cheap Huffy right out of a department store. What a joke.