Academy Award Winning Film About to Become a TV Comedy/Drama

TV has tried in the past to take a Academy Award winning film and bring it to the small screen, and most times have not succeeded.  FX is hoping to change that trend.

Reports came out recently that The Coen Brothers have given the green light to take the 1996 Best Picture Oscar winning film Fargo, and create a 1-hour drama/comedy for the network home to Louie, American Horror Story and Sons of Anarchy.

The film stands a modern classic set in Fargo, North Dakota.  This dark comedy had a would-be criminal hire 2 inept crooks to kidnap his wife.  In the wake of a policeman being killed, a pregnant police chief is now heading up the investigation.

By the end of the movie, the 2 crooks are eliminated, and the would-be criminal has been killed, so the focus of this TV version would have to be around police chief Marge Gunderson.  The movie had Frances McDormand win a Best Actress Oscar for this role, making these shoes big ones to fill.  No word yet who may be cast in this role.

Siobhan Fallon-Hogan could be a possibility for this role.  The 50-yr-old actress, who lives in the Rumson-Fair Haven area of Monmouth County, knows the accent for the region from nailing it in the 2009 film New In Town, and she is a face you know for her small roles in mega films like Forest Gump (Dorothy the bus driver), Holes (Stanley's mom), and Men In Black to name a few.

John Carrol Lynch played Marge's husband Norm in the movie, and would be perfect to bring back.  Lynch is currently a part of the cast of the ABC series Body of Proof, which may be the only thing holding a reunion back.  The Catholic University graduate (my alma mater) is best known for playing Drew Carey's brother on the Drew Carey Show.

Success for the Coen Brothers and Fargo for FX may not be something to bet on.  Back in 1986 CBS tried to resurrect the character of Popeye Doyle from the 1972 Best Picture Oscar winning film The French Connection, with Ed O'Neill (yes, Al Bundy!) playing the lead - the movie pilot was as far as that went.

In 2008, Showtime attempted to take the 2005 Best Picture Oscar winning film Crash and turn in into a series.  The series lasted 2 seasons, and the failing health of star Dennis Hopper did not help the show go further.

If Fargo will defy the odds, the key will be the casting plus what the Coen Brothers bring to take stories that will work in 2012.