BuzzSugar

The Results Are In: Recast Charles in Charge

BuzzSugar — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:30:31 PDT

Every other Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I post a Recast challenge, where I ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. The reader who submits the best cast wins a BuzzSugar T-shirt!

Thanks everyone for chipping in your ideas about a new cast for Charles in Charge! I really liked all your hunky ideas for who could play Charles, including Whip's idea for Jake Gyllenhaal and leeluvfashion's suggestion of Penn Badgley. Those are some yummy nannies!

I also liked daisydidi's idea of Dakota Fanning for one of the Powell girls and got a kick out of alethe16's idea for William H. Macy as Mr. Powell.

But it was one commenter's use of the cast of a very funny movie franchise - plus really great look-alike choices for the Powell kids- that won the challenge. Congrats to azulskies!

To see who azulskies chose, along with a new cast photo,

azulskies's cast list:
Charles - John Cho
Mr. Walter Powell - James Eckhouse
Mrs. Ellen Powell - Debra Messing
Jamie Powell - Emma Stone
Sarah Powell - Emma Roberts
Adam Powell - Alexander Gould
Lillian - Catherine Hicks
Buddy Lembeck - Kal Penn

Recast Charles in Charge and Win a Prize!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:30:12 PDT

Every other Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I post a Recast challenge, where I ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. The reader who submits the best cast wins a BuzzSugar T-shirt!

I bet you guessed I would get around to this '80s television staple one of these days. This week, the time is right to recast Charles in Charge!

Normally, this is the part of the post where I remind you what the show was about, why it was memorable, etc. But thankfully, the theme song writers did that job for me via these classic lyrics:

New boy in the neighborhood/Lives downstairs and it is understood/He’s there just to take good care of me/Like he’s one of the family/Charles in Charge/Of our days and our nights/Charles in Charge/Of our wrongs and our rights

So basically he's part of the family, but he's a nanny, but the crazy thing is he's - wait for it - a guy!

What young, Scott Baio-esque hunk would you cast as Charles? Who could play his best buddy, er, Buddy? And what about the Powell kids? Who would play Jamie (originally played by ex-Baywatcher Nicole Eggert), Sarah, and Adam? Finally, let's recast Mrs. Powell, Walter Powell, and Charles's mom, Lillian.

Leave your entry in the comment section below, and I'll pick one winner to feature Tuesday, Sept. 2, complete with a "new" cast photo.

To see a list of characters to recast and a photo of the BuzzSugar T-shirt,

Characters to recast
Charles (Scott Baio)
Mr. Walter Powell (James T. Callahan)
Mrs. Ellen Powell (Sandra Kerns)
Jamie Powell (Nicole Eggert)
Sarah Powell (Josie Davis)
Adam Powell (Alexander Polinsky)
Lillian (Ellen Travolta)
Buddy Lembeck (Willie Aames)

The BuzzSugar T-shirt

Source

Flashback: Charles in Charge

GiggleSugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:00:00 PDT

Before Scott Baio was 45 . . and Single, he was "Charles," a college student who lived in a basement and babysat the kids of the house to earn his keep. The plot sounds normal until you hear the show's theme song: "Charles in charge of our days and our nights. Charles in charge of our wrongs and our rights . . . I want Charles in charge of me." What the hell kind of underground cult was this dude running with his ugly '80s clothes and authoritarian politics? That is the question.

Buzz Brainteaser

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:30:00 PDT

Welcome to Buzz Brainteaser, the trivia feature on BuzzSugar! Every weekday I'll test your knowledge about TV shows, music and movies. If you enter in the correct answer, you win points! On Charles in Charge, Charles moves in with the Powell family in which there are two blond daughters. One of them is named Jamie (played by Nicole Eggert).
What is the other Powell daughter's name?

Watch Jimmy Fallon Cover the Charles in Charge Theme Song - As Bob Dylan!

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:51:57 PDT

If you were a child of the '80s (or even the early '90s), chances are good that you've had the Charles in Charge theme song stuck in your head more than a few times. It's been ages since I've heard the catchy little ditty, but Jimmy Fallon decided to bring it back on his show last night, adding his own unique spin. Fallon's known for his Neil Young impression, but this time he channeled his inner Bob Dylan for his ode to Scott Baio's famous character - complete with harmonica. Can I make a request for the Full House theme song next?

Super 8: Beware the Hype Monster

Shannon Vestal — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:28:17 PDT

I dare you to say that you're not curious about Super 8, J.J. Abrams's 1979-set film about a group of kids who witness a spectacular train crash. The film has generated a lot of hype for what it doesn't show in trailers and promos, and it's the mystery that's the big draw. The previews do reveal that something escapes the crash and then stalks and terrorizes a small Midwestern town, which Abrams uses as a premise for a sentimental, nostalgia-filled portrait of a group of boys making a movie.

Joel Courtney leads the charge as Joe, a sensitive boy who has just lost his mother in an accident. He and his newly widowed father (Kyle Chandler) are figuring out how to get along with each other without the woman of the house while dealing with their grief. Joe's group of buds help distract him from his home life, as they fill their Summer vacation by making a movie for an amateur film festival. When they're filming a climactic scene near the train tracks, they watch - and film - an intense accident that has some pretty distressing repercussions. With Steven Spielberg on hand as producer, Super 8 often feels like one of his classic sci-fi standbys, but it's just not quite as memorable. However, it's still a fun, heart-pumping ride (the train crash is one of the best action sequences I've seen in a long time). To find out what else I thought, just

The movie owes a great deal of its charm to its disarming young cast. They're wonderfully drawn: there's bossy director Charles, firework-loving Cary, hopeful actor Preston and wide-eyed Martin. Their all-boy dynamic is unsettled when they add a girl to the cast, and Alice (Elle Fanning) shakes up the production with her sophistication and impressive acting skills. She also represents an element of growing up; the boys are on the verge of discovering girls, but the movie doesn't push it any farther than the first blush of a crush. It's very innocent in that way; ultimately, Alice, Joe's mother's death, and the ensuing crisis become key factors in the boys' coming of age.

Abrams is a master of the creepy buildup. Mysterious objects show up in the train crash, the town's dogs run away, electronics go missing. Then, while you're trying to figure out what it all means, he brings out the thriller as the monster begins attacking unsuspecting townspeople. Unfortunately, Abrams isn't a master of follow-through, and there are many loose ends that never get tied up.

Super 8's other shortcoming is in its inability to choose a distinct genre; it wavers between coming-of-age tale, a monster movie, and then a family drama. But, this is still a highly entertaining movie. It's worth it to see for the buoyant sense of humor and the jaw-dropping, spine-chilling moments, even if it doesn't quite live up to expectations.