In 1990, there was a really funny movie that came out that involved transporting a Komodo dragon, Marlon Brando re-creating a Mafia-like big man in the style of Don Vito Corleone, high stakes gourmet dining, ice-skating, film school and romance. It was called The Freshman, and USA Network is turning it into a new series. If you've never seen it, do yourself a favor and rent it.

Andrew Bergman wrote and directed that 1990 film, and he was lucky enough to get Marlon Brando to play Carmine Sabatini. Even though Brando blasted the film before its release -- said it would be a turkey -- he eventually came to appreciate the experience.

He should have because Bergman's film was excellent, a comic gem. Brando spoofed his persona in The Godfather brilliantly.
And Matthew Broderick was great as Clark Kellogg, a naive NYU film student who gets a job working for Mr. Sabatini.

It was a screwball comedy with wild escapades and situations, like Clark trying to put a seat belt on a Komodo dragon to transport it from the airport to a location in Long Island where it was -- perhaps -- the main course in an endangered species eating club. Bert Parks emceed the dinner. It was that kind of goofy crazy that made the film so much fun.

Well, all that craziness will now be harnessed into a new show for USA. Bergman will be adapting the material so he should be faithful to the source. I have a lot of confidence

Andrew Bergman, who wrote and directed the 1990 movie, is on board to pen the series adaptation. Andrew Bergman's credits include Blazing Saddles, so I'm counting on his making The Freshman as funny on TV as it was in the theaters.