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May 25, 2013

Dan Aykroyd and Judy Belushi Planning 'Blues Brothers' TV Series

by Alex Moaba, posted Aug 31st 2011 11:20AM

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi's widow Judy are getting the band back together. According to Variety, Belushi and former 'SNL' writer Anne Beats have written a 'Blues Brothers' TV pilot and are shopping it around to the networks.

In the script, iconic bluesmen Jake and Elwood Blues are just out of jail, and Elwood, who was raised in an orphanage, is on a mission to find his birth-parents. Aykroyd is attached to the pilot as the voice of the boys' parole officer.

'Blues Brothers' made its debut in the late 1970s as an 'SNL' sketch starring Aykroyd and the late John Belushi. The 1980 big-screen adaptation was a smashing success and cemented the characters' cult classic status.

"I think these are great American characters," Judy Belushi told Variety. "We want to keep them alive. We chose to introduce them as new characters but do it in an way that they have some history, have some life behind them."

Check out a clip from the 'Blues Brothers' movie:

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Sport Dude

That history is going to be destroyed with such a lame and uninspired concept.
SNL was unique, Blues Brothers movie was unique ... the sequel sucked because it was too much the same without eveloving and didn't do justice to Belushi and this TV show will suck because it tries too hard. Get a GOOD story for a sequel flick and watch the Blues Brothers rule! again!

September 06 2011 at 3:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sport Dude

That history is going to be destroyed with such a lame and uninspired concept.
SNL was unique, Blues Brothers movie was unique ... the sequel sucked because it was too much the same without eveloving and didn't do justice to Belushi and this TV show will suck because it tries too hard. Get a GOOD story for a sequel flick and watch the Blues Brothers rule! again!

September 06 2011 at 3:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
markhelfgott

So, who ya gonna get to play the brothers? That's going to be a major casting problem. I hope they don't use that waste of time Jim Belushi. His brother is better dead than he is alive.

August 31 2011 at 9:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeffreyd00

FAIL

August 31 2011 at 2:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mindbender9

This is a bad idea.

If you think about it, there really wasn't a plot (or much sense) to the movie. The ONLY reason why it worked was because the two actors (Ackroyd and Belushi) were so charming and funny.

You can't recreate charming using the same material unless John Belushi was there. They'd have to take this in a new direction (the dreaded "Reimagining") or this won't work.

My opinion. Sorry if it offends anyone.

August 31 2011 at 12:34 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to mindbender9's comment
grimgrinning999

John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd were charming? Really? Somehow I missed that.

The strength of the movie (for me) was the great music and the over-the-top car crashes. Add in great character parts like that played by the Penguin, Twiggy and Jake's old girlfriend to round out the movie. The movie was enjoyable. Of course, it cost a lot to produce. What would be cut for a TV show? One musical guest star per week?

August 31 2011 at 3:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to grimgrinning999's comment
mindbender9

You may have missed that, but the duo made up for a lot in the movie given the lack of dialogue (and really, when isn't Dan Ackroyd talking ten million miles a second?).

But you bring up a good point - what WOULD be cut for a TV show? In fact, what would you leave in (story-wise) week after week and still make it interesting? Tough sell.

I have a feeling that the show would end up like that horrible Blues Brothers 2000 mess that Jim Belushi starred in.

September 02 2011 at 12:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down

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