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Battlefield: Bad Company Will be a TV Series, Maybe

Fox and Happy Madison are working with EA to produce an hour-long action comedy based on the franchise. Yay?

Like this, but with more fart jokes, and Rob Schneider. Probably.
Like this, but with more fart jokes, and Rob Schneider. Probably.

Bucking the trend of developing film adaptations of video games that will likely never come to fruition, EA has decided to partner with Fox and production company Happy Madison to develop a TV adaptation of a video game that will likely never come to fruition. In this case, it's the publisher's Battlefield: Bad Company franchise that's getting the live action treatment, albeit with sights set on the small screen.

Based on the description from Deadline's story on the subject, the series is being envisioned as a sort of modern A-Team, with a quartet of soldiers moving to the private sector, only to find themselves betrayed by their former commanding officer. Given the game's propensity for humorous explosions and off-color banter, one can surmise that this will not be played particularly straight.

Writer/producer John Eisendrath (Alias, Felicity) is heading up the project, along with Happy Madison's Doug Robinson, who has most recently served as executive producer of the enduring, if generally execrable David Spade sitcom Rules of Engagement.

Considering that most video game development deals like this have a tendency to fall apart, one cannot get too excited at this prospect--assuming one could get excited about a TV series based on an offshoot first-person shooter franchise developed by Adam Sandler's production company in the first place.

Alex Navarro on Google+

101 Comments

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Box3ru13

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Edited By Box3ru13

Over/Under on a Pilot being shown? 5% chance; Under

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iceman228433

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Edited By iceman228433

That could work oddly enough.

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chilipeppersman

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Edited By chilipeppersman

@brownsfantb: this.

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veektarius

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Edited By veektarius

Could work, probably won't.

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Justin258

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Edited By Justin258

This is a good...

Rules of Engagement.

...nevermind.

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fox01313

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Edited By fox01313

@Guyzea: Agreed, with some series like this there needs to be a good comedy team of writers on it & I agree that Broken Lizard would be a good match for this on the writing end.

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brandino

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Edited By brandino

The idea isn't terrible, with the right writers it can actually turn out to be great.

Gamers are so jaded they can't even entertain the idea which is sad.

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Wandrecanada

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Edited By Wandrecanada

@Brandino said:

The idea isn't terrible, with the right writers it can actually turn out to be great.

Gamers are so jaded they can't even entertain the idea which is sad.

It's Fox and Adam Sandler's production company. That blows your writing criteria out of the water right away.

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aceofspudz

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Edited By aceofspudz

@Hizang said:

I vote they skip this and instead work on Battlefield Bad Company 3.

The television studio?

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CableCarrier

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Edited By CableCarrier

I really like Bad Company. I don't like Happy Madison in general. This is a push, I think.

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kichiku_rose

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Edited By kichiku_rose

Hell no, the story is always weak on these games I dont think a series will be good at all. best online game play though by far

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brandino

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Edited By brandino

@Wandrecanada said:

@Brandino said:

The idea isn't terrible, with the right writers it can actually turn out to be great.

Gamers are so jaded they can't even entertain the idea which is sad.

It's Fox and Adam Sandler's production company. That blows your writing criteria out of the water right away.

Breaking In was a fun show that they were involved in. Besides they could bring in other writers.

Look at the shitty Michael Bay production company, they brought in some talented writers for the Texas Chainsaw remake which was pretty damn good. And Fox isn't shitty, they just made bad choices from time to time, to write something completely off because Fox or the Happy Madison company is involved is premature and ignorant. We don't know what showrunner is going to be involved, what team of writers or anything.

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psylah

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Edited By psylah

F TROOP 2014

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mrcraggle

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Edited By mrcraggle

But you guys, Happy Madison are the production company behind a Tonka Trucks movie.

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RainbowCarnage

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Edited By RainbowCarnage
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Metric_Outlaw

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Edited By Metric_Outlaw

You lost me at Happy Madison.

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Ravenlight

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Edited By Ravenlight

@Ronald said:

If the television show doesn't have Truckasaurus Rex in it why bother?

Why, indeed?

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Springfart

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Edited By Springfart

what

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uberexplodey

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Edited By uberexplodey

Fucking no. Just make BC3.

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ShaggE

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Edited By ShaggE

Why would... but... Happy Madison... what in the... of all the games...

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TheUnsavedHero

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Edited By TheUnsavedHero

I really hope this falls apart. I never liked much of Happy Madison's stuff. They would just screw up what made Bad Company funny.

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TheDudeOfGaming

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Edited By TheDudeOfGaming

@Mendelson9 said:

This could be cool but once I read that Happy Madison is involved...disgusting. Have they produced anything that was good? This is the company that gave the world Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and Jack & Jill. Think about that.

Shudders

As it happens I watched both movies just so I could hate them...I've regretted it ever since.

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ExplodeMode

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Edited By ExplodeMode

If it means a new bad company game? Sure, make your shitty TV show.

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RAMBO604

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Edited By RAMBO604

This is a headline that should be part of an April fools day gag. No mixture of Battlefield Bad Company, TV series, and Happy Madison can lead to anything resembling good entertainment and in Happy Madison's case good anything.

Can't wait to see Allen Covert as Preston Marlowe.

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captainjudaism

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Edited By captainjudaism

I do not know how I feel about this... but my gut is telling me "Be happy you don't know a TV."

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falling_fast

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Edited By falling_fast

fox and happy madison?

this is the worst idea I have heard in a long time

this makes ea's linkin park promotion seem like a great idea by comparison

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Seppli

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Edited By Seppli

Just saying, the first Bad Company game was really funny at times, and it had the best ad campaign of any game in the last decade (f.e. Smell of Destruction Scratch 'n Smell Magazine Ads). Also this...
 
  

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MrKlorox

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Edited By MrKlorox

Oh so it's going to look like alpha footage of the first game?

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bonbolapti

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Edited By bonbolapti

Bad Company lends itself to such a thing, so the least anybody can be is enthusiastic.

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innacces14

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Edited By innacces14

Just make Battlefield Bad Company 2143 already. =/

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joelalfaro

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Edited By joelalfaro

The characters are cool and this series is awesome.

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JackOhara

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Edited By JackOhara

Am I the only one who liked Bad Company 2 more than Battlefield 3 in every respect?

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Saadnation

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Edited By Saadnation

This will probably be pretty sweet. Happy Madison put out some good movies if you don't count: Little Nicky, The Animal, The Master of Disguise, Eight Crazy Nights, The Hot Chick, Dickie Roberts, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Benchwarmers, Strange Wilderness, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Grown Ups, Just Go With It, Zookeeper, Bucky Larson, Jack and Jill and That's My Boy....

Funny People was pretty watchable, though! Maybe it will be like that!

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super2j

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Edited By super2j

@Seppli said:

Just saying, the first Bad Company game was really funny at times, and it had the best ad campaign of any game in the last decade (f.e. Smell of Destruction Scratch 'n Smell Magazine Ads). Also this...

Thats pretty great. lol. "something solid, some japanese shit."

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SaturdayNightSpecials

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Where it really falls apart is the Alias guy writing it. Leveraging the reputation this franchise has for funny writing only to have a completely different person write it is kind of missing the fucking point.

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kindgineer

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Edited By kindgineer

I don't see how this is a bad thing.

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JasonR86

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Edited By JasonR86

Yikes. I don't like the station, I don't like the Happy Madison involvement, and I don't think these characters are good enough to carry a game multiple seasons.

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sparky_buzzsaw

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Edited By sparky_buzzsaw

Happy Madison means I can't possibly get my expectations up at all for this. So hey, at least I can't possibly be disappointed!

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Blackout62

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Edited By Blackout62

@JohnLocke said:

I could see this working if the humour style from the first Bad Company game is used.

Well crap, wasn't the humor in Bad Company crass humor eventually evolving into exceedingly elegant impromptu collegiate seminars?

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impartialgecko

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Edited By impartialgecko

This smells very clean

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Bourbon_Warrior

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Edited By Bourbon_Warrior

Could be pretty pretty pretty prettayyyyy good

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MordeaniisChaos

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Edited By MordeaniisChaos

@JasonR86 said:

Yikes. I don't like the station, I don't like the Happy Madison involvement, and I don't think these characters are good enough to carry a game multiple seasons.

FOX puts out a lot of good stuff. Granted, it cancels a lot of good stuff too, but I've liked their newer stuff a lot. The Bones spin off was excellent, I really actually enjoyed the time travel one, New Girl is pretty great, Raising Hope is excellent. I think that FOX is a good place for it, just don't expect it to last if it turns out to be good.

@SaturdayNightSpecials said:

Where it really falls apart is the Alias guy writing it. Leveraging the reputation this franchise has for funny writing only to have a completely different person write it is kind of missing the fucking point.

So you're saying all writers are essentially type cast? You do realize that writing is a pretty broad skill, and a LOT of writers in various mediums are able to hit a lot of different tones. Just like actors (Hell, take Adam Sandler, one of his best roles was in a very serious, slow, emotional film), they are capable of a range of emotions and themes and tones.

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dichemstys

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Edited By dichemstys

Not a fan of Happy Madison, but I'll try anything. Could be good stuff.

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jeanluc

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Edited By jeanluc  Staff

All this reminds me of is that awesome "Battlefield Bad Company 2042" idea the guys had on the bombcast. I so wish that was a thing.

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monkeyking1969

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Edited By monkeyking1969

This sounds like Cocked Hammers, except they don't need to pay Jason Bateman and Will Arnett. This is easily done, and there will be shows where actors are motion captured to provide the animation for a the show. And, the show will be about something you simply couldn't show cheaply in live action. Television/web shows about war, outer space, or under the sea are prime candidates for motion capture animation.

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Shwingg

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Edited By Shwingg

This could be cool but it sadly will not happen.

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CallumBrooks

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Edited By CallumBrooks

I quite liked the Bad Company dialogue, it was quite funny and was one of the only reasons I kept playing the campaign. That reminds me I never did finish it...

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Vlad_Tiberius

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Edited By Vlad_Tiberius

Who the fuck decided that going from an FPS with personality, with spunk, with ridiculous destruction, a great score and funny dialogues to something humorless, soulless, blueish, "realistic", can't-see-shit lens flare crap is a "step up", an "evolution"?

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Shakezula84

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Edited By Shakezula84

I'll give it a shot. I loved the games so what do I have to lose if I watch the first episode. The same thing I lose whenever I give any show a shot.

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steve_borsuk

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Edited By steve_borsuk

very nice

steve borsuk