If Chico and The Man were made into a movie like so many other TV shows were (like Brady Bunch, Addams Family, etc. & I hear there's a Hogan's Hero's movie in the works), who would you want to play all the characters?
On Chico, I draw a big blank! I don't know of anyone with his talent or that handsome!
Bill Murray might be able to make a good Ed Brown...Oprah Winfrey would be good as Della... And Eddie Murphy for Louie!
And there would have to be a really cool soundtrack of good 70's songs!
:lol: :music:

This is a very good topic, Karen. You are right, it would be hard to find a replacement for any of the actors, they worked so well together. I agree with you about Louie. Seeing Eddie Murphy play as many different roles as he did in "Coming to America" I think he could pull off imitating Scatman Carothers. I don't know if Della Reese would reprise her role. Oprah would be good, but I could also see Whoopie Goldberg doing a good imitation of Della as well. Jack and Freddie are much tougher though. Hummm.... I haven't seen the show yet, but I bet my friend Laz could probably play Freddie. From what I hear, he is really working very hard getting Freddie's look and sound down. I bet with the experience he has now, playing Freddie on the live stage, he would be able to make the leap to the silver screen with him! As for Jack.... you would have to find someone cranky but loveable.... that's tough. Bill Murray is a great actor, but I don't know about him doing Jack's part. You know who might pull it off, though, is either Billy Crystal or Robin Williams. Both are brilliant with imitations and improvization. I was just thinking of Billy's portrayal of Miracle Max in "The Princess Bride" I bet he could do a great Ed Brown! I would also love to see the story come full circle in the CATM movie and see Raul's part revised, but as a kid foil to Chico, who takes him under his wing and mentors him. I wouldn't know who to cast in that part, maybe a new Hispanic kid with lots of talent....hold a talent search or something.;)

Oh yes, Luckymama, it would be wonderful to see Laz get his big break into movies playing Chico! I can just imagine! But I bet the producers of any such movie would want someone who already has a following for the lead. The only young Latino I can think of who is even in the vicinity of being as handsome as Freddie would be Ricky Martin. But who knows if he can act? I would suggest my newest Latino heartthrob, Esai Morales, but he is in his late 30's so he would be too old for Chico. Some film companies might see Freddie Jr. as the obvious choice, but I wonder if Jr. would want to do it?

As for Ed, I agree he would have to be played by someone who is not in their sixties but can pull off that type of role with alot of makeup. Actors in their sixties these days don't look as old as Jack did for some reason, so any of the above suggestions would be good. And I can see Eddie Murphy as Louie--a very funny guy with a big grin and a head that looks good bald!

Either Oprah or Whoopi would be great as Della, but I think Whoopi's acting style is more prone to sarcasm, which Della had in abundance. But either of those ladies' feminist views and social concerns would be great background for the role too.

This is such a great idea, given that there have been so many movies based on old TV shows like you said--wonder how we could lobby Hollywood to take on this project?

How about Freddie Jr. in the lead role?

It's sad how they have taken so many good shows off due to political correctness. One good example was AMOS & ANDY which I loved as a kid & still enjoy. I just hope that's not the case with CATM. We need to see the show again!

My daughter was watching a show last night on Nickelodeon called "The Brothers Garcia", which is told from the point of view of an 11-year-old boy in a Chicano family. I don't know the name of young actor who plays the boy, but he seemed perfect to play Raul in a CATM movie if it were written that way, with Chico mentoring him. He is just the right age and very cute. (John Leguizamo--who I understand has credited Freddie with paving the way for him as a Hispanic comedian--does the narration as the boy's adult self looking back on his childhood. There is another thought, now that I mention it, of someone to play Chico--not gorgeous like Freddie but definitely funny tending toward goofy the way he could be LOL!)

I know it wouldn't work for this sine he to has past on but luvable and cranky reminds me of carroll o connor as Bill gillespy not archie
I think he could have pulled off ed's role in the movie.he could come with the jokes and he had compassion

I can see that, if Carroll O'Connor were still with us. I am not sure if this actor is still alive either, but after much wracking of our brains, Luckymama and I came up with the name Jack Warden--he has been in tons of movies as a gruff, cranky old man type similar to Ed. One of the more recent was "Mighty Aphrodite" by Woody Allen.

It also occured to us that if there were a need for Ed's daughter Sharon to be part of the story, she could be played by Meg Ryan. Sharon was of course a few years older than Chico, and Meg Ryan doesn't look much older than about 30, although I am sure she is quite a bit past that! I would believe her more as a nurse like Sharon than as a heart surgeon like she played in "City of Angels" LOL!

Jack warden is an excellant choice! He was also in the myster show following murder she wrote on sundays called crazy like a fox.
And he was also the coach on the tv remake series of the bad news bears

I have been rethinking things, and I changed my mind about Freddie Jr. playing Chico. He would probably be one of the better choices, since he got all the necessary attributes--tall, dark, and handsome with a great smile and an ability to do comedy--from his father. IF he would be willing to do it, that is--I think he realizes how unique his dad was, and he may not want to infringe upon that.

One reason I say this is that I realized we haven't cast Mando yet, and I can better see John Leguizamo in that role, with Jr. as Chico. The mix of their personalities and their relative heights would be about right.

Well, I have decided to play casting director and these are my final
(subject to change ;) ) selections for the CATM Movie
Now if we could only get someone to write it :typing:,
direct it (maybe Ron Howard) and
produce it (you think we could raise the money, ladies?):D

CATM the Movie

Chico: Freddie Jr. (If we can get him to do it!)
Ed: Jack Warden (He’s old as dirt, as my hubby so quaintly put it, but still very much alive)
Louie: Eddie Murphy
Della: Whoopie Goldberg
Mando: John Leguizamo
Sharon: Meg Ryan
Raul: Alvin Alvarez ( Larry from “The Brothers Garcia”)
Gilberto: Edward James Olmos
Mabel: Shelly Duvall
Manuel Guerrera: Cheech Marin
Manuel Guerrera Jr.: Esai Morales

I love it!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D

OOps.................... Edward James Olmos could play Chico's long lost father. Or who would have that role?

Gilberto is Chico's long lost dad! ;)

Coincidentally enough, I happened to watch a show last night in which Efrain Herrera (one of the the other ideas to play Gilberto) was a guest star, playing a prominent character ("The Shield", a cop show with Michael Chiklis). I think I could see him as Manuel Guerrera--if you put a beard on him he would look very much like the actor who played him on CATM. Plus Mr. Guerrera didn't really have any jokes in the episode he was in, so he doesn't need to be played by a comedian. This actor plays angry and menacing quite well, which Guerrera was most of the time LOL!

So as for Cheech Marin (who I agree would have to be in this movie!), how about giving him the part of the banker from early in the series (when Chico and Ed went for a loan of $2000), or the doctor who wanted to operate on Ed for a hernia late in Freddie's time on the show, when Ed had lost his hat and refused to have surgery without it? I think they were played by the same actor (one with and one without a beard), so how about if he played both, with there being a running joke about how they are twin brothers or something (kind of like the characters Lisa Kudrow plays on "Friends" and used to play on "Mad About You" being sisters)?

George Lopez would make a good MANDO...

Mariposa if you check you will see that the dr . in Ed's hat episode the loan episode,and the raffle ticket episode are all played by the same man

Yes, I thought so--he was sometimes the banker and sometimes the doctor, wore a beard at times and not at other times, but it was the same actor.

Yeah, I had noticed the DR & the Banker were all played by the same guy. The first episode to have a dr on it had a different guy playing the dr tho. The man from the veterans episode is the same one on the Juniper Sierra episode where they are trying to save the garge from being being demolished to make room for the power plant. Ed's friend Rudy plays a customre in the first episode instead of himself. Interesting how the same folks played more than one character...

If we were casting this movie with everyone who was ever an important part of the show, we would certainly have to cast someone in the roles of Aunt Connie and cousin Carlos (I always assumed that they were mother and son, so can we think of an actress and an actor that would look like they were related?) I know, we are running out of Hispanic actors LOL!

I may be overthinking all this, but the more I think about it the more I would love to see our new Freddie friend Laz cast in the role of Chico--give him his first break into movies! That would mean, maybe, that we could cast Freddie Jr. as Carlos--it would be a shame to leave him out of a movie based on his dad's claim to fame, but I am not so sure he would want to play the role his dad made famous.

Speaking of Laz, opening night of the show in which he is playing Freddie is this Sunday! I am sure he would love to hear from any of us with good wishes--either on here or by e-mail--and I hope we all keep him in our prayers this Sunday and every Sunday until the end of May, the day of the last performance.

Great choices for the actors! It would be neat to have the movie be full of running jokes and sight gags done tastefully. And have cameos of characters from other TV shows at the time (like "Sanford and Son) :tv:

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I'm thinking either Liz Torres (Theresa Betancourt from All In the Family) or Carmen Manheim (she's on Law and Order I think)

Here some other Hispanic entertainers I thought of:

Luis Avalos
Rita Moreno
Paul Rodriguez


Hey what about Shelley Winters' character.
Shirley Schrift. It's cool the way they used her real name
as a character name