The TV show in which Jennifer Aniston starred before Friends failed

Jennifer Aniston will become one of NBC’s biggest stars as Rachel Green on Friends, but the road to fame isn’t always smooth. One of her bumps along the way (besides starring in the silly movie Horror comedy “Leprechaun”), her role was in a TV movie adaptation of John Hughes’ 1980s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Aniston was perfect for the role of Jenny, Ferris’ sister, replacing Jennifer Grey, who played that character in the film. Aniston’s low, deadpan voice, puffy mouth, and exasperated sighs perfectly captured Jenny’s annoyed attitude and frustration with Ferris’ antics—his uncanny ability to charm everyone he encounters and his clever ways of getting out of trouble. She’s a perfect fit for the role, but the TV show itself? Well, it’s not very big. It’s strange, even.

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is the best John Hughes film ever made. It focuses on the best day ever during senior year—one last celebration before its characters Ferris, Cameron, and Sloan face the monotony of adulthood. However, to make the story fit for a TV series, the writers had to go back in time, taking us back to Ferris’ senior year to explore the daily life of the smooth-talking, fun-loving teenage scoundrel. The concept was short-lived, as the series ended up being canceled just a few months after its debut with only 13 episodes airing. The reviews were bad, though Ottawa Citizen Describing the series as a “high school horror” that deserves a “failing grade.” It doesn’t have the magical spark of the movie, it exists in a weird parallel universe where this version of Ferris never existed, as in Boston Globe In his memorable words, “the kind of high school kid that other kids would want to hang out with” but the kind that “other kids would want to hang out with.”

The series is trying to do something that would have been clever if the lead actor, Charlie Schlatter, hadn’t been such an uncanny presence. Schlatter has none of Matthew Broderick’s swaggering, boyish charm, instead coming across as a know-it-all clown who is more annoying than funny. In the strange and upside-down world of Ferris Bueller exists the original John Hughes film based on the life of Schlatter-as-Ferris. He complains about the movie and even criticizes Matthew Broderick for playing him, going so far as to cut his head off with a chainsaw out of life-sized cardboard cutouts. “This is television, and this is real,” he says. Although this meta-joke might seem like a clever way to start the show — since the comparisons were inevitable — it seemed unnecessary with all the weird changes from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

Why bother making a TV series at all? None of the original actors return, and the setting moves from Chicago to Santa Monica, removing the everyday suburban atmosphere of the original film. It may be fun to watch Ferris School’s shenanigans, but the whole thing seems routine and unimportant. The short-lived season revolved around Ferris sparring with Ed Rooney, meeting Sloane, and helping Cameron get a girlfriend. There are stories about getting stuck in an elevator with Ronnie, wanting to run for student president, and dealing with an annoying grandmother. Simply put, “Ferris Bueller” doesn’t have the heart of a John Hughes film, especially without Matthew Broderick’s charismatic performance. The story of Ferris was not just about pleasure trips and Visit museums And crashed marches. It was about teenagers struggling for their future, taking care of their friends, and dealing with family problems. If you’re strangely fascinated to see how difficult this early part of Jennifer Aniston’s career was, here are a few Clips on YouTube.