It’s true that taking a famous movie and turning it into a TV show can be a big risk. However, people always say that the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward and this has sometimes proven true when it comes to that difficult big-screen-to-small-screen transition.

One of the newest attempts is Spike’s Blade, based on the vampire trilogy starring Wesley Snipes. This series stands to be an even bigger risk, as it is Spike TV’s first original scripted dramatic series.

One risk - coincidentally, also vampire-themed - that did pay off was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Based on a cheesy, B-movie about an airhead cheerleader turned “chosen one”, that series may have been one of the biggest risks in TV history. The original film starred Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry for goodness sake! It ended up being a risk worth taking. Buffy, which aired for seven years, earned creator Joss Whedon Emmy nominations, a spin-off (Angel) and a cult following.

The Odd Couple was both a successful film and a long-running sitcom, as was M*A*S*H which stayed on the air from 1972 to 1983!

One risk that did not pay off was the short-lived and long-forgotten Ferris Bueller series, based on the movie starring Matthew Broderick. The film was a huge hit and is a still popular today, but the show tanked. Clueless - which actually featured many of the original cast members from the movie version, minus star Alicia Silverstone - was also cancelled early on.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a surprise hit in theaters; My Big Fat Greek Life was a surprise flop on television despite holding on to the original star (and creator) Nia Vardalos.

We’ll have to wait and see if Blade will kill or be killed. Wesley Snipes leaves some pretty big shoes to fill. One can only hope that Kirk “Sticky” Jones, who plays the title role in the series, is up to the task.