ABC's summer sitcom Uncle Buck premieres on Tuesday, but fans of John Hughes and 80s movies in general remember the comedy of the same name that starred John Candy, Macaulay Culkin, and Gaby Hoffmann. How is Uncle Buck different from the original movie? The lead characters share a name and a signature fedora, but the series has been updated for 2016 in a few ways.
Uncle Buck is about a family with three kids who is forced to call upon their loose cannon relative for babysitting services. His unconventional methods get through to the kids, who teach him a thing or two as well. The obvious differences, of course, are that the family on the ABC series is black instead of white and it's television instead of a movie. Mike Epps and Nia Long star in the reboot, which will be able to tell a longer story. Also, like, there weren't texting or laptops in 1989. Technology alone will make the two remarkably different, I am sure.
The circumstances under which Buck comes to take care of the kids is different as well. According to the official ABC press release, Buck becomes the Russells' caregiver when they move to town and need a nanny. It's more of a Sound of Music situation, where the kids have a poor reputation with nannies. In the 1989 movie, Buck is temporary child care when the Russells leave to take care of the grandparents. There's a lot in the movie about Bob and Cindy feeling guilty about moving away from their parents, but Buck proves that they can still have family connections in their new home.
Not everything is different. In fact, none of the character names are different except for the father, who has changed to Will and Alexis Russell. The three children's names are all the same. Isn't that adorable? I love that Tia, Miles, and Maizy were considered believable kid names in 1989 and today.
However, Tia's boyfriend from the movie was named "Bug Underwood" — which I don't think would fly with today's audiences. On that note, it also doesn't look like Buck's sensible girlfriend from the movie, Chanice, will be making an appearance right off the bat. Perhaps her character will show up later and we'll be able to 'ship them. That could be fun! For other homages and deviations, we'll have to wait and see how the series progresses.
Images: Michael Ansell/ABC; Giphy
