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A low-budget indie comedy that became the most talked about movie of 2002, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” shockingly became a blockbuster and one of the highest-grossing romantic comedies ever (per Entertainment Weekly). Written by and starring Nia Vardalos, the film features an ensemble cast that includes Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, John Corbett, and Joey Fatone, in a story about the members of an eccentric Greek family who’ve become increasingly concerned about daughter Toula (Vardalos) being over 30 and still single. When Toula meets a handsome bachelor named Ian (Corbett), she doesn’t know if her family will be happy she’s found love or infuriated that he isn’t Greek.
Grossing more than $350 million at the ticket counter worldwide, the film naturally spawned a franchise. A TV series was commissioned in short order, and “My Big Fat Greek Life” debuted in 2003. Instead of a retelling, the series serves as a continuation, and the rare spin-off to bring back nearly the entire cast of the feature film. Oddly, though, the names of the two main characters are changed in the show.
Beyond that minor alteration, however, the series had everything going for it on paper. Yet somehow, it didn’t survive the translation to a half-hour format. Where the film had been a clever, fresh, and razor-sharp comedy, the series was lackluster and pedestrian, and it never saw a Season 2. Instead, it would be more than a decade before a feature film sequel, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” hit theaters, with audiences mostly forgetting the short-lived TV spin-off in the interim.
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