# The Bad News Bears (franchise)

The Bad News Bears franchise consists of American sports-comedies, based on an original story by Bill Lancaster. The franchise includes theatrical films (the original release, its two sequels, and the 2005 remake), and a television series which aired from 1979-1980.
The franchise as a whole has been met with mixed-to-positive reception. While the original film received positive reaction from critics, with praise directed at its cast; its two sequels gained a mixed and negative reception, respectively. While the television series received an overall warmer response, the remake once again received a mixed-at-best reception from film critics.

## Film
### Bad News Bears (2005)

| Film | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriter(s) | Producer(s) |
| The Bad News Bears | April 7, 1976 (1976-04-07) | Michael Ritchie | Bill Lancaster | Stanley R. Jaffe |
| The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training | July 8, 1977 (1977-07-08) | Michael Pressman | Paul Brickman | Leonard Goldberg |
| The Bad News Bears Go to Japan | June 30, 1978 (1978-06-30) | John Berry | Bill Lancaster | Michael Ritchie |
| Bad News Bears | July 22, 2005 (2005-07-22) | Richard Linklater | John Requa & Glenn Ficarra | Richard Linklater & J. Geyer Kosinski |

## Main cast and characters

| Character | Film | Film | Film | Film | Television series |
| Character | The Bad News Bears | The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training | The Bad News Bears Go to Japan | Bad News Bears | The Bad News Bears |
| Kelly Leak | Jackie Earle Haley | Jackie Earle Haley | Jackie Earle Haley | Jeffrey Davies | Gregg Forrest |
| Ahmad Abdul-Rahim | Erin Blunt | Erin Blunt | Erin Blunt | Kenneth "K.C." Harris | Kristoff St. John |
| Miguel Aguilar | George Gonzales | George Gonzales | George Gonzales | Carlos Estrada | Charles Nunez |
| Mike Engelberg | Gary Lee Cavagnaro | Jeffrey Louis Starr | Jeffrey Louis Starr | Brandon Craggs | J. Brennan Smith |
| Jose Aguilar | Jaime Escobedo | Jaime Escobedo | | Emmanuel Estrada | Danny Nunez |
| Tanner Boyle | Chris Barnes | Chris Barnes | | Timmy Deters | Meeno Peluce |
| Timmy Lupus | Quinn Smith | Quinn Smith | | Tyler Patrick Jones | Shane Butterworth |
| Rudi Stein | David Pollock | David Pollock | David Pollock | | Billy Jayne |
| Toby Whitewood | David Stambaugh | David Stambaugh | | Ridge Canipe | |
| Jimmy Feldman | Brett Marx | Brett Marx | Brett Marx | | |
| Amanda Wurlitzer | Tatum O'Neal | Mentioned | | Sammi Kane Kraft | Tricia Cast |
| Morris Buttermaker | Walter Matthau | Mentioned | | Billy Bob Thornton | Jack Warden |
| Alfred Ogilvie | Alfred W. Lutter | Alfred W. Lutter | | | Sparky Marcus (as Leslie Ogilvie) |
| Roy Turner | Vic Morrow | | | Greg Kinnear (as Ray Bullock) | Phillip Richard Allen |
| Bob Whitewood | Ben Piazza | | | Marcia Gay Harden (as Liz Whitewood) | |
| Joey Turner | Brandon Cruz | | | Carter Jenkins (as Joey Bullock) | |
| Regi Tower | Scott Firestone | | | | Corey Feldman |
| Cleveland | Joyce Van Patten | | | | |
| Mike Leak | | William Devane | | | |
| Sy Orlansky | | Clifton James | | | |
| Carmen Ronzonni | | Jimmy Baio | | | |
| Officer Mackie | | Lane Smith | | | |
| Mister Manning | | Dolph Sweet | | | |
| Morrie Slaytor | | Pat Corley | | | |
| Carl Rutherford | | Douglas Anderson | | | |
| Chip Roberts | | Jerry Lawson | | | |
| Lester Eastland | | Fred Stuthman | | | |
| Coach Shimizu | | | Tomisaburo Wakayama | | |
| Antonio Inoki | | | Himself | | |
| The Network Director | | | George Wyner | | |
| Louis the Gambler | | | Lonny Chapman | | |
| E.R.W. Tillyard, III | | | Matthew Douglas Anton | | |
| Harry Hahn | | | Regis Philbin | | |
| Matthew Hooper | | | | Troy Gentile | |
| Prem Lahiri | | | | Aman Johal | |
| Garo Daragabrigadien | | | | Jeffrey Tedmori | |
| Shari Bullock | | | | Arabella Holzbog | |
| Dr. Emily Rappant | | | | | Catherine Hicks |
| Frosty | | | | | Bill Lazarus |
| Josh Matthews | | | | | Rad Daly |
| Student | | | | | Persephanie Silverthorn |
| Marsha | | | | | Sherrie Wills |

## Reception
### Box office performance

| Film | Box office gross | Box office gross | Box office gross | Budget | Ref. |
| Film | North America | Other territories | Worldwide | Budget | Ref. |
| The Bad News Bears | $42,349,782 | — | $42,349,782 | $9 million | |
| The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training | $19,104,350 | — | $19,104,350 | — | |
| The Bad News Bears Go to Japan | $7,092,495 | — | $7,092,495 | — | |
| Bad News Bears | $32,868,349 | $1,384,498 | $34,252,847 | $35 million | |
| Total | Total | | | | |

### Critical response

| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
| The Bad News Bears (1976) | 97% (33 reviews) | 84% (15 reviews) |
| The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training | 50% (10 reviews) | |
| The Bad News Bears Go to Japan | 6% (16 reviews) | |
| Bad News Bears (2005) | 48% (158 reviews) | 65 (35 reviews) |