T.v shows that are better (or way worse) than the films they're based on

Mal-Adjusted

I'll get the ball rolling and say that Buffy was way F'in superior than that bizzare film

Heckler

You are 110% right. Film was meh, series was fantastic.

krpc

Stargate SG-1 was much better as T.V. series than the movie(s), the latter ones in particular.

Basq

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

I'll get the ball rolling and say that Buffy was way F'in superior than that bizzare film

But to be perfectly honest, I really wouldn't have thought Whedon had the original film in mind when he created the TV series (apart from a teenager who was a vampire slayer named Buffy). They are absolutely nothing alike.. the Buffy film was a daft comedy (complete fluff) whereas Whedon is a very talented writer and had over 7 years to explore and flesh out storylines. And we were exposed to the Buffy universe (or "Buffyverse" as it's referred to my the nerds, sorry.. I mean "Buff-nerds" ). But yeah.. comparing the film to the TV show would be unfair. I mean "chalk and cheese"!

But to be perfectly honest, there's very few decent movie-to-TV adaptations out there... think long and hard!

Mal-Adjusted

basquille wrote: »

But to be perfectly honest, I really wouldn't have thought Whedon had the original film in mind when he created the TV series (apart from a teenager who was a vampire slayer named Buffy). They are absolutely nothing alike.. the Buffy film was a daft comedy (complete fluff) whereas Whedon is a very talented writer and had over 7 years to explore and flesh out storylines. And we were exposed to the Buffy universe (or "Buffyverse" as it's referred to my the nerds, sorry.. I mean "Buff-nerds" ). But yeah.. comparing the film to the TV show would be unfair. I mean "chalk and cheese"!

But to be perfectly honest, there's very few decent movie-to-TV adaptations out there... think long and hard!

Too true, they are compleatley diffirent...does anyone remember if the show continues on from the film (a la Galactica) or does it re-boot from the pilot ep.?

pickarooney

Ferris Bueller falls firmly into the second category. Anyone remember the series?

kittex

pickarooney wrote: »

Ferris Bueller falls firmly into the second category. Anyone remember the series?

Yup. it was awful. Jennifer Aniston was in it. (I loved 'Parker Lewis Can't Lose' though, which was in the same vein but much better)

'Clueless' the TV series was not as funny as the film. There's just one running joke - a daft but kind hearted rich girl. That's not enough to sustain a whole series.

TV show to film....I would bring up Whedon again and say 'Firefly' was quite a good example of how to take a TV show to the big screen.
Edit: Southpark was a great example of TV to film too.

Ivan

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

Too true, they are compleatley diffirent...does anyone remember if the show continues on from the film (a la Galactica) or does it re-boot from the pilot ep.?

As far as I can remember, it essentially continues on from the movie but as a reboot

Buffy movies to a new school, after rumours abound that she was expelled from her previous schoo for burning down the gym. Which took part in the first film.

I only vaguely remember though, as I only watched the movie in passing after my brother constantly nagging me to watch it.

ixoy

Buffy continued on from the film, with her mentioning her previous Watcher. Obviously the series was infinitely superior as was 'Stargate: SG-1'.

'Alien Nation' was a much better TV show than it was an original movie. The first movie was pretty unmemorable but the TV show managed to deftly explore the interactions of the two races.

I kinda liked 'Crow: Stairway to Heaven'. The pilot episode though essentially re-did the first Crow movie but it worked in parts.

I also enjoyed 'Total Recall: 2070' but it was far closer to 'Blade Runner' than TR. Yes, the film is superior but the show definitely had its strengths.

Currently in the vein of a strong showing is 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles', which is not quite up to the first and second movies but is far ahead of the third and is a worthy spin-off show that stays loyal to its source material and expands on it, which is what a TV franchise should do.

Haven't watched other ones like 'Highlander','Starship Troopers: The Roughneck Chronicles' (spin-off from the film or the original book, not to sure here), 'The Clone Wars', or 'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles' but I'm sure some here will pass judgement.

K4t

The Simpsons film had no more than a handful of laugh out loud moments.

Classic series though.

callaway92

Futurama..Those new films are shít tbh

Venom

Robocop was a great movie but a rotten TV show.

kittex

ixoy wrote: »

Currently in the vein of a strong showing is 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles', which is not quite up to the first and second movies but is far ahead of the third and is a worthy spin-off show that stays loyal to its source material and expands on it, which is what a TV franchise should do.

I've heard this is good, but that it has nothing to do with the actual films. A la Smallville, they take the general idea but put it in a different time and place, with different events...

Kind of puts me off it.

I actually really liked the Highlander TV series and film. Both equally as cheesy as each other

ixoy

kittex wrote: »

I've heard this is good, but that it has nothing to do with the actual films. A la Smallville, they take the general idea but put it in a different time and place, with different events...

Not true. The events of the first two movies take place and are referred to - we even meet some of the characters from them. It just ignores the third movie completely but the first two are all very much a part of the show's lore.

Ponster

Terminator and "The Sarah Connors Chronicles"

Both excellent shows !

Pigman II

Obvious answer would be MASH. Altmans effort is not a classic movie , it's very very very average. The 11year tv show is superior to it in every single way.

matrim

I agree on Stargate SG1, Buffy and Mash.

I wasn't impressed with sarah Connors Chronicles, although I only watched the first 2 episodes.

pickarooney

Does Lois and Clark count as based on the original Christopher Reeves trilogy? I definitely enjoyed the series far more, harmless fluff that it was.

homerjk

I like the Friday Night Lights TV series much more than the movie. Especially the coach character, there is something about billy bob thornton in that movie that creeps me out, whereas I love the coach in the TV series.

S.M.B.

The first thing that came to my mind was Friday Night Lights.

Although, if a film and TV series were off equal quality I think I'd much prefer the TV series. So much more can be done over a 20 episode series than a 2 hour film imo.

JP Liz

all better - Mission Impossible, The Avengers, Stargate SG1, Buffy, Battlestar Galactica,Friday Night Lights, Sex and the City, The X Files and Mash

Posy

As some have said, definitly MASH. Not a fan of the film at all. Lots of not-really-funny slapstick and just a forgettable film. The TV series however- a classic. One of my favourite programmes. Love MASH I do.

iguana

ixoy wrote: »

Buffy continued on from the film, with her mentioning her previous Watcher.

Buffy actually carried on from the original script of the film, but not from what the film turned out to be. For example, in the movie she doesn't burn down the gym, which is constantly referenced in the 1st series. There is a graphic novel, BtVS: The Origin, which is based on the original movie script.

Whedon wasn't powerful enough when the movie was made to insist on his vision being adhered to. Fran Rubel Kuzui discovered Whedon's script and got it made. But she had the idea to make it into a "wacky" comedy, which Whedon was incredibly unhappy with. She and her husband purchased a portion of the rights when they made the movie, so even though they had nothing to do with the series (and Angel) they are credited prominently as executive producers and profited quite a bit from it.

On a side note Seth Green had a small part in the movie, but his scenes ended up being cut out. Although a still from one of his scenes is on the back of the video box.

BlitzKrieg

Pigman II wrote: »

Obvious answer would be MASH. Altmans effort is not a classic movie , it's very very very average. The 11year tv show is superior to it in every single way.

Altman (God rest his soul) would tell you that you didnt *get* the film if you liked the series but not the movie

(He actually did, he hated the series because it turned what he considered a subtle anti war message into a shove it down your mouth slogan)


personnally I like both for very different reasons. I like Altman's style as a filmmaker so M.A.S.H really appealled to me on a technical level. But I much perfer the characters from the series (Alan Alda was always awesome) and it formed a very solid base of my childhood television viewing along with Kelly's Heroes (which I recently had the pleasure of watching again)

MASH is better though

p to the e

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

MASH is better though

i definitely agree. was always an Elliot Gould man!

I'm gonna have to say that the Film "the Fugitive" was far superior to the original 60's version. spawned a so-so sequel though but i'd still and enjoy the film today

rednik

This is a hard one for me. I can remember two in particular. MASH and Serpico. MASH the movie and the tv series were excellent considering how long the series ran for. But in the case of Serpico which is one of my favourite movies I couldn't get into it because of the actor playing Serpico. David Birney was the actor, but to be fair he was up against Pacino in one of his finest performances.

Firefly and Serenity.

Elmo

I having watch the first season of Sarah Connor while it is worth the watch it isn't as good as the movies.

Unfortunately they recreated the Linda Hamliton scenes with the new Sarah Connor and she comes nowhere close to playing the tough Sarah Connor as played out in the first 2 movies.

She actually makes Linda Hamliton look like a good actress, who I previously would have dismissed. But her potraial of Sarah in the first movie as someone running from her future and a manic in the second movie really proves her worth.

Nerin

Godzilla remake was not as good as godzilla remake cartoons ^_^

Mal-Adjusted

Nerin wrote: »

Godzilla remake was not as good as godzilla remake cartoons ^_^

a little OT, but with the exception of G98, everything Godzilla sucks!

Nerin

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

a little OT, but with the exception of G98, everything Godzilla sucks!

blasphemy.

Mal-Adjusted

Nerin wrote: »

blasphemy.

meh...perhaps, but still...