Hollywood leave TV alone!

Hi everybody and welcome back to my latest blog.

This week I am looking at the reasons why television shows should not be made into movies.


These days there are so many attempts to take a popular television series and turn it into a movie, and many of those attempts just do not succeed, which there is in my mind many reasons for. The first of them being the fact that a Tv series that has been on air for a long period of time, maybe 2 or more seasons cannot possible grab the audiences attention in 90 minutes as it does over several weeks. The viewers of the Tv series build a liking and a genuine concern for the characters that they see week in week out and I’m not sure they have the same empathy for the characters in a one off movie. Secondly, the small screen allows more intimacy between the characters and the viewers, an intimacy which is not the same on the big screen. Lastly, many Tv shows' storylines are constructed around a season long arc, ranging from 8-20 episodes, which is difficult to cram into a shortened version for the cinema.

As I write this blog I know of many Tv shows that are in production as movies, shows such as “The Equaliser” which was a great series in the 80’s, and will star Denzel Washington as the lead. As much as I admire Denzel Washington in my mind there is only one actor who is The Equalizer and thats the star of the show Edward Woodward. There are many instances of this where no matter how hard Hollywood try and no matter how famous the movie star is they cannot compare to the original show or lead actor.

Of course there have been some successful and popular transitions from small to big screen these include the obvious. “Star Trek” 12 films so far and still more to come “Mission: Impossible” now filming it's 5th installment and as a one off "The Fugitive" starring Harrison Ford, but for every hit there are maybe 2 or 3 misses for example the dreadful “Starsky and Hutch” the recently failed attempt of “The Lone Ranger” and one that really makes me red with rage “The Green Hornet” with the inept Seth Rogen who ruins about everything he touches. The main thing that those three films have in common is they have taken dramatic Tv shows and for some reason turned them into slapstick comedies.

These days, of course the standard of Tv shows is at it’s highest it’s been for many a year with outstanding shows like “Boardwalk Empire” Game of Thrones” the brilliant “True Detective” and “Homeland” shows that have movie stars as it’s leads. This is because of studios like HBO and Showtime who recognize the true pulling power of Tv compared to the cinema. That’s why actors like Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Steve Buscemi and Claire Danes are being paid attrative sums of money to front the shows that reach millions of homes world wide every week. Having seen the actors in these roles the audience becomes more familiar with the them and are more likely to go and see them in a movie as long as it’s not a film of their Tv show! Having said that, I know a lot of people, who very rarely go to the cinema if at all but when we talk about various actors they know them from the television show they are in and not the latest film.

My belief is that television is and will forever be a powerful medium, the quality of the shows are improving each year and I still get a buzz when something new comes along that will keep me entertained for 20 episodes, a show that I look forward to the next week with anticipation. Whereas, a film release at the cinema should be a new and fresh idea not something that has been recycled from an old Tv show. So come on Hollywood leave Tv alone and use your zillions of dollars into looking for scripts that are original and a best served by the big screen.

Thats all for this week, next week I will be discussing whether films should be remade or not.

Have a great movie week.

Miles Dunton.