# Best TV Shows based on a movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268 "2015-03-29T13:50:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/21 "2015-03-30T16:11:28Z")
Herein I learn there was a _Thin Man_ tv series. I guess it was terrible; still, I’d like to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/22 "2015-03-30T16:34:52Z")
MASH and Buffy pretty much dominate it, though in Buffy’s case, it was based on a bomb of a movie. MASH had the hard time of dealing with a huge hit movie and it did a great job. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/23 "2015-03-30T16:37:10Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > They missed PEE-WEE’S PLAYHOUSE. The movie is not the origin, though. The stage show was, I think, the origin and it is based on that. I know MASH was a book, too, but the show was only based on the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Anon01245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b77776/32.png) [@Anon01245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anon01245)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/24 "2015-03-30T20:21:56Z")
> [@WilyQuixote](#): > > _Fargo_ is definitely in the running. > > _Stargate SG1_ was significantly better than the run-of-the-mill scifi adventure it’s based upon. > > I also recall \*Highlander: the Series \*being superior to anything other than the the original movie. (not the highest bar to cross and doubtful whether the adult me will find it entertaining) I second stargate. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/25 "2015-03-30T21:58:28Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > The movie is not the origin, though. The stage show was, I think, the origin and it is based on that. I know MASH was a book, too, but the show was only based on the movie. I wouldn’t get caught up on that. The Odd Couple was a famous Broadway Show before being a famous movie. If the TV show followed on the movie, it counts for this thread at least. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/26 "2015-03-30T22:09:36Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > The movie is not the origin, though. The stage show was, I think, the origin and it is based on that. I know MASH was a book, too, but the show was only based on the movie. The movie was quite close to the original book. The first few seasons of MASH were reasonably close, and then diverged wildly. Hooker’s later books (the real ones, not the show spinoff ones) twitted the TV show by making Hawkeye anything but Alan Alda. My number one is the A&E Nero Wolfe series, followed by Paper Chase and MASH. I guess Sherlock comes in there also. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/27 "2015-03-31T01:17:47Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Does _Love, Sidney_ count? It was based on a TV movie, so I don’t think so. _NBC Mystery Movie_ blurred the line between TV movie and TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/28 "2015-03-31T01:20:45Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The movie was quite close to the original book. The first few seasons of MASH were reasonably close, and then diverged wildly. Hooker’s later books (the real ones, not the show spinoff ones) twitted the TV show by making Hawkeye anything but Alan Alda. Yeah, Hooker’s depiction of Hawkeye as a red-baiting gay-basher would be a pretty hard sell to Alan Alda fans. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/29 "2015-03-31T01:34:53Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The movie was quite close to the original book. The first few seasons of MASH were reasonably close, and then diverged wildly. Hooker’s later books (the real ones, not the show spinoff ones) twitted the TV show by making Hawkeye anything but Alan Alda. > > My number one is the A&E Nero Wolfe series, followed by Paper Chase and MASH. > I guess Sherlock comes in there also. Was Hawkeye the lead of the books, or was it a combination of Trapper, Duke, and Hawkeye? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/30 "2015-03-31T01:39:21Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Was Hawkeye the lead of the books, or was it a combination of Trapper, Duke, and Hawkeye? Hawkeye was clearly the lead in the books I read. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/31 "2015-03-31T01:49:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > MASH and Buffy pretty much dominate it, though in Buffy’s case, it was based on a bomb of a movie. Buffy was based on the original screenplay, not the movie that was filmed. Joss Whedon made it very clear that nothing in the movie was to be held as canon. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268/32 "2015-03-31T10:50:00Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > I consider _The West Wing_ to be of a piece with _The American President_, though there are many good counterarguments. Perhaps another link is _Charlie Wilson’s War_. The first scene is of somebody proposing a series of what is obviously _The West Wing_ to Wilson for investment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-shows-based-on-a-movie/716268.md?page=1)