# Which TV show had the best subsequent movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [February 16, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614 "2022-02-16T18:01:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/1 "2022-02-16T18:01:56Z")
We recently binged Deadwood. It petered out at the end of 3 seasons - ending in a way that left us unsatisfied. So we were really looking forward to the movie. I can imagine the challenges of making a movie so many years after a show ended, but what a disappointment. Led me to wonder about which TV shows ended, and later had a good quality movie made. I offer Firefly/Serenity as the gold standard. At this point, I think I am suffering from a lifetime oversaturation of all things Star Trek, that I’m limited in my ability to compare the various shows and movies. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/2 "2022-02-16T18:05:11Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Led me to wonder about which TV shows ended, and later had a good quality movie made. _The Fugitive_. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/3 "2022-02-16T18:10:06Z")
Factual errors aside, _The Untouchables_ is a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/4 "2022-02-16T18:13:23Z")
There was a pretty decent **Dragnet** movie made after the TV series. No, not the 1987 Dan Aykroyd/Tom Hanks comedy. I mean the 1954 movie with Jack Webb and Ben Alexander (his first TV partner). Dragnet had been a radio show first, then a TV show starting in 1951. The film was the first time they were in color. (When the film came out, Dragnet was still on TV. And radio, for that matter. A trifecta) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/5 "2022-02-16T18:19:34Z")
OK - I guess we should have 2 categories. I was thinking about movies w/ (largely) original casts. Other than the Dragnet movie (which I have not seen) the other offerings are reboots. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/6 "2022-02-16T18:19:42Z")
_Star Trek: First Contact_. It’s my favorite ST movie of all. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/7 "2022-02-16T18:22:57Z")
Naked Gun ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/8 "2022-02-16T18:23:37Z")
Like I said, with all of the various ST shows and movies, I’d need to do some research before I could even discuss which movie was used on which series. Plus, as I recall, each ST show/movie had it’s own considerable ups and downs, such that it would be a challenge (for me) to compare a movie in it’s entirety with a ST series in it’s entirety. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/9 "2022-02-16T18:27:35Z")
The first _ **McHale’s Navy** _. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/10 "2022-02-16T18:30:26Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I offer Firefly/Serenity as the gold standard. I could not agree less. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/11 "2022-02-16T18:31:32Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > OK - I guess we should have 2 categories. I was thinking about movies w/ (largely) original casts. Other than the Dragnet movie (which I have not seen) the other offerings are reboots. Other movies with the same casts as the TV shows: **McHale’s Navy** (1964) **McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force** (1965) (no Ernest Borgnine – he was acting in _Flight of the Phoenix_) **Munster’s Go Home!** (1966) (the original cast, except that they changed Marilyn again I haven’t seen the McHale’s Navy movies. The Munster movie is no worse or better than the TV series. All of these had the advantage of being in color, which the TV shows weren’t. **The Nude Bomb** (1980 – “Get Smart”) Not all that great. But the three **Naked Gun** movies were as good as or better than the TV series **Police Squad**. that inspired them. There are, of course, a lot of TV shows that were repackaged and sometimes merged to get turned into theatrical releases, but I won’t count such things as **Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier** or **Davy Crockett and the River Pirates** or **To Trap a Spy** or **The Spy with my Face** (both Man from U.N.C.L.E.) or **Battlestar Galactica** , or made-for-TV movies like **Koroshi** (Danger Man/Secret Agent 1968) or **The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E** or too many others to list. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/12 "2022-02-16T18:34:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The Munster movie is no worse or better than the TV series. All of these had the advantage of being in color, which the TV shows weren’t. Makeup that worked in black and white looked ridiculous in color. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/13 "2022-02-16T18:35:04Z")
Batman (1966) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/14 "2022-02-16T18:36:07Z")
If you ever watched the TV series, you saw the first _ **McHale’s Navy** _. The only difference was that the movie was longer than the TV show. My favorite scene (which would never fly today) is when Gruber offers some Chinese laborers sticks of opium chewing gum. 🤭 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/15 "2022-02-16T18:36:58Z")
I’d give the nod to _Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life_ which is essentially a two hour episode of _Flying Circus_. I’m not sure their narrative films would count. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/16 "2022-02-16T18:37:28Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > Batman (1966) Even campier than the TV show. _Way_ campier! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/17 "2022-02-16T18:38:32Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > Batman (1966) But is it an improvement on the TV show? Is it the “best” movie follow-up to the TV show? I’d be the wrong person to ask. I hated the ultra-camp TV show. The movie was just more of the same, only with a different Catwoman. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/18 "2022-02-16T18:39:14Z")
The Transformers: the Movie (1986) ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/19 "2022-02-16T18:42:19Z")
The Muppet Movie (1979) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614/20 "2022-02-16T18:43:58Z")
Now _that’s_ the gold standard. Lived up to the show when it first came out, and still stands the test of time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-show-had-the-best-subsequent-movie/959614.md?page=2)