In the era of streaming, the lines have continued to blur between movies and TV shows, meaning that some shows feel like they would be much better as movies. There used to be a clear delineation between the two media, but TV trends have dictated that shows should have higher production values, fewer serialized stories and more varied directorial choices. All of these elements are inherently cinematic.
When a new trailer drops on social media, it’s sometimes unclear whether the project being sold is a movie or a TV show. This highlights how the two art forms have continued to merge and overlap. Miniseries are even more cinematic than most other TV shows, and many big hits would be even better if they had made a few more cuts to the story and been envisioned as movies instead.
10 Sharp Objects
Amy Adams’ Performance Could Have Been Just As Captivating On The Big Screen
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buy Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date July 8, 2018 Cast Amy Adams , Patricia Clarkson , Chris Messina , Eliza Scanlen , Matt Craven , Henry Czerny , Taylor John Smith , Madison Davenport , Miguel Sandoval , Will Chase
Sharp Objects is an intense psychological thriller that still stands out as one of the best miniseries HBO has ever produced. Its eight episodes beckon the audience in for a compulsive binge-watch, but it leaves a lasting impression that most shows fail to achieve. It’s odd to consider that such a critically-acclaimed TV show could be even better as a movie, but Sharp Objects could have been an intoxicating thriller if it had been squeezed into a shorter runtime.
Sharp Objects could have cut out some of the slower passages and made a breathless psychological thriller.
Sharp Objects revolves around a superb performance from Amy Adams, who certainly has the kind of magnetic presence that makes her a great movie actor. Sharp Objects could have cut out some of the slower passages and made a breathless psychological thriller. A movie also wouldn’t have given audiences the option of resting between episodes, so it could have kept the intensity and the pressure high.
9 Obi-Wan Kenobi
Many Disney+ Shows Seem Like They Should Be Movies
Many Disney+ shows are spinoffs from Marvel and Star Wars movies, and a lot of them seem like they would be better suited to the big-screen. Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of a handful of Star Wars TV shows which were originally intended to be movies, but the box office failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story caused Disney to change their strategy. The Mandalorian and Andor work brilliantly as TV shows, but many other shows just feel like missed opportunities.
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Obi-Wan Kenobi certainly isn’t a bad show, and it’s a joy to see Ewan McGregor returning to the character that he played in the prequel trilogy. Ultimately, it just feels as though a great movie has been stretched out into a good show. The story of Obi-Wan trying to rescue Leia and confronting Darth Vader is clear enough that it would work as a movie plot, and the show is padded with filler that slows it down in places.
8 Hunters
Hunters Runs Out Of Room After Season 1
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buy Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date February 21, 2020 Seasons 2 Cast Logan Lerman , Al Pacino Josh Radnor , Kate Mulvany
Hunters created a lot of buzz back when it first premiered, simply because Al Pacino had only starred in one TV show before. Ultimately, Hunters probably would have been better if it had utilized Pacino’s movie star presence and turned the first season into a movie. The big twist at the end of season 1 is incredibly satisfying, but it sets up a limp season 2 that only includes Pacino in a flashback storyline that kills the tension and the pace of the show.
A movie could have had more of the show’s exciting action scenes, and it wouldn’t have had to worry about setting up season 2.
Hunters would have been an interesting action movie if it had focused on Jonah’s first steps in the hunters as he tries to avenge his grandmother’s death. This could have meant more of the show’s exciting action scenes, and it wouldn’t have had to worry about setting up season 2. Cutting out the story about Adolf Hitler would have made the stakes feel more personal, and this partly explains why season 2 feels so comparatively lifeless.
7 Nobody Wants This
Nobody Wants This Could Have Been A Throwback Romcom
Nobody Wants This is one of Netflix’s best shows of 2024, but it still feels like a movie dressed up as a TV show. There are countless romantic comedies in which the two main characters are kept apart by some external factor. In Nobody Wants This, it’s their different religious beliefs and backgrounds, but this isn’t too different to movies like Crazy Rich Asians, Roman Holiday or Titanic.
20 or 30 years ago, Nobody Wants This probably would have been a movie, but romcoms aren’t as big as they used to be, nor are they the same style. Nobody Wants This season 2 has already been confirmed, so it will be interesting to see how the show progresses after the climactic kiss at the end of season 1. Romcoms don’t usually have sequels, and Nobody Wants This could run out of steam as Noah and Joanne move into the next stage of their relationship.
6 Bletchley Circle
The Crime Drama Could Have Kept The Pace Up As A Movie
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buy Not available *Availability in US Release Date September 6, 2012 Seasons 3 Cast Anna Maxwell Martin , Sophie Rundle Hattie Morahan , Rachael Stirling , Julie Graham
Bletchley Circle is a hidden gem of British TV, and it’s a shame that it didn’t get a few more seasons. The story follows four British women in the 1950s who formerly worked as codebreakers at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. Dissatisfied with their return to the domestic sphere after the war, they band together to use their skills to investigate crimes that are too complex for the police to crack.
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Bletchley Park could have been more dynamic if it had been a movie instead of a TV show, and this would have cut out some of the slower moments. It’s still a great show, but a movie could have had more ambitious visual design to go with the twisty murder mystery story, and it also would have set the stage for a more intense, action-packed finale. If Bletchley Circle wasn’t destined to run for many seasons, the next best thing would have been to make one big splash with a movie.
5 Chuck
Chuck Eventually Runs Out Of Steam
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buy Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date September 24, 2007 Seasons 5 Cast Zachary Levi , Yvonne Strahovski Adam Baldwin , Joshua Gomez , Sarah Lancaster , Ryan McPartlin , Bonita Friedericy
Chuck starts out with a dynamite premise, but it eventually struggles to keep the party going. Most of Chuck’s best seasons come early on, while the premise is still fresh and the dynamic between the characters hasn’t been tampered with too much. If Chuck had been a movie instead of a TV show, it still could have been just as funny and action-packed, but it wouldn’t have had so many low points. This also would have avoided the terrible season 5 storyline in which Morgan becomes the Intersect.
A Chuck movie could still have been just as funny and action-packed, but it wouldn’t have had so many low points.
A Chuck movie would have to cut a few of the show’s subplots, like the Volkoff story and Ellie’s relationship with Captain Awesome. Still, there’s enough potential in the story of a slacker who gets the entire CIA database downloaded into his brain to make a great action comedy. Casey and Sarah could still be involved as two rival agents trying to get a handle on Chuck, and there would only have to be one world-threatening disaster. Chuck reduces the stakes by promising a new catastrophe every week.
4 The Pentaverate
Mike Myers’ Comedy Needs Some Cuts
Mike Myers plays a total of eight characters in his Netflix comedy series The Pentaverate, which is absurd even by his standards. While this detail makes The Pentaverate seem like the Austin Powers franchise in some ways, the show didn’t scale the heights of Myers’ most popular movies. It’s possible that The Pentaverate could have been much funnier if it had been trimmed down and turned into a movie.
The Pentaverate could have focused on fewer characters while sticking to the same main narrative.
The best Mike Myers movies showcase the actor’s comedic talents by quickly bouncing around from scene-to-scene. The Pentaverate offers the same potential, since it looks at absurd conspiracy theories. However, it’s a little uneven, and Myers could ditch three or four of his eight characters without damaging the story. The Pentaverate could have focused on fewer characters while sticking to the same main narrative, and it would have offered more chances for satire, goofy slapstick and gross-out comedy without feeling overstuffed.
3 When They See Us
A Movie Could Have Had Even Greater Impact
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buy Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date May 31, 2019 Seasons 1 Cast Jharrel Jerome , Ava DuVernay
Ava DuVernay’s historical drama about the Central Park Five is the type of arresting, meaningful television that doesn’t come along very often, but When They See Us could have been even more powerful as a movie. It’s a story that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible, and what it says about the inequalities of the American justice system is still relevant, even though the case in question started back in 1989.
At just four episodes, When They See Us wouldn’t have to cut too much to trim its runtime to an appropriate movie length.
At just four episodes, When They See Us wouldn’t have to cut too much to trim its runtime to an appropriate movie length. There would be some scenes and subplots excluded, but this could even streamline the story and maximize its impact. If DuVernay could have made these cuts without losing the humanity that makes the case feel so relevant and fully realized, it could have been an outstanding courtroom drama.
2 Space Force
Space Force Should Have Committed To Its Joke
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buy Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date May 29, 2020 Seasons 2 Cast Jimmy O. Yang , Diana Silvers , Tawny Newsome , Ben Schwartz Steve Carell , Don Lake , John Malkovich
Space Force was based on Donald Trump’s decision to establish the United States Space Force as a new branch of the Armed Forces. This was seen as a joke by many people at the time, but Space Force was never going to last long. The US Space Force doesn’t get talked about as much anymore, so a sitcom about it would be culturally irrelevant today. Rather than trying to set up a generic workplace sitcom, Space Force should have committed to its satirical joke by making a movie.
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Space Force could have been a fun satirical movie about scientists, politicians and military personnel being forced to work together in the public eye, and it could have leaned into its political satire. Instead, Space Force awkwardly moved past its premise and became a sitcom that shied away from politics. It had the potential to be the next In the Loop or Idiocracy, using the idea of Space Force to talk about much deeper issues.
1 Bad Monkey
Vince Vaughn’s Crime Comedy Could Have Been Even More Hectic And Fast-Paced
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buy Not available Not available *Availability in US Release Date August 13, 2024 Seasons 1 Cast Vince Vaughn , Natalie Martinez , Alex Moffat , Ronald Peet , John Ortiz , Tom Nowicki , David St. Louis , L. Scott Caldwell
Bad Monkey was one of Apple TV+’s best new shows of 2024, but it might have been even better as a movie. Like many Apple shows, Bad Monkey managed to lure an actor best known for his big-screen work, in this case Vince Vaughn. His fast-talking, laidback detective character is a joy to watch as he fumbles his way through a ludicrously convoluted criminal investigation in Florida that features a man who fakes his own death.
Bad Monkey season 2 has already gotten the green light, but the next season will probably adapt the next book in Carl Hiaasen’s series of novels, Razor Girl. Bad Monkey could just as easily have set up a movie franchise, and the condensed format of film would have kept the pace up through some of the TV show’s low ebbs. Vaughn has movie star charisma, and Bad Monkey’s meandering plot bears all the hallmarks of a Coen brothers crime comedy, or something similar.