Which is better?

[Debi]

Many movies spawn TV shows. M*A*S*H was one of those.
Which did you like better? Movie or series?
What other movies had series and which did you prefer?

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[Paulm]

i did like the series but i must confess to never seeing the movie.

 

[Duke]

Not sure the two are apples-to-apples comparable, at least not in the later years of the series when it began taking itself too seriously and became preachy. The McLean Stevenson/Frank Burns years in the series were much closer to the feel of the movie.

 

[Debi]

I'm looking at all movies to series overall. Take the Highlander...it went from movies to TV show. Although I liked the movies, I was a huge fan of the TV show as well.

Didn't like MASH the movie as much as the TV show. Perhaps it's just the fact one gets comfortable with the characters on a weekly basis.

 

[crux]

"In the Heat of the Night" was a good movie but I didn't care much for the series.

 

[T-Bob]

As with most movies that were turned into television shows, I like the original MASH movie over the TV series. One series that I can think of that is better than the movie is Lassie (1954-1973), based on the 1943 classic film Lassie Come Home. While the series may not be as appealing to modern audiences, it won two emmys and was a favorite of families and children everywhere. it is the only TV series that I can think of that had nine actors (dogs) play the title role, and all were male, unlike the character.

 

[Duke]

I much more enjoyed the 70s TV version of the "Odd Couple" than I did the movie.

In the early 90s, there was a short-lived "Ferris Bueller" series that was so bad it only last 14 episodes. Movie was much better. Same situation for the TV version of "Animal House."

Probably the second most successful (only to MASH) movie to TV spin-off was "Alice." I was not a big fan of the series, don't remember if I ever saw the film.

 

[crux]

The original "Planet of the Apes" movie spawned both a live action and an animated series, plus some movie sequels and remakes. It's hard to say which was better because I think they were all pretty silly.

 

[garnetsilver]

In the case of the series "Firefly," I liked both the series and the final movie, "Serenity."

Buffy the Vampire slayer; the series seemed better than the movie, maybe because I liked Buffy's character better in the series than in the movie.

 

[crux]

"The Cowboys" was a very entertaining western starring John Wayne. (It also starred Bruce Dern who had a hard time getting work afterward due to something his character did in this film.) The movie was a big hit and a TV series followed, but the series had none of the appeal of the movie and it flopped.