Are TV shows surpassing the quality of Movies?

[Vlad Draculi]

It seems like every day more and more big time movie actors are moving to TV shows. TV shows are getting bigger budgets and allow more room for story telling while movies seem to be doing less of it. Do you think TV shows are surpassing movies these days? Is there a reason these actors are doing TV nowadays?

[BluBonnet]

Yes, in a lot of cases the TV is better than the movies. Studios are more risk averse than ever before!

[BluProofie]

HBO, Showtime and some Netflix shows definitely, but certainly not the garbage that airs on Network TV.

[Mobe1969]

I just can't keep up with them there are so many great ones now. I think they have surpassed them for in general quality and scope for extended storytelling. It is just the huge budget films that still have some value. Take for example Stephen King's Dark Tower or IT. They start talking about doing a movie series of Dark Tower, and nearly the whole world now groans and thinks why don't they just do it as a TV series. Do it as movies and you get these disconnected, drawn out, cut down, shredded stories that maybe they quit on before they even finish the series (like the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), or change cast as some of the actors get bored or have other commitments when they finally get their act together to start shooting. Viewers don't think "Oh yes a Dark Tower movie series by Ron Howard would be fantastic, and it will be made even better by paying some big name actor 30 million to star in it". Then the realization hits as an afterthought "that is if it ever gets made. And then if it doesn't do well enough they'll can the sequel, and that will be it and we'll just get 1/4 of a book". We don't care. Now take 11/22/63 - I can't wait to see that.

[Fiffy]

Are TV shows surpassing the quality of Movies?

I think they are. I just finished binge-watching "Mr. Robot" and can't even remember when I last saw a movie of that caliber. And that's just one of many great shows that came out in 2015. Today's movies put too much emphasis on effects at the cost of storytelling and drama. Oh, and too many sequels and "reboots" rather than original stories.

[Fiffy]

Originally Posted by Mobe1969

It is just the huge budget films that still have some value.

Hm, I think it's just the opposite. The mega-million budgets is what seems to be killing movies. Smaller budgets force the producers to impress with the story and acting rather than effects, that's why they tend to be far more interesting (this applies to TV shows as well). Sure, blockbuster movies can be entertaining, but it's more like an amusement park ride and doesn't leave any lasting impression on me like a great story can.

[Captain Flint]

Simply put; yes.

[Hucksta G]

Yep.

[BluRayTim]

Originally Posted by Fiffy

Hm, I think it's just the opposite. The mega-million budgets is what seems to be killing movies. Smaller budgets force the producers to impress with the story and acting rather than effects, that's why they tend to be far more interesting (this applies to TV shows as well). Sure, blockbuster movies can be entertaining, but it's more like an amusement park ride and doesn't leave any lasting impression on me like a great story can.

I completely agree.

[Vlad Draculi]

Originally Posted by BluProofie

HBO, Showtime and some Netflix shows definitely, but certainly not the garbage that airs on Network TV.

Really? Because I think AMC, CBS, and CW are killing it with a lot of their shows.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

In many cases yes however a well written and made movie can still tell a damn good or better story than a show. It is all about the scope. Some movies just bite off more than they can chew while a show has the time needed to really tell the story needed.

I watch both movie and TV quite a bit and it all comes down to my mood on which i will watch. I do have yo say though i wish more TV shows went the route of the 10 to 13 episode seasons and tell a tighter story. Too long of a season leaves filler episodes. No show these days should be 22 or 24 episodes. Learn from the success of shows like Breaking Bad or House Of Cards.

[Optimus-Prime-Rox]

Originally Posted by Vlad Draculi

It seems like every day more and more big time movie actors are moving to TV shows. TV shows are getting bigger budgets and allow more room for story telling while movies seem to be doing less of it. Do you think TV shows are surpassing movies these days? Is there a reason these actors are doing TV nowadays?

I suppose some do it for the love of the work plus not every actor who did movies regularly prior to doing tv work made the mega millions with each film so tv work provides steady income for them. Others probably do it since the big roles they used to get in movies don't come as easily anymore.

[Sloppy Bob]

Network TV is dying IMO. There's few shows that do anything new, it's just formulaic procedural story of the week stuff. Of course there are exceptions but when you see the number of shows they cancel every year before they've even had a chance or the stuff they actually let air when everyone knows it's going to be garbage beforehand it's beyond parody.

Cable and Premium channels like AMC, Showtime, HBO, Netflix etc are leading the way in quality drama that surpasses most movies as you actually have time to build characters and audiences that care about them.

We also seem to be seeing the atart of the rise of the anthology show where each season has new actors and characters such as True Detective. This is leading to more high profile actors joining them as they're not tied in for years.

[Vlad Draculi]

I love story based shows, but horror does not work like that. Scream, American Horror Story, and Scream Queens shows why horror needs to stay as individual episodes like Tales from the Crypt and Are You Afraid of the Dark.

[Pizzamorg]

For me, TV shows will never be better. I just don't care about the structure. If a whole universe can be told from start to finish without feeling rushed in 90 minutes, why do I need ten seasons, 22 episodes a piece, each forty five minutes long? I don't think I've seen a single TV show that hasn't overstayed its welcome in the end, or hasn't frustrated me by keeping even the answers to the simplest of questions out of my reach to keep churning out more episodes. TV just isn't for me, it requires too much patience and perseverance.

[Buscemi]

I'm going to say no for one simple reason: TV shows cannot get to the point a way a movie does. Why waste three or four episodes for something to get going when a movie can do that in 10 minutes?

[whiteberry]

Originally Posted by Pizzamorg

For me, TV shows will never be better. I just don't care about the structure. If a whole universe can be told from start to finish without feeling rushed in 90 minutes, why do I need ten seasons, 22 episodes a piece, each forty five minutes long? I don't think I've seen a single TV show that hasn't overstayed its welcome in the end, or hasn't frustrated me by keeping even the answers to the simplest of questions out of my reach to keep churning out more episodes. TV just isn't for me, it requires too much patience and perseverance.

I agree. I can think of very few TV shows that end at their creative peak and usually those are only shows that the creators have a lot of control and can end them when they want.

I find most TV shows fall into one of two camps:

1) They keep going long past after they should have been wrapped up because ratings are still good. This goes for cable shows with shorter seasons too. Showtime kept renewing Dexter and Weeds and ran them into the ground because the ratings were still good. And even with shows with shorter seasons, I usually find only the first and last episodes are truly important to the story being told and the episodes in between them are often filler to delay the resolution of the story.

2) A show is cancelled before the creator gets to fully tell his planned story. This seems to be happening more and more and I find myself waiting to the end of a show's run to make sure I don't waste my time watching a show that doesn't have a proper ending.

For these reasons, I like to watch shows where each episode is a short story like Columbo, Twilight Zone, Tales from the Crypt, etc. A story is wrapped up in a timely fashion and isn't dragged on forever and I don't have to worry about it not getting a proper ending.