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7 TV Shows Made into Movies ...

By Lydia

For some reason, it doesn’t seem as weird to see TV shows made into movies as it is to see them made from movies. What’s strange is that, either way, the crossover doesn’t seem to be that successful. For the most part, the movies listed below didn’t do as well as their respective TV shows. Let’s take a look at seven TV shows made into movies.

Table of contents:

  1. Get Smart
  2. Bewitched
  3. Inspector Gadget
  4. The Flinstones
  5. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
  6. The Simpsons Movie
  7. Sex and the City

1 Get Smart

I’m going to be completely honest in saying that this is the only movie on this list that I didn’t even bother seeing. I really thought about it and then I heard it was horrible, so I didn’t bother. I really love the original “Get Smart” show and I’m sure Steve Carell did a great job, but I just couldn’t see this movie being done well. Sadly, from what I hear, I was right and this movie was nowhere near as good as the TV show. There are lots of TV shows made into movies that shouldn't have been and this one definitely stands out.

2 Bewitched

I had such high hopes for this movie! “Bewitched” was an amazing TV show and for the movie they got some great actors! When it comes down to it though, Steve Carell was the best part of this movie and he wasn’t even in it that long. I was really disappointed with this movie and I know that I wasn’t the only one. The show was so amazing that it makes sense that they wanted to try to take it into movie form, but some things are just better left untouched and unchanged.

3 Inspector Gadget

I almost forgot that I saw this movie. I feel like that one sentence explains everything I have to say about this crossover. “Inspector Gadget” was a really cute and funny cartoon, but when they brought it to the big screen, they decided to make it live action. I don’t think that was the main problem that this movie had. To be honest, I’m not sure what it was. Matthew Broderick did a great Inspector Gadget and yet, somehow, it just didn’t click. This is another case of some things are better left untouched.

4 The Flinstones

Sometimes I forget that they made this into a movie. I don’t know if it did that well, but it must have done fine because they made another one. This one also stands out amongst the other cartoon shows to movie crossovers because when they made this movie, they decided to make it live action. I wonder if that helped or hurt the success of this movie? All I know is that I have found myself landing on these movies when there’s nothing else to watch and watching the whole thing. It may not be the best movie but it is fun to watch.

5 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

I may be 22 years old, but I love “SpongeBob SquarePants” and I loved the movie! “SpongeBob SquarePants” is a really weird cartoon that somehow appeals to people of a really broad age group. It doesn’t really surprise me that they made this into a movie. I don’t know what thy exact numbers are, but from what I could tell, the movie did pretty well. Who wouldn’t love to see SpongeBob get into some crazy antics on the big screen?!

6 The Simpsons Movie

I didn’t see this movie either, actually, but that’s because I’ve never really been a big “Simpsons” fan. From what I have heard though, this movie was hilarious. It’s definitely one of the more successful crossovers from TV to film. This movie probably worked because of the huge fan base that the show already has. The other thing that probably helped was that because there is no one long term story line in the show, the movie was just able to take what would normally be an episode and super-size it.

7 Sex and the City

It’s really interesting to me that this movie had as much success as it did. I saw the movie before I watched the show and it actually got me very curious to see what the show was like. What I think worked for this movie is that it was done so well and stayed true to the show. “Sex and the City” didn’t try to come out with a movie retelling the whole story or changing it at all, it was just a continuation. Even better still, you didn’t need to have watched the show to appreciate the movie. Out of all of the movies on this list, I think this was the one that was done the best.

I really do wonder why the crossovers between TV and film never seem to be that successful. While some of these movies did pretty well, it’s safe to say that the shows did better. What movies on this list did you like? What shows do you think would make successful movies?

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