The 20 Best TV Shows Based on Movies, Ranked
Movies have the ability to deliver punchy stories, top-notch action, and ideas that can linger well after the closing credits roll. TV shows, on the other hand, can take those same pros and extend them over a much longer timeframe. Only on TV can viewers really get into a character and get to know all of their nuances, plus watch them develop and change as the episodes or seasons go on.
Given that, it’s no surprise so many TV shows are based on movies. Here, Metacritic has rounded up the 20 best film-to-TV adaptations as ranked by Metascore. Only live-action TV shows from 1985 and onward are eligible for inclusion.
Note also that we opted to make all Marvel Cinematic Universe shows eligible based on their ties to the film series as a whole even though many of the shows are not a direct adaptation of a single film. Don't like that decision? Here are seven honorable mentions that would have made the top 20 if we excluded MCU shows:
adapted from ▣ The Girlfriend Experience (2009)
(tied at #10) Director Steven Soderbergh’s 2009 The Girlfriend Experience about a call girl in the days leading up to the 2008 Presidential election got a redo when it became a TV series in 2016. The first season of the anthology series stars Riley Keough as law student Christine Reade, a young woman who becomes a call-girl in order to make ends meet, while the second season stars Louisa Krause and Anna Friel and includes a blackmail scheme, and third season with Julia Goldani Telles as the new lead, who explores the tech world.
“The show is provocative, sexually and mentally; it’s alluring and sordid, arousing and disturbing, a unique viewing experience.” — Willa Paskin, Slate