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 Marvel Cinematic Universe
(tied at #12) Krysten Ritter holds her own in this 2015 Marvel Television series, in which the former superhero Jessica Jones (Ritter) opens her own detective agency and befriends Luke Cage (Mike Colter). It is the second of four live-action series made for Netflix back in the earlier content days, and it ran for three seasons before it was canceled ahead of the launch of Disney+. During that time Jessica Jones was nominated for three Primetime Emmys and took home the trophy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music in 2016.
“You can enjoy it without knowing a thing about any other comic-book title, on the page or on the screen, and that’s just about the highest praise one can bestow on a Marvel property.” — David Sims, The Atlantic