The 20 Best TV Shows Based on Movies, Ranked

by Amber Dowling, for Metacritic – August 5, 2022

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:

9 of 21 photo by Starz

76 Ash vs. Evil Dead (Starz, 2015-18)

adapted from ▣ The Evil Dead (1981)

(tied at #12) It took years for Ash (Bruce Campbell) to get his own TV series after becoming legendary in his 1981 The Evil Dead turn. But in 2015 fans everywhere finally got to see the actor reprise the role for a bloody good TV series. In it, he reluctantly fights a Deadite plague with the help of some new friends, hoping to end Evil once and for all. The series was nominated for many independent horror awards and also stars Lucy Lawless, a woman with her own built-in fanbase from her time on Xena: Warrior Princess.

“It moves quickly, has good scares and big laughs, and the moment when Ash shifts from clown to killer is every bit the big hero moment you would want after all this time.” —Alan Sepinwall, HitFix

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