The Film of the Series

A film based, sometimes loosely, on a television series. Like The Film of the Book, with one subtle difference. Unlike The Movie and the Reunion Show, which feature the original cast of (whatever incarnation of) the series, these most often happen when the series in question has been off the air for a while, giving it a new cast and updated sensibilities and commonly take place in an Alternate Continuity from the original. Sometimes, though, as Charlie's Angels, the movie is presented as a Sequel to the original. Members of the original cast may appear in cameo roles. In a few cases, as with the film version of Doctor Who and The Twilight Zone, they outright re-make televised episodes.

Usually, these adaptations will raise the stakes and use a more traditional "heroes saving the day" style of plot to ensure that it's a Big Damn Movie. Contrast with The Movie, compare with Continuity Reboot. A subtrope of The Remake.

These were especially popular in The Nineties.


 * Semi-example: The 1987 film The Untouchables was pitched as the film of the 1950s TV series, but the director and writer went back to the original historical source material, then completely ignored that history and made up a totally fictional story. Coming full circle, it was adapted into a syndicated Revival series six years later.
 * Despite what you might think, the live action Transformers films are not an example as it's not based exclusively on the original series, but just the latest part of a franchise that actually pre-dates the cartoon and has run continuously since then.