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.
Examples of The Film of the Series include:
| Original series | Film version | Notes | ||
| Title | Years | Title | Year | Notes |
| Doctor Who | 1963-89; 2005–present | Dr. Who and the Daleks | 1965 | And a sequel (1966). A rare example of The Film of the Series being made while the original is still in production. These directly adapted the first Dalek story, "The Daleks", and the second one, "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", made them Lighter and Fluffier, changed the overall premise of the series and most definitely take place in an Alternate Continuity rather than in the Whoniverse. |
| The Twilight Zone | 1959-64 | Twilight Zone the Movie | 1983 | |
| Dragnet | 1949-59 | Dragnet | 1987 | Film was an Affectionate Parody of the original. Harry Morgan plays his character from the 1967-70 Revival series. |
| The Addams Family | 1964-66 | The Addams Family | 1991 | And a sequel (1993). (The 1998 direct-to-video movie is the pilot for the TV series revival.) |
| The Beverly Hillbillies | 1962-71 | The Beverly Hillbillies | 1993 | |
| The Fugitive | 1963-67 | The Fugitive | 1993 | The film starred Harrison Ford as the title character and Tommy Lee Jones as the Inspector Javert, and resulted in a sequel in which Tommy Lee Jones pursues a different fugitive. |
| Car 54, Where Are You? | 1961-63 | Car 54, Where Are You? | 1994 | Filmed in 1990 but not released until 1994, the film basicly tried to turn Car 54 into a Police Academy type movie. Original cast members Al Lewis and Nipsey Russell appeared as their original characters. |
| The Flintstones | 1960-66 | The Flintstones | 1994 | And a prequel (2000). The series was animated, the films were proof that "live action is no substitute for the real thing." |
| Maverick | 1957-62 | Maverick | 1994 | Mel Gibson starred as Bret Maverick. James Garner, the original Bret Maverick, co-starred as Marshal Zane Cooper, who turned out to be Maverick's father, whom he also played in the original series as a secondary role. |
| The Brady Bunch | 1969-74 | The Brady Bunch Movie | 1995 | And a sequel (1996) |
| The Phil Silvers Show | 1955-59 | Sgt. Bilko | 1996 | Steve Martin starred as Sgt. Bilko. |
| Mission Impossible | 1966-73 | Mission Impossible | 1996 | And sequels (2000, 2006, 2011). Presented as a sequel to the series, not a reboot. |
| George of the Jungle | 1967 | George of the Jungle | 1997 | Series was animated, film is live action. |
| Leave It to Beaver | 1957-63 | Leave It To Beaver | 1997 | |
| McHales Navy | 1962-66 | McHale's Navy | 1997 | Tom Arnold played McHale. Ernest Borgnine returns as the original McHale, now an admiral, and Arnold is his son, but we're not told these facts until the final scene; Borgnine's McHale uses a codename. |
| The Avengers | 1961-69 | The Avengers | 1998 | Patrick Macnee played John Steed in the original series and appeared in a cameo as Invisible Jones in the film. The film was based - loosely - on the Steed/Emma Peel pairing. |
| Lost in Space | 1965-68 | Lost in Space | 1998 | Most of the original cast have cameos in early scenes set on Earth. |
| Inspector Gadget | 1983-86 | Inspector Gadget | 1999 | Even more proof that live action is no substitute for the original. Not helped by the fact that apart from a few names, and bionic implants, the film has absolutely nothing to do with the series. |
| The Mod Squad | 1968-73 | The Mod Squad | 1999 | |
| My Favorite Martian (TV) | 1963-66 | My Favorite Martian | 1999 | |
| The Wild Wild West | 1965-69 | Wild Wild West | 1999 | |
| Charlie's Angels | 1976-81 | Charlie's Angels | 2000 | And a sequel (2003). John Forsythe returned to the role of Charlie. None of the original Angels had cameos in the 2000 film (Farrah Fawcett reportedly said that she'd only appear if she could be Charlie), but Jaclyn Smith had a cameo in the sequel. The trope is referred to at the start of the film as LL Cool J's character watches a T. J. Hooker film. |
| I Spy | 1965-68 | I Spy | 2002 | |
| Scooby Doo | 1969-70 | Scooby Doo | 2002 | And sequel (2004), prequel (2009). Series was animated, films are live action. |
| Starsky and Hutch | 1975-79 | Starsky and Hutch | 2004 | The film was partly an Affectionate Parody of the original. The original leads make cameoes near the end. |
| Thunderbirds | 1965-68 | Thunderbirds | 2004 | Series was Supermarionation; film is live action. The art direction was the only part that was a faithful adaptation. |
| Bewitched | 1964-72 | Bewitched | 2005 | Took an unexpected left turn by telling the story of a fictional remake of the original series—that starred a real witch. |
| The Dukes of Hazzard | 1979-85 | The Dukes of Hazzard | 2005 | R-rated parody remake of the family friendly TV series with Bo and Luke dumbed down, Boss Hogg and Uncle Jessie slimmed down and Sherrif Roscoe still dumb but more menacing. |
| The Honeymooners | 1955-56 | The Honeymooners | 2005 | Film made all the characters African Americans. |
| Miami Vice | 1984-90 | Miami Vice | 2006 | |
| Sukeban Deka | 1985 | Sukeban Deka | 2006 | The actress who played the original Sukeban Deka cameos as the mother of the new one; the movie can be interpreted as a remake or a sequel (the mother is implied to have been a Sukeban Deka, and could be the character from the original series; the coincidence in both characters being named Asamiya Saki is explained by it being a code name). US title of remake is "Yo-yo Girl Cop". |
| Alvin and The Chipmunks | 1983-90 | Alvinandthe Chipmunks | 2007 | And sequels (2009, 2011). Series was animated; films are live-action/CGI mix. Characters had first appeared on The Alvin Show (1961–62). |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion | 1995-96 | with Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and End of Evangelion; and "retold" in the Rebuild of Evangelion films: Evangelion 1.0 (2007), Evangelion 2.0 (2009), Evangelion New Theatrical Edition: Q (TBA) and part 4 (TBA). Original and films are all animated. In addition, a live-action Evangelion is in the works. | ||
| Get Smart | 1965-70 | Get Smart | 2008 | Steve Carrell starred as Maxwell Smart. (1980's The Nude Bomb was The Movie.) |
| Speed Racer | 1967-68 | Speed Racer | 2008 | Series was animated; film is live action (not counting all the CGI). |
| Land of the Lost | 1974-76 | Land of the Lost | 2009 | The film is more comedic than the series. |
| Star Trek | 1966-69 | Star Trek | 2009 | Leonard Nimoy reprised his role as the Spock from the main Star Trek universe, via Time Travel. Further films are planned. (The previous Star Trek films, by contrast, were straight examples of The Movie.) |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 2005-08 | The Last Airbender | 2010 | Series is animated; the film is live action. |
| The A-Team | 1983-87 | The A-Team | 2010 | |
| Edge of Darkness | 1985 | Edge of Darkness | 2010 | Hollywood remake starring Mel Gibson. |
| The Yogi Bear Show | 1961 | Yogi Bear | 2010 | Series was animated; film is live-action/CGI mix. |
| Twenty One Jump Street | 1987-91 | Twenty One Jump Street | 2012 | Series was drama; film is played for laughs. |
| Dark Shadows | 1966-71 | Dark Shadows | 2012 | Series was drama; film is played for laughs. |
| Fraggle Rock | 1983-87 | 2012 | (projected) | |
| The Equalizer | 1985-89 | 2013 | (projected) | |
| MacGyver | 1985-92 | 2013 | (projected; currently[when?] in Development Hell due to executive producer's death) | |
| Cowboy Bebop | 1998-99 | ? | Release year currently[when?] unknown. Series is animated; film will be live action. | |
| Gilligan's Island | 1964-67 | ? | Release year currently[when?] unknown. | |
| Madoka Magica | 2011 | Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie | 2012-2013 | The first two of the three movies (Beginnings and Eternal) were a slightly-condensed retelling of the series; the third (Rebellion) was a sequel. |
| Magnum, P.I. | 1980-88 | ? | Release year currently[when?] unknown. | |
| The Prisoner | 1967 | ? | Release year unknown as of March 2018. Project announced in 2016 with Ridley Scott as the director. |
- 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 predates the cartoon and has run continuously since then.