1. The show actually has actors who are of high school age. 

Everyone isn't in their 20s playing high school students. Actual high school students are portraying kids their age.

2. The TV show is funny.

Disney has upgraded their sense of humor. The attempted humor put into the movies was not funny at all.

3. The movies are cringeworthy. 

Watching them back, they aren't as good as I remembered them. As soon as I saw the first five minutes of "HSMTMTS," I was hooked. It wasn't corny. It wasn't cringing. It's not the greatest show Disney has ever made, but it's definitely better than the movies.

4. There is a plot that makes sense in the show.

In the movie, the basketball team and the scholastic decathlon team devised this great plan to have Troy Bolton say he doesn't care about Gabriella. It really made no sense. Then, the next scene had both teams apologizing to Troy and Gabriella. Not a lot of plot development happening there.

At least in the show, we get to know the characters. Scenes don't just magically happen without action involved. I'm not left sitting there wondering how we went from a dramatic scene to one where everyone is up singing and dancing happily.

5. It’s more realistic. 

The show represents a more accurate version of what kids are like in high school these days. Everyone isn't just happy all the time and supportive of everyone. No, people are different and not everyone likes each other.

They make relationships more accurate with having a boy afraid to say "I love you" to his girlfriend. They have jealous boyfriends who steal their girlfriend's phone. Girls get jealous of each other. People are fake to each other.

This is what happens in the real world. It's not always picture-perfect like Disney used to make everything seem like.