Movie and television adaptations have coexisted for more than half a century, each providing a unique way of telling and showing a plot. But I believe that in recent years, streaming services like Netflix and Hulu and TV channels like Showtime and HBO, have revolutionized the way that we see TV shows. To me, these services have created a golden era of television and proved that these stories deserve more than a two-hour movie.
Take "The Handmaid's Tale" for instance. This is an example of a book that was adapted into a television show by Hulu as opposed to a movie. The show was well received by critics and viewers alike and won multiple awards. It also showed how much a story can benefit from being produced for television (or streaming really). The character development was incredible and though readers of the book may still feel that the show wasn't as good, there isn't as much of an outcry that the show cut things out because of time constraints, something movies really struggle with.
Then there's the rise of Netflix original shows, like "Stranger Things", which could have easily had been pitched as a movie trilogy as opposed to a multi-season TV show. It still would have been an awesome story if it was a movie, but there's something better and more satisfying about watching it as a show. The story can grow better that way and become intensely more dramatic. One could even argue that the places that each episode leaves off are a great plot device that movies simply don't have. Bottom line: "Stranger Things" and shows like it are as good as they are partly because they were made as TV shows.
This isn't to say that every movie should be made into a TV show. Some movies are great as just that, movies. They don't need more than two hours and they do a beautiful job in that time slot. In that way, I believe that making a good movie is a thousand times more difficult than making a good TV show. But TV is at its peak right now. It's being used in exactly the right way and I hope it continues down that track. Down the road there could be problems with the shows going on too long and "jumping the shark", but so far, I'm impressed. Creators seem to have an end in mind when they start and they're willing to stick to it. As much as fans may want more than eight seasons of "Game of Thrones", it's an eight-season show with an end that was always there.
At the end of the day, writers should be encouraged to adapt their books into TV shows instead of movies more often. As right now, TV reigns supreme as the ultimate and most well-produced entertainment medium in my eyes.
