Keep your movies—TV shows are way better
I’m probably not alone in thinking that movies rarely live up to the hype. While landmark feature films become increasingly rare, TV shows have quietly taken the crown. Thanks to streaming, there has never been a more abundant, high-quality landscape of rich, immersive series to get lost in.
Time and scope allow for deeper worldbuilding
By far the biggest difference between TV shows and movies is the length of the shows. Movies typically last between 90 minutes and around three hours, while many television shows span multiple seasons, often with five to ten episodes per season that can each last nearly an hour.
Of course, season structures and episode lengths vary wildly. Miniseries fall somewhere between movies and full-fledged TV shows, both in terms of scope and runtime, but generally speaking, TV shows always end up being much longer than most movie franchises – well, maybe with the exception of Fast and Furious.
This extended runtime, often several times longer than that of a typical film, allows TV shows to do so much more, chief among them being world-building.
A series can take its time and slowly build a story around its characters and their past and present relationships. It can introduce cultures and contexts, establish recurring rules and patterns, and slowly build on them throughout the seasons. It also opens the door to non-linear storytelling, as we saw in You better call Saulwhere each season begins with a post-Break the bad scene.
In TV shows, every scene has the potential to add another layer that enhances the experience, and when it’s done well, it never feels like filler.
As you learn more about a show’s universe, you become more invested in it and maybe even start watching YouTube reviews and reading fan theories about the smallest details.
Movies can also offer some of this, but their shorter runtimes limit the world-building they can afford. In reality, only major franchises, like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, are close to enjoying the same level of slow world-building that takes place in many television shows.
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Character development and relationships feel organic
The limited information we receive about the characters and their relationships is what bothers me about the films.
They’re often defined by fairly obvious clues and quick implications, like who’s stepfather, who’s divorced, and whether a relationship is positive, neutral, or negative, without much depth beyond that.
Character development also tends to happen very quickly, and when a film relies on time jumps, a lot of that development happens off-screen, which doesn’t feel particularly rewarding as a viewer.
With TV shows, characters are given time to grow slowly and gradually, learning from past mistakes and becoming entirely new personalities. One of the best examples is Walter White in Break the badwho transforms from a high school chemistry teacher to a kingpin of the meth empire over the course of five full seasons spanning 62 episodes.
The relationships between characters are just as important in TV shows, and they are given time to develop into something much more complex and realistic, often resembling the relationships we have in real life.
Movies, on the other hand, have to rush through this process, sometimes to the point that it seems jarring. Whether it’s a love interest, a friend, a neighbor, or a family member, relationships rarely have time to unfold slowly and naturally. Frankly, this kind of rush is what breaks many romance films and romantic subplots for me – the connections rarely go beyond “Ah, yes. She’s the protagonist’s love interest.”
Stories unfold at a more natural pace
Much like characters and relationships, stories don’t always have time to develop organically over the course of a film. This is especially evident when a film is ambitious and attempts to be grandiose, which many modern films do. The plot must be introduced, fleshed out, climaxed, and resolved, all within a few hours. There is little room for nuance or subplots.
TV shows, on the other hand, thrive on slow development and, more often than not, a multitude of subplots. Smaller stories can interweave within a single season while still impacting the larger narrative. A good example of this is the horror show, From.
Tension is another major factor that contributes to the enjoyment of a show. When it accumulates gradually over several episodes, the payoff seems much more satisfying. Right hand is a classic example of well-realized tension in a television series.
You can watch on your own terms
Because episodes of TV shows are much shorter than movies (sometimes less than 30 minutes), you can watch them whenever you want and as much as you want.
Shows with episodes under 20 minutes are my favorites for when I’m eating, slightly longer shows are perfect for quick entertainment before bed, and longer episodes are perfect for a full home theater experience, popcorn included. You can even binge all day if you want!
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And if I have enough time to watch for a few hours, like with a movie, I can do that with a TV show, and it still makes sense because it’s edited to be watched that way. The Sopranosfor example, is surprisingly episodic despite an overarching storyline.
Movies aren’t really designed to be paused and resumed later. Sure, you can do that, but it often ruins the immersion. Every time I tried, the movie just wasn’t as enjoyable. And since most films are rarely less than 100 minutes long, they’re much more difficult to watch during a busy work day.
Movies Still Have Their Place, But Shows Are the New Standard
Films are limited by their short running times; their greatest weakness is also their greatest strength. Because they have to execute perfectly and condense a story into just a few hours, you end up with a tight, focused experience that provides maximum entertainment without filler.
It’s one of the things that separates a good film from a great film. This is why I love watching tried and true classics.
The social element is another factor: being short and self-contained makes movies by far the best option when you want to watch something together.
Another advantage of movies is spectacle and cinematic and artistic shots, which are rare in television shows.
Successful films can afford high-end CGI, elaborate stunts and sets, long action scenes, better costumes, and often longer, more visually detailed shots. All of this results in a greater “wow” factor and a more immersive, visually stunning experience, something you rarely get in budget-conscious TV shows.
I enjoy movies as much as the next person, but I’ve learned to prefer the more down-to-earth, low-key style of TV shows. They often feel like I’m watching someone’s real life, like a close friend or relative telling their story that I slowly uncover over the course of a few months. I’m sorry, movies, but the amount of time TV shows have to develop their stories is just hard to beat!
