Top 10 Bad Movies With Great TV Show Adaptations

Despite being a modest financial success, mixed reviews ensured this proposed-trilogy tapped out after just one film. Instead, “Stargate” warped to television screens, and the franchise hasn’t been the same since. “Stargate SG-1” built upon events from the film, but unlike its source material, it garnered equal parts critical and commercial success. You don’t just have to take our word for it either; the numbers speak for themselves. “SG-1” ran for a whopping ten seasons, spawned four different spinoffs, and even got its own feature-length films. “Stargate” may have come first, but it’s safe to say the franchise owes its reputation to “SG-1.”

A forgettable and poorly-received animated film doesn’t exactly scream “franchise material.” But, “Barnyard” proved all of its naysayers wrong when the farm migrated to the small screen in 2007. Even though it substituted most of its all-star voice cast in the move, the aptly-named “Back at the Barnyard” was a marked improvement over its first outing. The benefits of a long-running series allowed the ensemble cast to shine without being tied down by an overly-complex narrative. If anything, the fact that “Back at the Barnyard” aired for four years just proves that this concept was better suited for television in the first place.

The original “Alien Nation” film is the kind of weird genre mash-up that could only have been made in the ‘80s. Even then, its reception was still just so-so. But, there was enough potential in its sci-fi premise to warrant an attempted TV show. Against all odds, it was actually pretty good, too. The series doubled down on the social implications of aliens arriving on Earth, and that sharper focus earned it a spot as one of Fox’s most successful scripted series. Unfortunately, the network’s financing issues meant one season was all “Alien Nation” ever got. But, clearly, that’s all it needed to turn this forgettable flop into a bonafide cult classic.

1999 marked a lot of firsts for Dar’s adventures. After two laughably-bad attempts on the big screen and an even-worse TV movie, the titular Beastmaster finally tried out a weekly series. And, with that experiment also came another first for the franchise: good reception. Now, full disclosure, the television series wasn’t exactly winning any awards. But, considering that none of the films performed well at the box-office, the show did a lot to rehabilitate the brand’s image. At the very least, it proved that “Beastmaster” still had an audience. After all, given what it had to work with, three full seasons is nothing to be ashamed of.

It’s not quite right to call this 2000s slasher flick a “bad movie.” More so, it was just a bit too gratuitous for its time. The same can be said for its 2014 sequel. But, all that just made “Wolf Creek” a prime candidate for an all-killer, no-filler horror series. The added screen time let the story reach gorier heights than ever before, and both audience and critics were on board for it. Plus, it’s setup as a semi-anthology meant they didn’t have to hold back on the body count, either. Add in John Jarratt reprising his role as franchise’s villain, and it’s no wonder this show is a bloody good time.

When it came to critical reviews, this disaster film lived up to its genre’s name in all the wrong ways. However, audiences were much more forgiving of the concept, and that paved the way for more expeditions on the small screen. It paid off, and “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” did not fly under the radar on ABC. Instead, it stayed afloat for four whole seasons and over 100 episodes, becoming one of the long-running science fiction programs of its time. Even though the series reused sets and plotlines from the film, the weekly release schedule turned the disparate elements into one of the most beloved shows of the ‘60s.

Turns out, the King of the Monsters’ biggest weakness isn’t tanks, soldiers, or nuclear weapons; it’s critic reviews. In the case of 1998’s “Godzilla,” the toxic reception effectively killed any shot of a proper, big-budget sequel. Instead, the franchise got a Saturday-morning cartoon. While that sounds like a poor consolation prize, it ended up being exactly what Godzilla needed. The TV show took the film's lore, abandoned the overly-loud action, and successfully delivered faithful interpretations of the characters. The difference in quality is plain to see. Nowadays, fans agree that the only thing the “Godzilla” movie did right was pave the way for this much-improved animated series.

The question here isn’t how the show turned out so well; it’s why anyone thought “Legion” needed a show at all. The plodding actioner failed to impress anyone back in 2010, and that’s putting it nicely. So, when “Dominion” promised to continue the story on TV, there was some justified skepticism. But, contrary to everyone’s expectations, the small-screen adaptation was an incredibly solid sci-fi romp. Admittedly, it had a very, very low bar to meet, but “Dominion” still deserves credit for making “Legion’s” world interesting and it probably helps that it’s set 25 years after the events of the movie.

It’s not everyday that one of the worst films of the year also spawns one of the generation's best animated programs. Then again, “The Clone Wars” has a knack for defying expectations. After the theatrically-released pilot film got dragged through the mud, the television series immediately brought back audience goodwill. And then some. It tackled morally-gray characters and sophisticated ideas without ever abandoning the classic charm that makes “Star Wars,” “Star Wars.” Plus, it gave us Ahsoka Tano. What more do you need? Let’s just say that if they released another “The Clone Wars” movie today, it would be a very different story.

Ironically, the only thing Buffy slayed in her onscreen debut was a chance at a sequel. See, long before Sarah Michelle Gellar picked up the stake, Kristy Swanson took a crack at the character with decidedly mixed results. Suffice it to say, the misguided film didn’t inspire much confidence in a follow-up – from fans or executives. However, it did prove there was strength in the brand, and that eventually turned into the rebooted TV series. Buffy’s adventures on the small screen easily eclipsed the popularity of the film. As a matter of fact, it went as far as becoming a cultural touchstone of the ‘90s and early 2000s. Talk about rising from the dead.