Top 10 Movie Continuations of TV Series

Y’can’t blame Canada for this one – though they’d probably apologize anyway. After sneaking into “The Terrance and Phillip Movie,” the South Park kids start non-stop cursing, causing parents to wage all-out war and parodying Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s own problems with freedom of speech. Taking jokes, content and language miles further than they did on their Comedy Central show, the pair takes haymaker swings at censorship and the MPAA with their musical big-screen outing, earning themselves a Guinness World Record for “Most Swearing in an Animated Film.”

This film continuation delivers just what fans want: more of the same. With the original cast partaking in even more disgusting or dangerous antics, “Jackass: The Movie” didn’t woo critics; but haters are gonna hate, and Jackassers are gonna love. They loved it so much; the boys were forced to film largely in Japan to avoid throngs of fanboys. Recorded following the conclusion of their MTV series, Johnny Knoxville and crew try to top their own stupidity – and the result is hilarity and several serious injuries.

Not that “Transformers” movie. Set 20-years after the events of season 2 and setting up season-3, “The Transformers” movie takes a darker tone than the franchise’s small-screen adventures. Which is to say, Autobots die. Lots of them – alas, poor Optimus. Aside from the sadness and classic ‘80s synth-heavy soundtrack, the movie continuation of this cartoon features the voice talents of Eric Idle, Judd Nelson, Casey Kasem, Robert Stack, and Leonard Nimoy. It also served as the final film for both Scatman Crothers and “Citizen Kane”’s Orson Welles.

Based on a character that originated on his series “Da Ali G Show,” Sacha Baron Cohen offends people from all walks of life with his big-screen mockumentary. On his quest to meet Pamela Anderson, the faux-Kazakh interacts with genuine, unwitting Americans, upsetting groups like the Romani, Jews, Kazakhs, and Kid Rock. There was no shortage of fallout after “Borat” hit theaters, with lawsuits brought forth by participants who felt duped, underpaid, misrepresented or all of the above. Even so, “Borat” earned $260-million at the box-office.

Following a somewhat traditional Simpsons storyline wherein Homer screws up and works to redeem himself in the eyes of his family and the rest of Springfield, this film continuation was a work-in-progress since 2001, with the script going through hundreds of revisions before the final version. As 18-seasons of this iconic cartoon were already in the can when the film was released, it’s hard to say this big-screener was a necessary addition to “The Simpsons” canon. But fans and critics ate it up, earning it $527-million.

“The Blues Brothers” jumped from the “Saturday Night Live” stage to the silver screen first, but these two dopey metalheads struck a chord with comedy fans in 1992. Staying true to and building on the “SNL” source sketches, the flick follows Wayne and Garth through their daily lives as they party, chase babes and try to move to the slightly bigger time. “SNL”’s Butabi brothers later tried to head-bob their way to theaters, but “A Night at the Roxbury” did not succeed like Wayne and Garth – Schwing!

You wouldn’t expect a movie starring puppets to be super-successful, but then most puppets aren’t Muppets. Ostensibly a movie about a movie, this adventure follows Kermit the Frog on his journey to Hollywood, encountering and rounding up his fellow Muppets along the way. Shot between the third and fourth seasons of “The Muppet Show,” the film banks on surreal and meta comedy and repeatedly breaks the fourth wall. But even more famous than its high cameo count is its enchanting score and Oscar-nominated song, “Rainbow Connection.”

Taking place between the fifth and sixth seasons of the popular sci-fi series, “The X-Files” movie seeks to tell a bigger story than episodes would allow, while also attempting to appeal to non-fans. On both counts, the first film in the “X-Files” franchise was successful: While it did dip into the show’s mythology, the creators delivered a strong, standalone story that required minimal knowledge of the series as it followed Mulder and Scully on an investigation of a bombing, a conspiracy, and – of course – aliens.

Despite the fact that it only ran on FOX for a brief three-month stint in 2002, fans weren’t ready to let Joss Whedon’s “Firefly” die. And, although they weren’t able to save their beloved show the way “Star Trek” die-hards did back in the ‘60s, “Firefly” fans didn’t have to wait nearly as long for a movie to continue the story. Sure, “Serenity” didn’t exactly rake the dough; but it did garner solid critical acclaim, pleased “Firefly” fanatics endlessly and offered some resolution to the abbreviated series.

Before we continue with our top pick here are a few honorable mentions:
- “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” (1988)
- “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me” (1992)
- “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” (2004)

After the disastrously dull and costly “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” Paramount decided to step up their game with the sequel. Shoving creator Gene Roddenberry aside, they commissioned executive producer Harve Bennett who quickly identified TOS episode “Space Seed” and its villain Khan as the perfect source material. The result is a film rich with character and tension, despite the fact that Kirk and Khan never share a scene. Featuring the show’s trademark adventure and excitement, “The Wrath of Khan” succeeded in pleasing Trekkers and recapturing the feel of the franchise.

Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite movie continuation of a TV series? For more Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.