[guard-of-terra]

"the basic formula of pairing known stars with compelling stories has not and will not change"

Didn't it change with the advent of the modern TV Shows?

How big were Schwimmer, Laurie or Cranston as stars before their show made a hit? Laurie was locally known but not that much.

With modern show, you have select good actors for their role, not stars from an universal pool, and that's what changed.

And I fail to name terribly many films in the last ten years that can be compared to the best TV shows which are a plenty.

[sliverstorm]

What applies to TV shows doesn't necessarily apply to movies. The thing TV has going for it? A pilot is twenty minutes long, instead of a hundred and sixty.

To me, as far as actor career trajectory, TV seems to be like a minor league that some actors use to help launch their overall career.

[guard-of-terra]

We no longer have to care about actor career. We care about whether the show is good as a whole.

Movies are subpar compared to TV shows with a tiny number of exceptions.