After a long day of school, and an even longer afternoon of homework, nothing relaxes me more than to sit back and mindlessly watch a comfort TV show. Whether it’s my favorite episode that I continuously rewatch, or a new series I am just getting into, TV shows are my favorite way to decompress from the day.

While many view watching TV shows as a waste of time and the cause of reduced productivity, I find it to be the perfect form of entertainment when I want to take a quick break from studying, or start winding down for bed. 

Unlike movies, TV shows tend to be 20 to 40 minutes long, allowing the viewer to easily shut them off, due to their more frequent stopping points. Movies often require total engagement for a set period to reach their full potential, while TV shows are more flexible with time, as they are broken up into smaller parts.

Aside from convenient timing, TV shows allow for deeper plots and detailed character development. Some TV shows follow a character for weeks, months or even years, and viewers have the opportunity to form stronger bonds with them, along with the feeling of growing up together. In contrast, movies rarely result in meaningful character development, as they often focus on specific events rather than long time periods, and seldom allow relationships to fully blossom, according to Boulevard Magazine. 

Despite many movies having sequels, nothing matches the excitement associated with ending one episode of a show, rapidly hitting the “next episode” button or waiting for the next season to be released. TV shows thrive on cliffhangers. Even when the tension builds, the resolution is just one click away. In contrast, when a movie ends on a cliffhanger, the initial excitement quickly fades into frustration with the realization that the sequel will take at least another year to be released.

As stated by The Guardian, 92 minutes is the preferred length for movies, significantly less than the 2022 movie average of 141 minutes. Additionally, studies show that the average attention span of an adult is only 8.25 seconds. 

With TV shows, viewers can get up, pause or take a break at least every 30 minutes, whereas in movies, many feel that once they have sat down, they should stick it out until the end. Despite more overall content, TV shows are broken up into sections, allowing viewers to pause periodically, unlike movies.

Additionally, TV series give the viewers more content to enjoy. Instead of a single movie night here and there, viewers get months’ worth of episodes and anticipation. Whether looking to binge-watch a whole season within the span of one weekend, or watch episodes periodically, TV shows offer greater entertainment and content than movies.

My favorite TV show is Pretty Little Liars, a mystery teen drama. It is the perfect combination of the action associated with movies, and the connection fostered through TV series. Each episode ends in a cliffhanger, encouraging me to continue to the next episode. However, after watching several consecutive episodes, if I find myself getting bored, I simply take a break from watching, as every 40 minutes serves as a stopping point. 

Overall, TV shows offer a more engaging watching experience as opposed to movies. This is mainly due to more content, deeper character and plot development, gradually rising tensions, and stronger emotional connections built over time.

In an age where television shows have surged in popularity with the rise of streaming platforms, I still find myself choosing to watch a well-constructed, impactful movie rather than spending weeks, months or even years slogging through a TV show. In addition to having far more organized storytelling, movies also have a stronger cultural and emotional impact and better actors, all while being less of a time commitment than shows.

Movies provide far more entertainment value in less time than a show would. At most, a movie is around three hours, so filmmakers are forced to provide the full story in that time slot. 

This leads to more action and entertainment, whereas a show can take a long time to unfold its story for the audience. There is nothing I hate more than watching a good season of a show, just for it to end on a cliff-hanger, and then to be disappointed by the next season, which I had to wait a long time for. 

In addition to entertainment, movies are also made with higher quality than shows. Because of the constant money being spent on shows, they sacrifice the important film quality of cinematography. Just think, when was the last time you watched a show where you marveled at the cinematography or thought that it was better filmed than a movie? The answer is probably never, because movies focus more on putting out a higher-quality product. That product should provide the viewer with far more entertainment than a low-quality show that drags on endlessly. 

Even the most visually pleasing shows feel restricted by budget, and they just can’t match the hundreds of millions of dollars that big movies get for their budget. While it is not the show’s fault, with all the money that movies receive, they almost always put out a better product. 

While some might believe that shows are more popular, a study by AdNews actually discovers that audiences are more likely to “give their full attention to a film over a TV series.” This is because of the notion that movies are often thought of as a social form of viewing, so many people watch movies with others. 

The study also noted that because movies are available to watch anytime, they better align with people’s viewing periods than shows do. Lastly, the study reported that 63% of audiences gave the movies their full attention, compared to just 50% for TV shows, mainly because shows are more often associated with multitasking, whereas audiences are more likely to give their full attention to movies.

This study proves that, more often, with a larger budget, better actors, better scripts and a better overall product, audiences understand that movies are superior to shows.

With a large budget, movies can also employ many skilled actors, while shows with multiple seasons must resort to lower-budget actors. For example, skilled actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Pacino are known for their acting in movies, such as Titanic and Heat, not shows, because of their movies’ cultural and emotional impact, which many shows fail to achieve. 

Great actors are less tempted to take roles in shows because of the time commitment and quality of production they know they will be a part of. The quality of production in shows is lower because of the number of episodes produced and the budget that the show must work within. Movies, however, usually act with a bigger budget and less screen time, having to convey the plot and events of the movie in under three hours. 

Within a culture overflowing with constant entertainment and content, movies stand the test of time and stand out as an impactful form of storytelling with movies such as Avatar and Avengers: Endgame earning over $2 billion. Their ability to captivate audiences, deliver powerful messages and impacts in one sitting and spark imagination sets them apart from TV shows. 

While TV shows may offer a more extended form of storytelling, movies will always be superior with its cinematography, acting and overall impact on cultures and society.