Community‘s fandom has a mantra that they still say to this day. “Six seasons and a movie!” remains the call throughout the group, even though Community has ended over 7 years ago. However, just because a series has been off the air for a while doesn’t mean a movie isn’t possible.
There are a few shows that prove the “six seasons and a movie” formula works well. Six seasons is a clean length for any franchise, and capping it off with a movie is definitely a strong way to really wrap up loose ends. From cartoons to crime dramas, the Community audiences can rest easy enough knowing that the possibility exists.
The Amazing World of Gumball
The Amazing World Of Gumball is one of the breakout cartoon hits of the 2010s. With its unique blend of different animation styles, sharp dialogue, and absurd storylines, it’s no surprise it managed to push to six seasons. Cartoon Network pushing six seasons and a movie will be a running theme throughout this discussion.
Cartoon Network announced that The Amazing World Of Gumball would get a TV movie with series creator Ben Bocquele heading the production. The movie is said to be the “epic conclusion” to the original series but also acts as a lead-in for a brand new series under the same team.
The Flintstones
This may come as a shock to people, but yes, the original The Flintstones only had six seasons. The prehistoric adventures of Fred Flintstone with his friends and family in the town of Bedrock are, ironically, timeless. A movie was an inevitability.
It’s not just one movie either. Not satisfied with just six seasons, the franchise also spawned six movies. The movies are a mix of live-action theatrical releases and animated TV films. The movies are a polarizing film series, but they are still Flinstones shenanigans at their heart.
Edd, Ed n Eddy
Edd, Ed n Eddy is one of the best Cartoon Network shows of the early 2000s. The format of three friends doing a bunch of shenanigans is nothing new, but Edd Ed n Eddy is hilariously content with never letting its three main characters win anything due to their failures.
That all changed when the movie was announced to be the series finale. In its wacky way, the series does manage to resolve the main characters’ arcs satisfyingly. Delving into themes of domestic abuse, even if only for a short dip, is a brave choice for a series finale.
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows was a 70s American Soap Opera that focused on the house of Collinwood and the inhabitants within. The series was unique for incorporating a variety of sci-=fi and classical horror elements into a mostly slice-of-life affair.
The gothic themes attracted the attention of a young Tim Burton, and it was what pushed the legendary director to put his spin on the series. Strangely, at least to long-time audiences of the director, it took Tim Burton so long to make a vampire movie. Considering the gothic elements, one would think he already made one. Regardless, Dark Shadows was an entertainingly dark experience.
The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls was the premiere action series of Cartoon Network at the time, well before the Samurai Jacks and Ben 10s of the world were around. The series was beloved for being a show that could be enjoyed by all children despite the protagonists being girls.
With six great seasons behind its belt, The Powerpuff Girls movie should have been a hit. Unfortunately, a combination of poor marketing from Warner and pitting the movie against Men In Black II meant that the movie would be a box office flop. That being said, the movie was beloved by fans. The series continued strong to this day with a rebooted animated series and the infamous CW pilot.
Sex and the City
Sex and the City was a four-girl ensemble soap opera show with a focus on the experiences of single women dating various men. The series was quite beloved during its run and the movies were also expected. It was also an early show that pitched the “adults just surviving in the NYC” format after Friends popularized it.
Generally speaking, the fans of the movie loved it and non-fans were unsurprisingly not too keen on a cinematic version. The movie maintained the witty dialogue and unabashed love of sexuality, but some critics said that the humor overtook the characters’ personalities.
Blue’s Clues
Blue’s Clues has been around for so long that some people may be surprised to know it only ran for six seasons. The show being a darling of Nickelodeon, getting constant reruns, probably helped build that illusion. The success of the series soon led to the film Blue’s Big Musical Movie being released on home video to widespread praise.
Blue’s Clues has since then had a soft reboot called Blue’s Clues and You. The new host is named Josh, the cousin of Steve and Joe. For old fans who now have children, they should be excited to know that a new movie is in the works that bring Steve and Joe back into the fold. The Blue’s Clues cinematic universe is bound to be fun.
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy’s breaking of barriers for the world of television entertainment should never be understated. It had the first on-screen interracial couple ever put to American screens, the first TV show to be “filmed” instead of recorded with a kinescope, and lastly, it invented the concept of a rerun.
While there is a “movie” that was made, it never actually got a theatrical release. I Love Lucy: The Movie was instead put on VHS collections of the series, which spliced the first three episodes with new footage. In 2021, a biopic about the real-life creation of I Love Lucy called Being the Ricardos was released to widespread praise.
Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends
Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends is Craig McCracken’s second crack at an animated series, and it reached similar heights of success. The show is considered by cartoon fans to be the “transition” period of shows from the classic early 2000s era to the modern Adventure Time era.
With that success came not just one, but two made for TV movies, titled Good Wilt Hunting and Destination Imagination. Both movies tackled darker themes, in a show that already had kind of a dark premise. After all, nobody wants to be forgotten.
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is the show that cemented HBO as the go-to place for TV shows with movie-quality scripts and cinematography. In a sea of sitcoms about young twenty-somethings in New York, The Sopranos moves over to New Jersey. It’s often touted to be the show that paved the way for other classics such as The Wire, Breaking Bad, and HBO’s very own Game of Thrones.
Despite the series’ massive success, it did take a while before a movie was made. Sadly, James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) would not be around to see The Many Saints of Newark be made. The movie was a prequel that focused on Tony’s uncle, Richard “Dickie” Moltisanti grappling with the 1967 Newark race riots.
