List of films based on television programs

Some feature films began as a pilot episode for a TV series that was not picked up by any networks.

• Atlantis: Milo's Return (direct-to-video, 2003)
• Body Bags (TV, 1993)
• Belle's Magical World (direct-to-video, 1998)
• Cruel Intentions 2 (direct-to-video, 2001)
• Lum and Abner Abroad (1956)
• Mulholland Drive (2001)
• Nightmares (1983)
• Sabu and the Magic Ring (1957)
• Tales of Robin Hood (1951)

Many failed pilots have been aired as television films; see Category:Television pilots not picked up as a series.

Some television films have functioned as pilots or backdoor pilots for a subsequent TV series.

• All Grown Up! (started off as a one-hour TV movie coinciding with Rugrats' 10th anniversary before being spun off into its own series)
• American Dad! (short film pilot episode, Inside the CIA)
• Cagney & Lacey
• ChalkZone (The Big Blow-Up)
• Chicago Story
• Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (Rescue Rangers: To the Rescue)
• Code of Vengeance
• Columbo (Prescription: Murder)
• The D.A.
• Darkwing Duck (Darkly Dawns the Duck)
• The Delphi Bureau (The Merchant of Death Assignment)
• DuckTales
• Ellery Queen
• The Family Holvak (The Greatest Gift, 1974)
• Fantasy Island
• Firehouse (Pilot first aired in 1973, a year before the series debuted in 1974)
• Griff (Man on the Outside)
• Harry O (Such Dust as Dreams Are Made On, 1973 and Smile Jenny, You're Dead, 1974)
• Hey Arnold! (short film pilot episode, 24 Hours to Live)
• The Incredible Hulk
• The Invisible Man
• Iron Horse (Scalplock)
• Jigsaw (Man on the Move)
• Knight Rider
• Little House on the Prairie
• The Love Boat (a trilogy of telefilms preceded the regular series by two years)
• Man from Atlantis
• Matt Helm
• Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (Murder Me, Murder You, 1983 and More Than Murder, 1984, the third film, The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, 1986 launched the sequel series, The New Mike Hammer)
• Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series (Mighty Ducks the Movie: The First Face-Off)
• Nakia
• The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (Originally conceived and produced as an animated made-for-TV movie, under the title Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All, it was later reconfigured into an animated TV series. After the said TV cartoon show version of Flash Gordon ended in 1981, the originally intended feature-length animated film eventually made it to television in 1982.)
• Night Gallery (1969)
• Outlaws
• Petrocelli (Night Games)
• The Phoenix
• Simon & Simon (Pirate's Key, 1978)
• Starsky & Hutch
• The Streets of San Francisco
• The Swiss Family Robinson
• Wonder Woman (The New Original Wonder Woman)
• Yogi's Gang (Yogi's Ark Lark, 1972)

Many American TV series have had TV films, usually filmed five or more years after the run of the original series, which reunite the cast of the series for a new plot. In some cases, there has been an entire string of such films, including for the detective shows Perry Mason (1957-1966; 30 films from 1985 to 1995), The Rockford Files, (1974-80; eight films from 1994 to 1999), and Hart to Hart (1979-1984; eight films from 1993 to 1996). In at least one case, with the 1988 Get Smart reunion film Get Smart, Again!, the success of the TV film eventually led to a brief 1995 revival of the series.

There have also been many television reunion specials, in which some or all of the original cast is brought together for interviews and clips.

• Avatar: The Last Airbender (Sozin's Comet)
• Big Time Rush (Big Time Movie, 2012)
• Camp Lazlo (Where's Lazlo?, 2007)
• Codename: Kids Next Door (Operation I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S., Operation Z.E.R.O.)
• Dexter's Laboratory (Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip, 1999)
• The Facts of Life (The Facts of Life Go to Paris, The Facts of Life Down Under)
• The Fairly OddParents (Abra-Catastrophe!, Channel Chasers, Wishology, A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!, A Fairly Odd Christmas, A Fairly Odd Summer, School's Out! The Musical, Fairy Idol, Fairly OddBaby)
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (the multi-part pilot episode House of Bloo's, and the two other multi-part episodes Good Wilt Hunting and Destination: Imagination, were all aired as feature-length made-for-TV movies)
• Goof Troop (Goof Troop Christmas)
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure, Billy & Mandy: Wrath of the Spider Queen, Underfist: Halloween Bash)
• iCarly (iGo to Japan)
• The Famous Jett Jackson (Jett Jackson: The Movie, 2001)
• Kim Possible (Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time, Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama)
• The Littles (Liberty and the Littles, 1986)
• The Lone Ranger (The Lone Ranger Story)
• Lupin III
• My Life as a Teenage Robot (Escape from Cluster Prime)
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (the series finale was aired as a TV movie under the title Ned's Declassified Field Trip)
• Oishinbo (Oishinbo: Kyūkyoku Tai Shikō, Chōju Ryōri Taiketsu!!, 1992, Oishinbo: Nichibei Kome Sensō, 1993)
• Rocket Power (Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand)
• Sabrina: The Animated Series and Sabrina's Secret Life (Sabrina: Friends Forever)
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Sabrina Goes to Rome, Sabrina Down Under)
• SpongeBob SquarePants (SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis, SpongeBob's Truth or Square)
• The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (The Suite Life Goes Hollywood, 2007)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Turtles Forever, 2009)
• Top Cat (Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats, 1988)
• Touch (Touch: Miss Lonely Yesterday, 1998, Touch: Cross Road, 2001)
• The Twilight Zone (Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics)
• Unfabulous (Unfabulous: The Perfect Moment)
• Wizards of Waverly Place (Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex)
• The Yogi Bear Show (Yogi's First Christmas, Yogi's Great Escape, Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears)