I'll be the first to admit that I love television shows. Not much can improve my day more than stepping out of my life and into the episodic life of such profoessionals as Dr. Gregory House and his team, Dr. Temperance Brennan and her team, Chuck Bartowski and his handlers, or Sheriff Jack Carter and the town of Eureka. That's just to name a few of the shows I watch... largely, the fictional ones. Some of my shows have come to their respective ends and so I do not get to travel to their universes any more, except for when I'm feeling nostalgic.
Now, to the matter at hand. I feel that TV shows, unlike Hollywood movies, allow for so much more intimacy and connection with the characters than a two hour 'visit'. I mean, it only makes sense doesn't it? Two hours in a movie versus years in a television show. Imagine if the plot and idea of the show Lost had instead been made into a movie only. I find the thought of that to be very disturbing because of what I know about the characters already. I, along with a large viewing audiance, have witnessed not only the trials of these people but much of their individual back-stories as well. So to try and conceive what a show like this would be like compressed into an hours long movie is just... not possible or at least, not to the same effect.
Some of my favorite on-air shows and the year they started:
... and the ones that are no longer on-air (except for reruns):
[G] Queensryche - Silent Lucidity
[B] Pink Floyd - Money
[G] Mason Williams - Classical Gas