Face it. Television has become better than film. Up until around the turn of the century, great movies were consistently being pumped out by Hollywood studios. Nowadays, I feel lucky when I see one movie a year that leaves me completely satisfied. TV shows, on the other hand, have become more and more impressive. Many have even become like short movies. Shows like “Lost” and “24” spend huge amounts of money on each episode, making them mini-films in their own right. And while the big-budget movies on the big screen usually disappoint, their television counterparts keep millions glued to the small screen week after week. Granted, with shows like “Lost” that don’t even attempt to make sense, the viewer is screwed into watching in hopes that eventually the pieces will fall together. Or, in the case of “24,” it becomes impossible to turn away after the first episode, because you need to know how Jack will save the day.

Still, there are many other lower-budget shows that don’t leave you hanging each week and are equally enjoyable. I would much rather spend a night watching an entire season of Entourage” than going out to see another $9 of garbage. The show, which is basically Sex and the City” for guys, follows around a budding movie star and his posse as they get stoned, party and try to live the life. Each episode is as entertaining in itself as an entire season of “Lost.” I know this because I TiVo-ed the first season of “Entourage” completely out of order and still couldn’t stop watching.

Film producers, the most unoriginal people in the world, seem to be aware of the value of good television, because they constantly try to bring TV shows to the big screen. Whether they flop like “Miami Vice” or find great success like “Borat,” the fact remains that these adaptations are continuously made, showcasing the popularity and originality of television. Originality. Now here’s something the film industry is completely devoid of. Luckily, television picks up the slack; whereas every second movie that comes out is a shitty sequel, remake or book adaptation, original storylines appear daily on televisions around the globe. Cartoons in particular know how to be witty and hilarious. “South Park” is the perfect example. The episodes, which are incredibly low budget, are put together so fast that they can make fun of something that happened the same week the show airs. When Saddam Hussein was captured in his hole in Iraq, he showed up in a South Park episode the next day. I couldn’t get over it at the time. Needless to say, the episode was great as usual.

With TV shows becoming increasingly popular, and Netflix and Pay-Per-View destroying the movie market, it’s becoming clear that television is gaining the upper hand. Unless some drastic change is made, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that in the coming decades, film becomes obsolete. I read an interview with film mogul James Cameron in which he said that the future of film lies in 3D entertainment. When he was a child, going to movies was an event looked forward to by all. Nowadays, many see it as a waste of a Freebirds burrito. Cameron hopes that a trip to the theater will become an interactive event that titillates your senses, basically like those ridiculously awesome shows at Disneyland. I’m all for it. But until that happens, I’m sticking to the tube.

Daily Nexus columnist Adam Wenger thinks film producers are r-tards.