After many budget and production issues (apparently a common theme for wannabe blockbusters these days), Disney’s "The Lone Ranger" is finally arriving at the station. Unfortunately, it seems audiences are greeting it with the same amount of excitement and enthusiasm usually reserved for taxes.

It’s easy to point at the fact that "The Lone Ranger" seems to be aimed at no audience in particular. The underlying problem, however, is that audiences have seen a lot of television shows turned into movies, and many of them ("The Avengers," "Wild Wild West," "The Dukes of Hazzard," etc.) were tripe, lazily shoved on the big screen in order to desperately capitalize on even the smallest amount of brand recognition.

Even though most moves from the small screen to the big screen have audiences wishing they could change the channel, there have been a fair amount of winners as well. Here are five examples of television-film synergy at its finest.

"In the Loop"

Fans of HBO’s "Veep" desiring even more of writer Armando Iannucci’s acid-tongued profanity and insults should see their way over to 2009’s "In the Loop" as soon as possible. Spun off from the BBC TV series "The Thick of It," the scathing political satire follows U.S. and UK advisors attempting to resolve a series of PR gaffs by a British politician that could lead to a war in the Middle East. The most famous of these advisors is Malcolm Tucker, played with incredible angry wit by Peter Capaldi.

To say Malcolm is a bit of a pottymouth would be like the government saying Edward Snowden is a bit annoying. Malcolm Tucker uses swear words the way Monet used paint, masterfully assaulting his co-workers, superiors and others (including the late great James Gandolfini as a U.S. military head) with clever, vicious glee. As the mess gets bigger, he and the political chaos get even funnier.

I’d love to share some of Iannucci’s brilliant dialogue with you here, but I doubt I could publish it without getting some stern emails. So I’ll leave you with the fact that Malcolm calls his superior "a Nazi Julie Andrews," and that’s just the tip of the absolutely hilarious iceberg.

"Mission: Impossible"

The "Mission: Impossible" series’ place on this list is like a Lifetime Achievement award, as the Tom Cruise-led franchise has given the TV-based movie subgenre a consistently good name (other than "M:I-2," which plays like a cartoon parody of action movies).

The first film is a briskly entertaining spy thriller, featuring one of the most iconic scenes of the ’90s. Under the helm of new director J.J. Abrams, "Mission: Impossible III" recovered nicely from part two (despite some Tom Cruise hate that unfairly transferred to the film’s reception) with some tense action, a mix of grit and slickness, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a truly menacing villain. Then came "Ghost Protocol," which has some of the best action set pieces in recent memory.

"Mission: Impossible" has never been a series about ingenious storylines or ingenuity. But much like a television show itself, the franchise has managed to take the same plot – Ethan Hunt must prove his innocence and stop terrorists – and make it seem fresh and fun every time.

"S.W.A.T."

Let’s put "S.W.A.T." next to "Constantine" on my wall of guilty pleasures. Yes, the movie, based on the 1975 television series, is about as creative as a fast food hamburger. But sometimes a well-made fast food burger is exactly what I’m looking for, and that’s pretty much "S.W.A.T." I know what it’s going to deliver, and it satisfyingly proceeds to do so.

The cast (Colin Farrell, Samuel L. Jackson, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J) has a lot of fun together, a pre-stardom Jeremy Renner makes for a very smugly punchable bad guy and first-time director Clark Johnson captures it all with a clarity and momentum that makes the cop movie clichés, like the traditional training montage, fun again. There’s just a dash of originality – mainly in the behind-the-scenes training stuff in the first half – mixed in to give it some personality of its own.

"S.W.A.T." may be derivative of cop movies past – complete with sweet action movie names like Hondo Harrelson and Jim Street – but it knows it. And instead of just lifelessly dishing those elements out, they give them a little life and show why those tropes became popular in the first place.

"Star Trek"

J.J. Abrams makes his second appearance on this list with his slick, energetic "Star Trek" reboot. Though it’s far from the original series (my hard-core Trekkie friend can barely even say Abrams’ name without a profanity or disgruntled headshake), "Star Trek" gave the crew of the USS Enterprise a breathlessly exciting update, making these old characters feel new again.

The space battles are exhilaratingly captured (why do no other films’ special effects look as good as "Star Trek?"), the script is fast and fun, and the young cast manages to keep up with ease. The time-travelling storyline is a bit of a mind-boggler – aren’t they always – but "Star Trek" never tries to be much more than really, really entertaining summer entertainment. It’s easily the best movie Tyler Perry has ever been in.

"Serenity"

Before he was given control of the biggest summer movie franchise ever, Joss Whedon could barely bring enough viewers to his TV space western "Firefly" to keep it alive for more than a season (it didn’t help that it was on Fox, which shares Whedon’s habit of killing the things you love). Eventually, he was able to wrangle enough money and support to give his ambitious series the big-screen finale it deserved.

The result was "Serenity," a modestly budgeted but high-energy space adventure that has the ability to please everyone. For series newcomers, "Serenity" is a fun movie the delivers the exciting action, surprising plot and charismatic, clever characters you’d expect from a blockbuster three times its size. And for Whedon addicts looking for some closure to "Firefly," the series could not have taken a more respectful, satisfying final bow.