Why are all the big movie stars doing TV now?

From big screen to small screen. Is it because TV screens are getting bigger? Is movie-making less lucrative than it used to be? For a long time, TV had no hope of capturing big stars like these: Kevin Spacey (I was shocked to see him do TV), Ryan Phillipe, Glen Close, Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin, Sally Field, Don Cheadle, William Macy, and of course, Charlie Sheen and Ashton Kutcher.

• Sally Field started out on TV, as GIDGET and THE FLYING NUN, no less. So it's not like she's slumming. I think the production quality of TV shows/movies have gotten better, so it's nothing to sniff at anymore. Especially when you're on a hit series, it can be steady work/paycheck.

• Studios aren't paying the big paychecks anymore either.

• "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos" changed how stars look at tv. There's no longer that stigma for there for actors who are well-known but not quite a-list.

• On what planet was Ryan Phillipe considered a "Big Movie Star"?

  "Macgruber", anyone?

• HBO raised the status of TV in terms of quality. Uncensored, uninterrupted, financed through subscription, excellent writing, high production values. This is not your parent's TV

• Uh, none of those have ever been "big movie stars" which in my mind are people who at some point or another have been able to open a movie on their name alone. That said, everyone's right. TV is higher quality now and it's no longer considered "slumming".

• Stay in one place. Make a lot of money.

• Robin WIlliams is returning to series TV in the fall

• Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick lost all their money to Madoff, so TV it is.

• A lot of actresses who have kids like to do sitcoms because of the regular hours.

• OP none of those people would be considered bankable, in-demand movie stars at the time they took on television projects. They can be a big fish in a smaller bowl instead of a small fish in a big bowl by choosing to do TV. Think about Spacey, what was the last studio film he headlined?

• TV shows are where all the good stories are these days. And TV actors are no longer 'second tier' to movie stars - the times have changed. Someone like Jon Hamm is just as famous as Matt Damon and gets just as many magazine covers and press.

• Yes, Charlie Sheen, the big movie star who opens a summer blockbuster like no one else.

• Unfortunately, that also means that reality TV trash get as many magazine covers and press, too. At the grocery store, all the rags have either a Kardashian, Teen Mom, or Housewife on the cover.

• Kyra Sedgwick was doing TV before she lost her money. She was never a movie star anyway. She wouldn't have any career without her husband's connections. She was hungry for stardom like nobody I've ever known.

• Dearest OP, "Glen" is no longer on television since DirectTV cancelled her program, I believe. A common mistake; she is easily forgotten.

  N

• Ashton Kutcher a big movie star that "TV had no hope of catching"? Oh, my *sides*!

  That%2070s%20Show%2C%20a%201/2%20hour%20ago

• Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey are teaming for an HBO show, "The Detective."

  http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/hbos-woody-harrelson-matthew-mcconaughey-drama-casts-eagle-eye-star-michelle-monaghan-72996

• They're all hungry for money

  Original TV stars

• A lot of those actors started on TV ( Field, Cheadle), and some are best known for TV also (Kutcher). Phillipe was never a big star but sometime around 1998 he had a lot of buzz as a next big thing. Film industry guys were salivating over him.

• So you remember my star-making performance on "The Golden Palace"?

  D. Cheadle

• R12 is right, most movies are crap and television has some very well written and acted shows.

• Well, everyone starts out on TV, R1, but it used to be once you got to the big screen, never ever go back to TV.

• They probably want to work. Many of them have to work. They are performers of varying degrees and disciplines so they would like to work in their profession. There is some very good television being done these days, e.g., American Horror Story, Damaages, Homeland, etc. Not everyone can only work in the movies. There simply isn't enough work. And when you come right down to it, work is work...and as long as it's of decent quality, many actors are happy to have the recognition and paycheck.

• TV has gotten better, and mainstream Hollywood has gotten worse.

• That movie with the fat woman from Bridesmaids called Identify Theft looks horrible. She does TV and movies, but she may as well stick to her TV show.

• a) it's place to go for everybody who can't sell an action movie b) TV (cable) has gotten better at producing quality and has the luxury of time.

• Some TV work pays better than movie work these days.