There's a high probability, I think, your laptop and TV both have S-video. I've been using that for years. See if you have this kind of connection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-VideoCoincidentally I
just purchased and received a brand spankin' new HDTV and it does
not have S-video (everything else but that!) so I'm going to have to find a VGA cable to do laptop-to-TV connections now.