I'm surprised you actually run the game in fullscreen mode o.O
For me, it has always started in window mode automatically. When it has started that way, you can always just maximize it to use the full space of the display.
How is your TV connected to the laptop (VGA, DVI, HDMI?) and what resolution do you usually use on it? Oh, and what model exactly is the display?
Regards,
~HKK