Even Steven Spielberg cannot escape this immutable truth about book-to-screen adaptations: if one is going to “do Stephen King,” one must actually do Stephen King.
Sigh…
When CBS announced it would be producing a 13-part miniseries of King’s epic novel Under The Dome fans everywhere jumped for joy. This collective jump reached even higher heights when it was announced Spielberg would oversee as Executive Producer. King and Spielberg? TOGETHER? Nerds of the world- UNITE!
However, half way through the run of the CBS miniseries, Viral Read gives CBS’s adaptation a big fat F-.
We’d actually prefer The Simpsons Movie to the miniseries.
Spielberg and Co. have managed in a mere 6 episodes to extract all the danger, all the paranoia, all the fear and all the insanity out of what might be King’s most effective novel in years. Whereas King’s story exposes all the ugliness that once lay hidden beneath the surface of an idyllic town, CBS has chosen instead to make the town of Chester’s Mill a place where inexplicably pretty Maine citizens are just really, really stressed.
What We-The-Viewer are left with is a borderline soap opera instead of the intense, nail-biting thriller that made the novel an engrossing page turner- even at a monumental 1072 pages.
Perhaps even more mystifying is Stephen King’s own endorsement of the complete annihilation of his original story- save a few character names and the fact that the series involves a town trapped inside a strange dome. Then again, what else would you expect an Executive Producer who’s also signed on to write the premiere of Season 2 (WHAT??) to say…?
The ratings have been pretty solid as UTD has won Monday nights for CBS since its premiere, so good for CBS and its creative team. As far as Viral Read is concerned, however, we would just rather read the book- again. So we’ll turn you off now, thank you.
Bottom Line: What a disappointment. Don’t bother.