Is 'The Regulators' one of King's most underated books?

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Pucker

We all have it coming, kid
May 9, 2010
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It's a subjective term.

It's certainly not "underrated" if you like it.

Who is doing all this "rating" anyway?

It's not one of my favorites either, but I liked it better the second time I read it and, who knows ... one day I might like it even more.
 

Blake

Deleted User
Feb 18, 2013
4,191
17,479
Underrated by others maybe, not by me. I like the MotoCops 2200 screenplay didlee thing. You can actually buy MotoCops 2200 T-Shirts.
There's a website about Regulators: Kev's Richard Bachman House of The Regulators
BOOK REVIEW: THE REGULATORS BY STEPHEN KING | The Book Lover's Boudoir
Was that sticker on your printer that it says was the inspiration to you, was that a sticker based on the movie?
Bailout at 43,000?
Directed by Billy Rancourt, too bad it was never made.

Biography of Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun (August 8, 1922 – April 28, 1999) was an American television and film actor, screenwriter, and producer best known for his roles in Westerns.

Early life
Born Francis Timothy McCown in Los Angeles, California, Calhoun was raised in Santa Cruz, California. When he was nine months old, his father died. After his mother remarried, he occasionally used the last name of his stepfather, Durgin. At the age of thirteen, his theft of a revolver landed him in the California Youth Authority,Preston School of Industry reformatory at Ione, Ca. He escaped while in the adjustment center (jail within the jail) and never told how he managed it. After robbing several jewelry stores, he stole a car and drove it across state lines. This offense sent him to the federal penitentiary in Springfield, Missouri for three years. When he finished his sentence, he was incarcerated in San Quentin on other charges and remained there until he was paroled just before his twenty-first birthday.


Career
After his release from San Quentin, Calhoun worked several odd jobs. In 1943, while horseback riding in the Hollywood Hills, he met actor Alan Ladd, whose wife was an agent. Sue Carol Ladd landed him a one-line role in the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters under the name Frank McCown. Shortly after, the Ladds hosted a party to which Sue invited David O. Selznick employee Henry Willson, an agent known for his stable of young, attractive, marginally talented actors with unusual names. Willson signed him to a contract and initially christened him Troy Donahue, then changed his name to Rory Calhoun. As he did with all his protégés, Willson carefully groomed him and taught him basic social manners.

Calhoun's first public appearance in the film capital was as Lana Turner's escort to the premiere of Spellbound. The glamorous blonde and her swarthy date drew the attention of the papparazzi, and photos of the couple appeared in several newspapers and fan magazines. Selznick loaned his now in-demand contract player to other studios, where Calhoun appeared in Adventure Island with Rhonda Fleming, The Red House with Edward G. Robinson, and That Hagen Girl with Shirley Temple.

Calhoun's career gained momentum and he appeared in several westerns, musicals, and comedies including Way of a Gaucho with Gene Tierney, With a Song in My Heart with Susan Hayward, How to Marry a Millionaire, and River of No Return with Marilyn Monroe.

Willson maintained careful control over his rising star, arranging his social life and nixing his engagement to French actress Corinne Calvert.

In 1955, Willson disclosed information about Calhoun's years in prison to Confidential magazine in exchange for the tabloid not printing an exposé about the secret homosexual life of Rock Hudson, another Willson client. The disclosure had no negative effect on Calhoun's career and only served to solidify his bad boy image. Shortly after the story was published, Rachel and the Stranger was released and became a top box office attraction.

In 1958, Calhoun starred in The Texan, a series that ran until 1960. While filming The Texan, Calhoun also began producing episodes and would continue to produce and write screenplays throughout his career. After the The Texan was canceled, he continued to appear in both television and film throughout the 1970s and 1980s including; Rawhide, Gilligan's Island,Hawaii Five-O, Alias Smith and Jones, Starsky and Hutch, and Motel Hell. In 1982, Calhoun had a regular role on the soap opera Capitol. He stayed with the series until 1987.

His final role was that of grizzled family patriarch and rancher Ernest Tucker in the 1992 film Pure Country.


Personal life
Calhoun was married twice and had four daughters, three with Lita Baron, whom he divorced in 1970, and one with journalist Sue Rhodes (1971–1999).

Calhoun died in Burbank, California at the age of 76 from complications resulting from emphysema and diabetes.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Calhoun has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7007 Hollywood Blvd. and a second star at 1750 Vine Street for his work in television.

Calhoun's second cousin is popular Canadian sports talk show host Bob McCown (host of Prime Time Sports on the Fan 590 Radio and nation wide on Rogers Sportsnet).
 
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May 3, 2016
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Bodegraven - The Netherlands
I've just finished this book and I liked it. I know some people who found it boring and even didn't finished the book. I think it's a pity. It's really a great story especially when you know the novel Desperation. It's not a common novel because it's mixed with parts from a diary and letters but that makes it interesting to read.
 

MarkS73

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2014
350
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I liked it, re-read it a couple of months ago. Not as much as Desperation though. I read the book for the first time when it came out and it was better in my memory. The diary fragments became a bit tyring after a while...
 

Tak96

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2018
126
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YES. YES IT IS.
I loved this one, to the point that my #3 SK book of all time is Desperation/The Regulators, and I think that both books are friggin amazing at doing different things.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
It's a subjective term.

It's certainly not "underrated" if you like it.

Who is doing all this "rating" anyway?

There is no really objective way to say someting is underrated or not. When someone thinks something is underrated, I suppose they think so because it's usually not mentioned among the top books or movies, which I think Langoliers (and Four Past Midnight) isn't. I think Langoliers is probably the best in that book, but can't remember the last two stories (The Library Police Man and The Sun Dog) that well.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
That's the TZ episode you think of?!?

It's the same idea: time is basically torn down after it passes. In Langoliers it's consumed by the creatures of the title, in A Matter of Minutes it's taken down by workers, but the idea is the same.
The main characters somehow slipped in between a crack in time and didn't move along at the pace of the rest of the world.
 
Apr 14, 2016
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I did not really like this one. Seth was so annoying, he drove me crazy and the things he did to others was so disgusting that it felt like the whole novel itself was disgusting. But now that I think of it, what is it, if not a fantastic character description from a genius?
 
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Brittney

Well-Known Member
Apr 9, 2018
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im only 100 pages in but i am enjoying it so far. what dont people really like about this? i read all your comments. Im probably not far enough in to make an opinion yet. i have to say it caught my attention right away! hmm anxious to see where my opinion goes