Why not a Stephen King anthology on TV?

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Tuco

Member
Oct 18, 2014
19
92
He has often talked about shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone (particularly in Danse Macabre) and he wrote an episode for Tales from the Darkside back in the '80s. So now that cable has come into it's own and expanded the boundaries of what you can get away with on TV in regards to violence, language and sex, why not an anthology of SK short stories?

I'm sure some (like Children of the Corn) would be impossible to get the rights to and there are others that are either too short or too long for an episode. Others would simply impossible to film. But with what remains after those are all factored out there should be enough to fill multiple seasons, especially on cable where seasons only run about 13 episodes at the most.

He doesn't have to host it or write every episode. Just get people who know what they're doing. I'm sure that many well-known directors and actors would be up for doing an episode and there is precedent for shows like this to be based on the stories of a single author. There was one in the '80s devoted to Ray Bradbury's stories.

Would anyone else like to see something like this happen?
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
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The High Seas
He has often talked about shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone (particularly in Danse Macabre) and he wrote an episode for Tales from the Darkside back in the '80s. So now that cable has come into it's own and expanded the boundaries of what you can get away with on TV in regards to violence, language and sex, why not an anthology of SK short stories?

I'm sure some (like Children of the Corn) would be impossible to get the rights to and there are others that are either too short or too long for an episode. Others would simply impossible to film. But with what remains after those are all factored out there should be enough to fill multiple seasons, especially on cable where seasons only run about 13 episodes at the most.

He doesn't have to host it or write every episode. Just get people who know what they're doing. I'm sure that many well-known directors and actors would be up for doing an episode and there is precedent for shows like this to be based on the stories of a single author. There was one in the '80s devoted to Ray Bradbury's stories.

Would anyone else like to see something like this happen?
Yes!
 

Tuco

Member
Oct 18, 2014
19
92
From an economic standpoint, it makes more sense to keep the stories unattached (unproduced) so they can be optioned for feature movies. Just a thought.

Yeah, you have a point there but some stories will never be optioned for movies. Most of the Night Shift through Everything's Eventual stories would have probably been optioned by now if they're ever going to be. Some stories just work better on TV. And if the show is successful, it would be a way to make some money without investing as much as you would in a feature.

But, yes, I definitely see your point.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
He has often talked about shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone (particularly in Danse Macabre) and he wrote an episode for Tales from the Darkside back in the '80s. So now that cable has come into it's own and expanded the boundaries of what you can get away with on TV in regards to violence, language and sex, why not an anthology of SK short stories?

I'm sure some (like Children of the Corn) would be impossible to get the rights to and there are others that are either too short or too long for an episode. Others would simply impossible to film. But with what remains after those are all factored out there should be enough to fill multiple seasons, especially on cable where seasons only run about 13 episodes at the most.

He doesn't have to host it or write every episode. Just get people who know what they're doing. I'm sure that many well-known directors and actors would be up for doing an episode and there is precedent for shows like this to be based on the stories of a single author. There was one in the '80s devoted to Ray Bradbury's stories.

Would anyone else like to see something like this happen?
The last time something similar was done was probably 82 when he was involved in Creepshow and even played the main role in one of the stories. (Jordy Verrill)

He wrote "The Crate" and "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill".

That was a really good movie - I remember seeing it at the theatre when it first came out.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
I would like that. But it would be cool if he presented and did an intro of how he came to write it - you could film it like Hitchcock in the Psycho trailer, where he walks around (part of) the set before the story begins. Didn't Bradbury introduce them himself - I saw some of that in my youth.

A lot of stories have been done, but there are plenty that have not. And some have only been done as a longer film and it could be nice to just see the short story.

I wonder why Nightmares and Dreamscapes was so short lived. Although somehow it never reached the quality of something like Twilight Zone, apart from Battleground maybe, which I remember best.