Comedienne's Second TV Show Canceled This Year
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
Airdate announced for Stephen King's Desperation
I have a love/hate relationship with Stephen King. I've read all of
his early work, and all together I've probably consumed about ninety-five percent of his total output. I think The
Onion's Tasha Robinson put it best when she described King as "a populist yarn-spinner of the highest
order." The man writes big, weird stories and he does it well and without pretension. In a way, he's the U2 of
literature, a creature often stigmatized for the crime of simply being popular. Sometimes I love him, and sometimes he
lets me down. It's kind of a marriage in its own way, and even when he doesn't live up to my expectations, I still have
a soft spot for the big galoot.
Translating his work to other mediums, however, is always a crap shoot at best. King's novels allow one to get inside his head, but without King guiding you along and lighting the way, what works on paper can just seem downright trite or silly on screen. With the exception of The Stand (and even that wasn't flawless) his made-for-TV movies tend to (what's the word kids use these days?) oh yeah, they "suck."
So will Desperation, the ABC movie based on his 1996 novel, be any good? When I mentioned it back in June King seemed really excited about the talent assembled for it, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and approach with rare optimism. It hits the airwaves on May 18 at 8 p.m.
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