Mr. Mercedes Coming To Television

There really isn’t a lot of grey area when you talk to fans of Stephen King, and Mr. Mercedes is going to open up those arguments once again.

You see, fans of Stephen King really like his work, and don’t like when they get bastardized for the big or the small screen.  Under The Dome is a great example, as the book was, well, not your typical King anyways, but the television miniseries is full of many problems.

First off, there is too much time between seasons.  By the time the third installment rolls around fans are going to have to jump back in time through video on demand and get reacquainted with the storyline.  Second, the book has become so watered down with mixed characters and storylines that fans of the book hate the miniseries.

When it all boils down to it though, you have to look at Stephen King’s work separately.  Books and movies, regardless of big or little screen, are going to be different, and they are going to frustrate fan.  When you look at them as individual creatures in different lights, then they can be manageable.

Mr. Mercedes will be a limited series, just like Under The Dome, I mean, the world of Stephen King is great, but there just isn’t enough meat on the bones for a long running series, unless a producer/writer is going to divulge jump down the rabbit hole that is the world of Sai King and start exploring the different references that somehow connect all of his worlds together.

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Mr. Mercedes was just published in June of 2014- so it might not have the wide spread and cult following that some of his other words have had.  How long have we been discussing a rebooted version of King’s work It?  No one seems to be able to agree that anyone can play the part of Pennywise the Dancing Clown quite like Tim Curry.  In that regard, Mr. Mercedes might do better as a television miniseries.

The plot and storyline of Mr. Mercedes might help it become popular among television viewers.  It seems you can’t go one night without flipping through channels and finding a police/crime drama on at any given time.  The fact that Mr. Mercedes is about a retired detective and a thrill killer who just can’t be caught by law enforcement.

If it is going to be on network television, expect a very watered down version of the story.  There are just things even in today’s acceptance of what is right and wrong for people to see on television – King’s work is definitely fit for cable or premium channels to get the most out of it.

Under The Dome has been an abomination – although someone must be liking it.  And the fact that Stephen King has appeared in the series, means that he doesn’t agree with the fans that think CBS has taking a work from the master and threw up on it to create a television series.  I talked to one constant reader that told me that calling Under The Dome “God awful” was being kind to the series.

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Everything that I am reading puts David E. Kelley as being involved with the project, and while I was a huge fan of he Crazy Ones (you can’t name a Robin Williams title that I didn’t like), not a big fan of much of his other work.

While Kelley will be responsible for turning King’s words into a television adaptation, it will be Jack Bender to give the vision life.  Bender is partly responsible for the Frankenstein-esque monster that is Under The Dome, but he was also involved with Lost – which was ever popular.

I am loving the idea of more limited series.  My attention span just isn’t what it use to be, and frankly, if it takes you almost five years to tell me a story – a bad story at that, you lost me at hello.