27 best horror shows to watch (and 14 shows you should skip)
By Mads Lennon
Horror shows: The Stand
- Seasons: 1
- Created by: Josh Boone and Benjamin Cavell
- Starring: James Marsden, Odessa Young, Owen Teague, Alexander Skarsgård, Whoopi Goldberg, Amber Heard, Jovan Adepo, Henry Zaga, Nat Wolff, Irene Bedard, Brad William Henke and Greg Kinnear
- Streaming: Paramount+
Despite being considered Stephen King’s magnum opus and one of his longest books ever, somehow creators keep making the same mistake with The Stand: trying to cram it all into a miniseries. I just don’t think it’s possible. There are so many characters, locations, and such an expansive story to tell full of rich themes and nuances that it is impossible to capture it all in such a limited timeframe.
Yet Paramount+ tried to do just that again albeit at least King was involved and had the chance to write a new coda for the show. Still, it’d be nice if The Stand was adapted into a multi-season series someday. Instead, The Stand, a post-apocalyptic television series where the world is decimated by a plague and divided into good and evil, falters on almost every level.
Despite featuring a great cast, especially Skarsgard as the main antagonist Randall Flagg, the storytelling is uneven at best and mostly just a drag to get through.
Verdict: SKIP