Broadcasting + Cable's Kent Gibbons and Michael Malone talk about adapting Stephen King's The Stand, HBO's Bee Gees documentary, and Trevor Noah's pre-celeb days in the December edition of Busted Pilot.

The Stand begins on CBS All Access Dec. 17. Based on the Stephen King novel, CBS All Access calls the series “King’s apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil.”

The fate of mankind rests on the shoulders of 108-year-old Mother Abagail, played by Whoopi Goldberg, and a handful of survivors. Representing the side of evil is Randall Flagg, aka the Dark Man, played by Alexander Skarsgard.

New episodes drop weekly, culminating with a new “coda,” in the network’s verbiage, written by King. 

Benjamin Cavell, showrunner and executive producer, said King’s coda came to be after the author had seen a few screenplays and liked where the show intended to head. “When it was clear he was thinking, I trust these guys, our reaction was, do everything possible to make this happen,” said Cavell. 

The novel was published in 1978. Cavell said it has long bothered King that Frannie, who is played by Odessa Young, does not participate in the big face-off that gives the book its title. “Frannie is not one of the protagonists in the climax, in the showdown,” he said. 

King’s coda fit nicely with the project. “It really felt of a piece with the rest of it,” said Cavell. 

James Marsden plays Stu Redman and Jovan Adepo plays Larry Underwood. There are nine episodes. The limited series begins in Boulder, and the plague has decimated mankind. It then flashes back five months to Maine, as “flu season”, as one news report puts it, begins knocking people out. 

As time passes, nerdy teen Harold Lauder, played by Owen Teague, and Frannie, who used to babysit Harold, are the only ones left in their town after the plague, known as Captain Trips, has wiped out the population. They decide to head south to the CDC in Atlanta. 

Weighing in at 823 pages, the book is not for everyone. (An “uncut” one later published by King has 1,152 pages.) Cavell said he read it when he was 12. Many people have decided not to read it, based on The Stand’s size. But Cavell said he’d never heard of anyone who started it and did not finish. “For so many people, it’s intimidating and huge,” he said. “But once you start it, how do you put it down? It’s so propulsive.”

The Stand had Owen King, son of Stephen, on the set. He’s an accomplished author and screenwriter in his own right. “It was so freeing and reassuring to have a member of the King family there with us in the writers’ room,” said Cavell. 

Owen, he added, “is really smart about story and structure.”

Cavell, Taylor Elmore, Will Weiske, Jimmy Miller, Roy Lee and Richard P. Rubinstein are the executive producers. 

Are viewers up for watching a series about a pandemic taking over the nation? There’s lots of coughing and retching and and choking, and victims have fleshy, ginormous necks. The effects of the plague in The Stand are so dire that some might note that our current pandemic, dreadful as it is, isn’t as bad as the one in the series. 

Cavell has been at work on The Stand for years, dating back to a time when COVID was on no one’s mind. “One thing people can’t say about the series is that it’s not thought through,” he said. “We know what the book means to people. We know what it means to us.”

Digital streaming services will serve up several mid-December show debuts this week.

Netflix on Dec. 18 will premiere the much-anticipated original movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, starring Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman in his final role.  

Prime Video on Dec. 16 will bring back its sci-fi series The Expanse for a fifth season. (Amazon recently ordered a sixth season of the former Syfy show.) And CBS All-Access on Dec. 17 will premiere its horror-themed limited series The Stand, based on a novel of the same name by Stephen King, starring James Marsden and Whoopi Goldberg. 

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of Dec. 14 to Dec. 20 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Dec. 14 -- Tiny Pretty Things (drama) -- Netflix

Dec. 14 -- Deliciousness (reality) -- MTV

Dec. 16 -- The Ripper (documentary) -- Netflix

Dec. 17 -- 4 Blocks (drama) -- HBO Max

Dec. 18 -- On Pointe (reality) -- Disney Plus

Dec. 18 -- Small Axe: Education (drama) -- Prime Video

The Stand begins on CBS All Access Dec. 17. Adapted from the Stephen King novel, the series looks at a world decimated by plague and a struggle between good and evil. 

Whoopi Goldberg plays Mother Abagail, Alexander Skarsgård plays Randall Flagg and James Marsden portrays Stu Redman. 

“We had a lot of updating to do to make a 42-year-old book feel relevant to our modern day,” Benjamin Cavell, showrunner and executive producer, said at a press event. “Little did we know how relevant it would come to feel.”

Cavell came on board three years ago, with no idea how relevant The Stand would become. But he sees it as more than a plague yarn. “Frankly, I’ve never regarded The Stand as really a book about a pandemic,” he said. “The pandemic in the book exists as a mechanism to empty out the world so that there can be this really elemental struggle between good and evil.”

Goldberg’s Mother Abagail represents the good. She drew on another one of her TV roles to inform her character. “It’s a person who is trying to get a whole bunch of people to do some things that maybe they don't believe in, they’re not sure,” Goldberg said. “Basically, I’m doing The View.”

Docuseries On Pointe is on Disney Plus Dec. 18. It’s a look at a season in New York’s renowned School of American Ballet. Students ages 8 to 18 from a wide range of economic and ethnic backgrounds chase their dreams as everyone rehearses for a production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center. 

One does not have to be a fan of ballet to dig On Pointe. “The themes of the series are universal,” said Sara Bernstein, executive producer. “It’s about excellence and true dedication and young people chasing their dreams.”

Bernstein calls On Pointe “intimate and immersive.” The series is produced by Imagine Documentaries and DCTV, with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard among the exec producers. They didn’t set out to make a reality series, Bernstein said, but one “about watching the students’ lives unfold.”

Bernstein said Disney Plus was a perfect home for On Pointe. “They are looking for new and exciting documentary-type programing to appeal to the co-viewing audience they cultivate,” she said. 

The series is also a look at the parent-child relationships among these standout kids. “The parents are willing to commit themselves,” said Bernstein. “They are inspired by what they see in their children.”

For her, viewing the students in their dress rehearsals emerged as something of a highlight. “It’s magical to watch their excitement and their anticipation and their nervousness,” Bernstein said. “And also their professionalism.”

The Stand, based on the Stephen King novel about a world decimated by plague, begins on CBS All Access Dec. 17. The nine episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays. Whoopi Goldberg, Alexander Skarsgard, James Marsden and Odessa Young are in the cast. 

“The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail (Goldberg) and a handful of survivors,” said CBS All Access. “Their worst nightmares are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg (Skarsgård), the Dark Man.”

The Stand will close with a new coda written by King, who published the novel in 1978.

Benjamin Cavell is showrunner and executive producer. 

“During the two years we spent making The Stand, we all felt the responsibility of adapting what may be the most beloved work of one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, but none of us could have imagined that Stephen King’s 40-year-old masterpiece about a global pandemic would come to be so eerily relevant,” said Cavell. “We’re honored to tell this sprawling, epic story, including a new coda that Stephen King has wanted to add for decades. We’re so proud of this show and its attempt to find meaning and hope in the most uncertain of times. We can’t wait to share it with the world.”

Several King books are being turned into television series, including Chapelwaite on Epix and The Outsider on HBO. 

The series is produced by CBS Television Studios. Cavell executive produces alongside Taylor Elmore, Will Weiske, Jimmy Miller, Roy Lee and Richard P. Rubinstein. Josh Boone serves as director and an executive producer for the series premiere and final episode. 

The year 2020 has been, by every indication imaginable, a nightmare. We’ve been hunkering down at home, waiting out the coronavirus, economy freefalling and anxiety skyrocketing as we dream of a return to the normal, perhaps even humdrum, lives we knew before.

Television has emerged as a key escape mechanism. And what sort of entertainment are we seeking out? For many, it’s more horror.

Stephen King, our own prince of darkness, is behind many series on air or in development. Epix, for one, is betting big on Chapelwaite, a drama targeted for a fall premiere that represents the first series from the network’s Epix Productions. Set in the 1850s, Chapelwaite follows a sea captain, played by Adrien Brody, and his children getting on after the death of the captain’s wife at sea. It is based on the King short story Jerusalem’s Lot.

“Genre fare has broad appeal, and while it might sometimes be too realistic and scary for some, it can also just as often offer an escapist catharsis for others,” Epix president Michael Wright said. “I’m pretty confident Chapelwaite sits on the latter end of that spectrum.”

Wright has worked on Stephen King adaptations before, including Salem’s Lot and Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, both of which aired on TNT. He said King’s novels have always worked great on television. “Stephen King is literally one of our generation’s greatest storytellers,” Wright said. “His books are so wonderfully rooted in great characters and great storytelling.”

‘Stand’ Tall

Stephen King is all over television these days. There is The Outsider, starring Jason Bateman as a suburban father who may or may not have committed a murder, on HBO. There is Castle Rock, which has a second season in the works on Hulu. CBS All Access is developing The Stand, about society following the accidental release of a virus that kills much of the world’s population. Mr. Mercedes, about a retired detective (Brendan Gleeson) hung up on an unsolved mass murder case, has three seasons in the can on AT&T Audience Network.

Also in the works is The Institute, produced by Spyglass Media Group, which has David E. Kelley lined up to write and executive produce and Jack Bender to direct and exec produce.

Last week, AMC announced it will air season one of Creepshow, a series on streaming platform Shudder that is based on the 1982 Creepshow movie King wrote. King is not a producer on the series.

In the recent past was the James Franco limited series 11/22/63 on Hulu, about a time traveler trying to stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and Under the Dome, about a Maine town suddenly cut off from the world when a giant dome drops over it, which went for three seasons on CBS and Amazon.

Going further back, CBS did a Salem’s Lot series in 1979; ABC had It in 1990 and a miniseries version of The Stand in 1994; and USA Network aired The Dead Zone starting in 2002. A&E premiered Bag of Bones in 2011.

King’s novels have led to dozens of films too, including 1980’s The Shining, 1983’s The Dead Zone, 1990’s Misery, 1995’s Dolores Claiborne, 2017’s It and 2019’s Pet Sematary.

King yarns will likely remain in demand long after coronavirus dissipates. “People like stories that have uncertainty and there’s certainly a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability in the story we’re living in,” said Neal Baer, who was showrunner and executive producer on Under the Dome.

Well-Loved IP

King’s next book, If It Bleeds, comes out April 28, published by Scribner. It is a collection of novellas, including Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat and the title story.

In our peak TV world, Stephen King is a bankable trove of intellectual property, network executives and producers agree. Veteran producer David Friendly, currently working on USA Network drama Queen of the South, noted King’s “preposterously good” batting average in terms of his novels making a mark on popular culture. “When you spend the amount you have to spend [to produce a series], you try to mitigate risk,” he said. “There are enormous financial risks and Stephen King is a very good bet — and one of the few safe bets.”

When so many shows are clamoring for viewers’ attention, it sure helps to have Stephen King’s name stamped on a project. “In the 500-show universe, a name like Stephen King always carries weight and always carries value,” Old Dominion University assistant professor of communications Myles McNutt said.

That King is still living and writing makes the author that much more desirable to producers. King has 5.8 million followers on Twitter. He’s active on the platform, tweeting on March 8: “No, coronavirus is NOT like THE STAND. It’s not anywhere near as serious. It’s eminently survivable. Keep calm and take all reasonable precautions.”

When King talks up a TV show on the platform, it drives viewership. “King is very prolific, and still active,” McNutt added.

First-Class Characters

Producers also note that King, known for his horror novels, is a very diverse author whose work goes well beyond horror. Hit 1986 film Stand By Me was based on the King short story The Body and has no real horror in it, minus a few pesky leeches. The 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, based on a King novella, is a taut emotional drama much more than it’s a horror flick.

Producers are drawn to King’s singular characters as much as any boogeyman the author dreams up. “Stephen King creates indelible characters — both Everyman characters and others who are wholly idiosyncratic,” said Bridget Carpenter, who was showrunner/executive producer on 11/22/63. “And, of course, terrifying villains and atmospheres! He is also a master of story — his plots move swiftly and unfold inexorably; they sweep you along. This is wonderful for TV.”

Neal Baer got a good look at King’s storytelling skills when he worked on Under the Dome. “His books are so visual,” he said. “He has all the things you look for when you’re developing a TV series or a movie.”

Popular books can be great TV fodder, bringing in pre-existing fan bases. But King has few, if any, rivals among authors in Hollywood. Harlan Coben has a deal with Netflix to develop 14 existing and future projects, including new drama The Stranger. Agatha Christie, who died in 1976, has her name on Agatha Christie’s The Pale Horse, which premiered on Amazon March 13. James Patterson had two seasons of Instinct and three of Zoo on CBS.

‘Dark Tower’ Goes Dark

Not every Stephen King novel TV tries to adapt turns into a hit series. The Mist, about a small town infected by a curious mist, lasted for just one season in 2017 on Spike. Joyland, about a college kid who spends a summer working at an amusement park and who confronts the legacy of a dreadful murder, was in development at Freeform in 2018 but did not make it to pilot.

The Dark Tower, an eight-book series about a gunslinger doing his thing in a magical American West, was a high-profile fail on Amazon. Executive producer Glen Mazzara shared on Twitter that his cast and crew “took big risks” on The Dark Tower, and “delivered big time” on a compelling adaptation. “We worked hard to honor this amazing story and bring it to life,” he added.

The future of Mr. Mercedes is uncertain. Audience Network is transitioning to a preview network for HBO Max. Mr. Mercedes may continue on the streaming network, which debuts in May. Audience Network did not comment.

An Author and a Gentleman

Producers who have spent time with King describe him as a stand-up guy who is deeply invested in his TV adaptations. On Under the Dome, King read and weighed in on all of the scripts. He would not pay a visit to the set in Los Angeles, but took on most everything else he was asked to. “You can’t ask for a better collaborator,” Baer said. “I’d love to work with Stephen King again.”

King declined requests to be interviewed for this story, saying through a representative that he was too busy working on his next book.

Having worked with King on a couple projects prior to Chapelwaite, Wright knows how to get the most out of the partnership. “If you’re smart, you run as much of it by him as you can,” he said.

Carpenter would love to work with King again, saying how much fun it would be to bring 1980 pyrokinesis novel Firestarter to series.

Great Expectations

While coronavirus can seem like something King might have dreamed up for a novel, producers stress a key difference between a King project and COVID-19. Frightful as they are, King’s novels offer a resolution at the end. With corona, the resolution has not yet been revealed. “There’s an attraction we have to well told, thrilling stories, stories that have an explanation,” Baer said. “Human nature likes scary things, but where there’s a resolution — you kind of know things are going to be OK.”

Epix president Wright said the coronavirus crisis is having “a profound impact” on our entertainment choices. “It’s difficult to say how these current events will impact viewer preferences,” he said. “But interestingly, our post-apocalyptic series, War of the Worlds, which is running right now, is our second highest-rated series to date, and actually growing week over week.”

Wright hopes he has another hit on his hands when Chapelwaite gets to air. He likens King to a modern era Charles Dickens, able to create “relatable and recognizable” characters.

“The real genius of Stephen King is his characters,” Wright said. “That’s the necessary ingredient of every great series or film ever made. That’s why adaptations of King are so effective — they’re unforgettable characters that you care about.”

KING’S BOUNTY
A look at some of Stephen King’s works that have been adapted to TV

The Dead Zone

Network: USA Network
Years: 2002-2007
Review: “Turns out to be an engaging new hour, boasting crisp writing, near-cinematic production values and an almost failsafe plot.” — Chicago Tribune

Bag of Bones

Network: A&E
Year: 2011
Review: “Handsomely shot and deliberately paced, it has a superficially cinematic quality, but it doesn’t have the storytelling juice to keep you engaged in Mr. King’s convoluted multi-ghost story.” — The New York Times

Creepshow

Network: Shudder
Year: 2019
Review: “Casual horror fans may not really get the appeal of Creepshow, but it’s not made for them anyway. Horror aficionados, on the other hand, will find a lot to like.” — TV Guide

Castle Rock

Network: Hulu
Years: 2018-2019
Review: “In every respect it’s the equal of, and largely superior to, any of the actual King adaptations that have come to television lately.” — Los Angeles Times