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

The coronavirus crisis has basically blown up television. Countless series have had their seasons delayed or shelved altogether, and networks have had to get creative to keep viewers tuning in.

ABC saw The Bachelor Summer Games as counterprogramming to NBC’s 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The Olympics were pushed back a year. The Bachelor Summer Games was scrapped entirely.

AMC’s The Walking Dead: World Beyond was to begin April 12, but that’s been pushed back. Season four of FX hit Fargo was to start April 19, but that will not happen. A start date will be shared “once production resumes,” FX said.

I Know This Much Is True, with Mark Ruffalo playing identical twin brothers, was set to debut on HBO April 27. It will begin May 10.

Showtime’s Black Monday will pause after April 12, the final four episodes airing “later this year,” the network said. Billions will air seven episodes, beginning May 3, and the remainder later in the year.

Season three of Killing Eve, meanwhile, saw its start date on BBC America and AMC moved up two weeks, to April 12, as executives sensed that starting the season while many are stuck at home might help the program. “We know how adored this series is and we know how keen people are for great content right now,” Sarah Barnett, president of AMC Networks Entertainment Group and AMC Studios, said.

Filming on Eve was completed before coronavirus struck. The new start date caused some serious post-production hustle. “I’ve never encountered people working so hard and with such dedication to get something out,” said executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle.

ABC smash Grey’s Anatomy concludes season 16 on April 9 with 21 episodes, after initial plans called for 25 episodes.

To be sure, viewers are doing plenty of viewing. Nielsen said “staying put in our homes can lead to almost a 60% increase in the amount of content we watch.”

Overnight ratings have looked a bit like those from the pre-streaming era. On March 24, Ellen’s Game of Games ticked up 8% on NBC to 1.4 in viewers 18-49 and the This Is Us finale shot up 21% to 1.7. On CBS that night, NCIS went up 30% for a 1.3, FBI grew 38% to 1.1, and FBI: Most Wanted shot up 25% to 1.0.

“Self-isolation has returned TV to its heyday of having captive audiences hungry for content,” Civic Entertainment Group chief culture officer Linda Ong said. “It’s an excellent time for sampling and building loyalty — those offering free trial periods and sneak previews should do well.”

TV news is getting plenty of viewing, too. NBC News is airing live primetime specials about the coronavirus pandemic Tuesdays at 10 p.m. Those began March 31 and are scheduled for April 7 and April 14. On ABC, anchor David Muir has anchored a series of pandemic-focused 20/20 specials, the most recent one on March 30.

News analyst Andrew Tyndall mentioned “old-school reporting” on the broadcast networks amidst the pandemic — longer-form stories running 2 ½ to 3 minutes. “You might as well be watching Peter Jennings or Dan Rather,” he said.

With so many staffers working from home, the newscasts don’t have their usual polish. Tyndall said that lends the broadcasts a certain authenticity. “It’s really an opportunity to get people to sample,” he said of corona coverage, “and showcase what they can do.”

Cable news is enjoying increased viewership, too. CNN has seen a 151% increase in total day viewing March 9-29, compared to the prior four weeks. Fox News Channel called the first quarter the largest audience in network history in both total day and primetime. MSNBC set a primetime record for March, averating 2.7 million total viewers, up from 2.3 million in March 2019.

Christmas in March?

Networks are coming up with a wide variety of stunts in an effort to capture viewers with time on their hands. Starting March 26, PBS announced “American History Night with Ken Burns” on Thursday nights. With no baseball on TV, it also made Burns’s Baseball documentary available for streaming.

Syfy ran a Sharknado marathon April 5, and Hallmark Channel hosted its “Countdown to Christmas” marathon in late March. A Very Merry Mix-Up was one of the movies.

Michelle Vicary, executive VP, programming and network publicity, said viewers were looking for positive things amidst the crisis. “A lot of people are looking for feel-good programming on television — content that the whole family can enjoy together and that offers an escape of sorts,” she said.

The viewer response was “overwhelmingly positive,” Vicary said, making Hallmark the highest-rated and most-watched entertainment network on cable in prime among households, total viewers and women 18-plus across the two weekends.

Ong said creativity can come in handy. “Networks and platforms that rely heavily on original programming,” she said, “will have to get creative with stunts, acquisitions and library content in order to keep viewers’ attention.”

As streaming becomes more and more the viewing norm, the content of the Netflixes, Amazons and Hulus of the world, bold and binge-friendly, is increasingly affecting the programming viewers see on cable and broadcast. Producers and networks alike know they have to create edgier, more serialized content to keep viewers attached to traditional TV and keep those legacy platforms relevant.

It’s an expensive proposition, but many feel it’s necessary for old-school TV to hold its own amidst the newer competition. Chris Long, executive producer on the new Fox drama Deputy, said what’s on Netflix and the other streamers pushes Deputy, a western procedural cop show starring Stephen Dorff, to go the extra mile.

“It’s a really competitive landscape and we want to differentiate our show,” he said, talking about unique shooting methods that give Deputy a cinematic look. “It does not look like CBS or NBC, because we want to compete with shows on Netflix or Hulu or other platforms. It absolutely affects how we shoot it.”

With multiple television giants poised to launch streaming products, including NBCUniversal’s Peacock and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, traditional TV programmers are borrowing from their digital frenemies in other ways. They’re rethinking the number of episodes a series should have per season, and even at times episode length. Everyone, it seems, is aiming for more gripping content.

“When other platforms are creating shows that people want to watch that are really smart, well-written and well-executed, I think it ups everyone’s game,” CBS Entertainment senior executive VP, programming Thom Sherman said at the TCA Press Tour in August. “We encourage our writers to take risks and be sophisticated and have the subtle nuances you see on streaming and cable.”

Prize Possessions

Broadcast is an afterthought at major awards ceremonies, and any cable network not named HBO has to hustle to stay relevant to judges. At the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards in September, top drama was between Game of Thrones and Succession on HBO, Better Call Saul on AMC, Bodyguard and Ozark on Netflix, This Is Us on NBC, Pose on FX and Killing Eve on AMC/BBC America. Game of Thrones won.

Top comedy was between HBO’s Barry and Veep, Amazon’s Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Netflix’s Russian Doll, Pop TV’s Schitt’s Creek and NBC’s The Good Place. Fleabag got the trophy.

When the Golden Globe Awards were given out earlier this month, best drama was between HBO’s Big Little Lies and Succession, Netflix’s The Crown, AMC/BBC America’s Killing Eve and Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, with Succession winning.

Best comedy was between Netflix’s The Kominsky Method and The Politician, Amazon’s Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and HBO’s Barry. Fleabag won.

Viewers watched an average of four hours and six minutes of streaming programming on Netflix and Hulu last year, according to NPD Group, up 7% from the previous year. Broadcast and cable are emulating aspects of streaming to better connect with viewers. Dramas, for one, are less procedural than they used to be, and more likely to set story arcs across a season, not an individual episode. “They might be a little more open to more serialized storytelling than 10 years ago, when it was strictly episodic,” Michelle King, executive producer of Evil on CBS, said in August.

Procedurals always played much better in syndication than serialized shows. But as the aftermarket for broadcast shows evolves, the serialized stuff does just fine on the streaming platforms where they often end up after their broadcast premieres. “Serialized programs have as much of an opportunity to pick up an audience as procedurals,” media consultant Bill Carroll said. “And audiences seem to be more attuned to watching serialized shows.”

While broadcast and basic cable must still answer to advertisers who may be unhappy about risqué content, it’s clear they are game to push the envelope. Marc Cherry, who made his name with Desperate Housewives and now produces Why Women Kill for CBS All Access, sees a “tremendous” change to the television landscape.

“There are storylines we were not allowed to do on Desperate Housewives in 2004 that you see now on broadcast TV,” he said. “We’re inching toward more provocative stuff. It’s happening.”

Carroll sees it in the 10 p.m. hour in particular. “They can’t be as edgy as HBO and Showtime and Netflix, but broadcast is as close to the edge as it can reasonably get away with,” he said.

The series may not have the antiheroes that define streaming and cable hits, but Linda Ong, chief culture officer at Civic Entertainment Group, is increasingly seeing the emotional depth that defines peak TV on broadcast. She singled out This Is Us and New Amsterdam for drama that goes deeper and darker than what broadcast is known for. “The higher-end dramas are seemingly of the same world as the prestige dramas,” she said.

Chris Long mentioned “enormous leeway” from Deputy’s producers, eOne and Fox, when it came to requesting expensive things, such as a Russian Arm mobile crane setup to shoot a car crash, that make for a better-looking show. “It’s just, step up your game — better dialogue, better action sequences,” he said. “The fact is, [streamers] spend money on their programs to a level where it’s very competitive.”

Short and Sweet

The Netflix effect is also evident in the number of episodes some series are doing on broadcast. Streamers saw they could land A-list talent with 10-episode seasons, or shorter, and other platforms are borrowing from that playbook. NBC’s celebrated comedy The Good Place had 13 episodes per season, while season four has 14. Season one of Ripley on Showtime, based on the Patricia Highsmith novels, will have eight episodes. Season two of HBO drama Big Little Lies, which began last summer, had just seven. Fox series The Moodys, which aired in December, had six.

“Actors are interested in shorter orders,” King said. “The broadcast networks have to be open to that.”

Shorter seasons make it easier to reach high quality levels from start to finish. Liz Tigelaar, executive producer/showrunner of Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere, which premieres March 18, got her start on such broadcast series as Once and Again and American Dreams. Producing eight episodes across two years, as opposed to 22 in 10 months, makes for better product, she said. So does writing all the episodes before production begins.

“The lead time really helps you craft a better series,” Tigelaar said. “From a creative standpoint, you’re not in the rat-race assembly line of production.”

While much of traditional TV remains allegiant to traditional episode lengths to keep the programming schedule intact, there are exceptions. The season four premiere of This Is Us ran for an hour and eight minutes. The Murphy Brown premiere on CBS last year went for an hour and five minutes.

Broadcast doesn’t have much of an issue disrupting the schedule when live events go long, Linda Ong noted. “There’s much more permission in the industry to be experimental with things like this,” she said.

Stacked Up

Broadcast and cable networks are also working to allow more binge viewing of their programs. Last summer, The CW revealed it had secured in-season streaming rights to all new series going forward, the announcement coming when its deal with Netflix ended. The CW can stack each episode of a new series on its digital platform, meaning a viewer who comes to the show late can catch up in short order.

“That allows us to control our branding and bring our fans back to us,” The CW chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz said.

When FX shows premiere in the coming weeks, the norm will be for two episodes to run on premiere night, a happy medium between bingeing and the traditional weekly release. Comedy Breeders airs two of its 10 episodes March 2, as does Better Things March 5.

“We’re going into, let’s drop two, let’s drop three,” FX Networks and FX Productions chairman John Landgraf said.

When The Moodys aired on Fox in December, its six episodes ran across three nights.

Broadcast and cable are also acknowledging the significant role the streamers play in how back episodes are watched. Promos for NBC drama Good Girls, which debuts season three Feb. 16, encourage viewers to watch seasons one and two on Netflix.

“You can’t count on everyone watching live,” said Dan Fogelman, creator/executive producer of This Is Us, which streams on Hulu after premieres. “That’s the challenge for all people doing our job — how are people consuming media?”

Modern viewers also like controlling the flow of episodes with their remote. On streaming, they don’t need the reminders and exposition that eat up storytelling time in a show on a traditional platform. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy has built a new generation of fans among teens, thanks to having 15 seasons on Netflix. “The show is experienced differently when you watch a whole bunch of them,” said Krista Vernoff, Grey’s showrunner and executive producer.

Among FX’s other premieres coming up, a couple are premiering on Hulu, part of a new hub known as FX on Hulu. Alex Garland’s limited series Devs begins March 5 on FX on Hulu, and ’70s women’s rights drama Mrs. America begins on the streaming hub April 15. FX has not announced if the shows will also appear on linear TV.

Fargo premieres on FX April 19, and pops up on Hulu the next day. Creator/executive producer Noah Hawley spoke about delivering two versions of an episode to the network — with commercial breaks and without. “I can’t say I would miss having to put commercials in,” he said. “But those are the things I think about in approaching the medium in 2020.”