OT: Stephen King did NOT invent Kingdom Hospital

PvK · #1 March 4th, 2004, 08:22 AM

Hopefully, few know or care what I'm posting about. There is a presentation on US TV titled "Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital", which might lead some people to believe that he made up the story. No, he's re-making a story by others. There was already a rather fun/creepy Danish mini-series called The Kingdom, and Stephen King had nothing to do with it. The new TV series is only "Stephen King's" in the sense that he's done something to help with this remake. Creepy in an unpleasant way.

The title isn't technically inaccurate, but geez - the original series is plenty good, and is King so desperate for ideas or what? Aren't people sick of re-makes yet? Starsky & Hutch the new film? Agh agh agh... I wish media corporations would take the concepts of branding and re-hashing and ... er, never mind. Bleh.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

PvK

narf poit chez BOOM · #2 March 4th, 2004, 10:29 AM

heh. idea are reused all the time, but ethically, you should at least add a moderate dose of your own ideas and stir well.

Randallw · #3 March 4th, 2004, 10:29 AM

Actually as it happens, Stephen Kings "Kingdom" was mentioned by someone in a thread recently about books. I was quick to point out that he did not invent it, as I saw it on television here in Australia years ago.

edit: and heres the thread
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...3;t=010629;p=1

[ March 04, 2004, 08:46: Message edited by: Randallw ]

PvK · #4 March 4th, 2004, 10:48 AM

Coming soon - PvK's Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back... well, I hope the actually creative people behind the original Kingdom get a share of the mass-market loot. They deserve it for making something different and interesting.

PvK

Roanon · #5 March 4th, 2004, 04:26 PM

Stephen King is notorious for adding his name to things he wasn't involved in very much. There are a lot of "Stephen King" books which he hasn't written, there is just too much difference in style and quality.

DemoMonkey · #6 March 4th, 2004, 04:26 PM

The Danish producer of "The Kingdom" was an exec producer on the new series. That said, there ARE quite a few differences between the two. I don't really see enjoyment of one competing with enjoyment of the other.

As for why Stephen kings name is so prominently attached to it...Stephen King's name is on it because his name sells. Network executives like money.

Mmmmm. Money.

PvK · #7 March 4th, 2004, 08:35 PM

Yes, the reason is pretty clear - shameless greed. I'm glad at least some of the original folks get to cash in a little, but is it really helping King to grab more money or credits? Not a big deal. It just seemed like a particularly silly example and the thing to do was to yell loudly so some people who didn't know, would.

I thought the original was a very good and entertaining mix of eerie spookiness, comedy, and "what's the heck is going on here?" Though, it's in Danish and not very high-budget, so those might be impediments to some people's enjoyment. It's also quite long and what many would perhaps label "slow". Those contributed to a major aspect of what I liked about it: that it seemed fairly unique and quirky (not like, say, the King story about "big rig" trucks and cars that decide to hunt humans which is extremely ridiculous and lame). So, re-hashing it under the generic "Stephen King's" (TM) brand name seemed particularly ironic.

PvK

[ March 04, 2004, 18:37: Message edited by: PvK ]

sachmo · #8 March 4th, 2004, 09:50 PM

The show clearly states that this series is based on the series "The Kingdom", and then states that Steven King wrote this teleplay. Maybe he bought the rights?

gregebowman · #9 March 4th, 2004, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PvK:
Yes, the reason is pretty clear - shameless greed. I'm glad at least some of the original folks get to cash in a little, but is it really helping King to grab more money or credits? Not a big deal. It just seemed like a particularly silly example and the thing to do was to yell loudly so some people who didn't know, would.

I thought the original was a very good and entertaining mix of eerie spookiness, comedy, and "what's the heck is going on here?" Though, it's in Danish and not very high-budget, so those might be impediments to some people's enjoyment. It's also quite long and what many would perhaps label "slow". Those contributed to a major aspect of what I liked about it: that it seemed fairly unique and quirky (not like, say, the King story about "big rig" trucks and cars that decide to hunt humans which is extremely ridiculous and lame). So, re-hashing it under the generic "Stephen King's" (TM) brand name seemed particularly ironic.

PvK

True, the movie Maximum Overdrive was Maximum Suckage. The short story it was based on was much better, and not as hoaky (?). As much as I love King's work, I just don't think he's a very good screenwriter. Look at the actual scripts he's written for tv or movies, and even he can't make his stuff work for that medium. My favorite book of all time, The Stand, sucked, and he wrote the screenplay. I know he had to make compromises to bring the time down to a 8 hour mini-series, but I think he should have held out for 10 hours, and maybe it would have been a better show.

gregebowman · #10 March 5th, 2004, 02:39 AM

I tried to watch it Last night, but kept on nodding off. NOt due to the story, but just from plain tiredness, plus I was sitting in my recliner. Bad mistake. But I did notice the credits said something about US adapation, or U.S. story by Stephen King. I was curious about that, and I read that earlier post, but didn't know all of the history of it. Still, from what I saw of it, it was pretty good. Should have recorded it, but I'll probably buy the dvd when it's released. Maybe the original will be released also?