Stephen King names his most overlooked adaptation: “I liked it a lot but nobody saw it”
In 2017, a nail-biting television show based on a fairly recent Stephen King novel debuted on a little-known network and quickly gained a devoted following. It lasted for 30 episodes across three seasons but resolutely fell into that “best show you’re not watching” category because few people knew where to watch it. This rankled King himself, who was a fan of the show and believed it might have even been his most overlooked adaptation.
Throughout his career, King has become synonymous with horror, and the majority of his works tend to fit within that genre. However, he has also written science fiction, drama, thrillers, and detective novels. In fact, it was in 2014 that he published his first attempt at what he called hardboiled crime fiction. The book was called Mr Mercedes, and it centred on a broken-down, retired detective being taunted by the serial killer he failed to catch during his long tenure on the force.
Naturally, because King is one of the most commercially successful authors the world has ever seen, Hollywood was sniffing around Mr Mercedes before the book was even published. Director Jack Bender, who previously worked on Under the Dome – also based on a King book – was sent galleys of the novel long before its release, and he loved what he read.
When Bender next spoke to King, he told him that he already knew exactly who should play Detective Bill Hodges. He told Forbes, “The actor who was born to play Bill Hodges is this Irish actor named Brendan Gleeson. He’s brilliant.” Then, when producer David E Kelly (Big Little Lies) came on board, he agreed the iconic In Bruges star was the ideal casting choice. However, he was worried Gleeson wouldn’t want to commit to a television series – but these fears were unfounded. It turned out Gleeson was more than happy to sign up for the show, and he played Hodges for all 30 episodes.
The show was set up on the Audience network, though, which only existed from 2016 to 2020 and produced only a handful of original shows. They were generally of very high quality, with the MMA drama Kingdom and spy show Condor – a modern updating of the Robert Redford classic Three Days of the Condor – being reviewed extremely well. However, viewing figures were always low compared to other networks, and this bummed King out.
“It was like we brought a stadium show to a coffee shop,” King lamented to The New York Times. “I liked it a lot, but nobody saw it.” There was a light at the end of the tunnel for Mr Mercedes, though. After Audience folded in 2020, a deal was struck to bring the show to NBC’s Peacock streaming service, which everyone involved knew would open their work up to a much, much wider audience.
“The Audience network allowed me to make the show I wanted to make, with brilliant people around me,” Bender said. “We made a really, really good show, and they were very supportive. Unfortunately, there was no audience. That was enormously frustrating for all of us because I thought the actors at least were going to get plenty of kudos for those incredible performances. It was hidden away.”
He smiled, “I’m thrilled that it’s gonna finally get the audience it deserved on Peacock.”
King was also ecstatic about Mr Mercedes finally getting a chance to step out of the shadows. After all, he felt the show was a superb adaptation of his Hodges series, which also included the sequels Finders Keepers and End of Watch. This is significant, too, because fans know he’s not one to sugarcoat his opinions on adaptations of his work.
“The three seasons are there, and they’re pretty darn good,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I’m so happy that Peacock is doing this. Now people are going to get a chance to see it.”
