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- 2020
- TV-MA
- CBS All Access
- 2020
- TV-MA
- CBS All Access
Summary A deadly superflu leaves the few survivors with dreams of either of a friendly older woman named Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg) or a more darker figure: Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård) in this new adaptation of Stephen King's novel (that includes a new coda).
- 2020
- TV-MA
- CBS All Access
- 2020
- TV-MA
- CBS All Access
The Stand
Season 1 Premiere: Dec 16, 2020
56
2.4
Where to Watch
Summary A deadly superflu leaves the few survivors with dreams of either of a friendly older woman named Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg) or a more darker figure: Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård) in this new adaptation of Stephen King's novel (that includes a new coda).
Where to Watch
All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 25 Critic Reviews
56
28% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
68% Mixed
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 25 Critic Reviews
56
28% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
68% Mixed
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
It’s not perfect by any means, but the series does about as well as anyone might reasonably expect considering the source, and never suffers a boring minute.
It's effective TV horror, it's a recognizable dystopia story, but almost nothing hits as hard as it could.
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 120 User Ratings
2.4
14% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
15% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
71% Negative
85 Ratings
85 Ratings
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 120 User Ratings
2.4
14% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
15% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
71% Negative
85 Ratings
85 Ratings
The Stand, produced by CBS All Access, never rises above a slightly dreary competence. It certainly lacks the Hollywood gleam of the very best American television. In fact, the series only truly comes alive when Heard is allowed cut loose.
As every episode started I felt like I had missed three more in between, or maybe three seasons. There are some decent moments buried in The Stand, but it’s so generally mishandled on the whole that it’s not worth slogging through the rest to get to them. If you are looking for your King fix, try Castle Rock on Hulu instead.
Serviceable, workmanlike, maybe just good enough to keep you on the couch for nine hours.
This plays out as a bunch of survivors played by a raft of talented people taking a long time to get to the point of it all and making unnecessarily dunderheaded mistakes as they flail about.
Even with a new ending penned by King himself coming up, the CBS All Access take feels like it’s stuck in time; half a cheesy made-for-broadcast event series, half a gritty, all-too-dark dive into the bottom barrels of prestige TV. Maybe it’s time to set this story down.
All and all this is starting out as a great show. Very true to the book and so far some decent acting.
The book does start out a little slow if you're not into pandemic medical shows. But if you are it is still pretty exciting
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The Stand is one of Stephen King's most famous books, and within his career, that’s saying a lot.
Is not among my favorites though, but I admit it's one of his most epic literary works.
Now considering the fact this story deals with a weaponized flu that almost completely eradicates the human race, releasing this new adaptation in the middle **** pandemic perhaps was a bit tone deaf.
Ironically people gets more scared of this, instead of listening in the real world. From the outset, I must say that it's much better than the 1994 version. And that comes from the budget and the cast. However, it never rises above the average.
And I have to say that even though this miniseries is faithful as far as possible, the very same structure of the novel, demonstrates that some books should not be adapted.
The first episode makes it very clear by being a brutal editing disaster, and especially by putting almost all the emphasis of the downfall of humanity on it.
The Stand is a book that's way too dense, really **** dense, and I can even say it's dense to a point of self-indulgence.
So to get some kind of justice into such an adaptation, and to get you to be into the characters, would take more than 15 hours, and yet it might get boring, because as I've always said, the narrative mediums are completely different, and despite its accomplishments, The Stand is a much better story in its source material.
This miniseries is entertaining, yes, although it fails to stand out. To be noticeable. I don't think it was underwhelming, or at least I cannot say that it was that case for me, but in this regard, being both a reader and a viewer, I'll stay with the book, and I would recommend it more than the two adaptations.
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The Stand is a better than average retelling of the Stephen King book. While the sets and the acting are very good, the plotline is lacking. For a 9 episode mini-series, there are still numerous stories left out that should have been included that would have made the series more expansive and grander. Too many details from the book were not included, most conspicuously the story of The Kid and his journey with Trashcan Man! Overall, the mini-series is interesting, and I'm glad that I watched it. But it misses the mark on detailed storytelling and character building.
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I have waded my way through 2 episodes so far, and am nearing the point of feeling like crawling out of the sewer myself. This makes this stories 4th revision to account for "modern" cultural references to attract the current generation at the time of re-release - ok, nice thoughts in effort and all, but... the current revision already has the feeling of a 80-90's slasher that is more gore than substance. We go into slashers expecting such things, but where we once held Kings content to a higher standard... I guess most of those old standards are back at the cabin having a nice lie down and taking a nap.
Part of me is hoping that things will flip as the show goes on, but the pragmatist in me is already wanting to take this one off our calendar and mumbling "Maybe by 2040 the grand kids can do it justice in the Nth revision..."
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Production Company:
- Vertigo Entertainment
- CBS Television Studios
- Mosaic
Initial Release Date: Dec 16, 2020
Number of seasons: 1 Season
Rating: TV-MA
Awards
Location Managers Guild International Awards (LMGI)
• 1 Nomination
Visual Effects Society Awards
• 1 Nomination
