This is the second Stephen King project that I’ve written about this week, and oddly enough the fifth in the last 3-4 weeks. I think it must have something to do with the fact that Halloween is just around the corner. (Ahhhh, my Christmas!!) Though I’m excited to be able to write about so many of my favorite author’s movie adaptations, each one comes with that little bit of dread, because so many of them just aren’t that good. Luckily, most of the ones that have been released lately have been the ‘middle ground’ ones (not that great, but not so bad), as well as the best adaptation ever, “The Shawshank Redemption.” I followed that viewing with Sony / Columbia Tristar’s DVD release of the limited run Stephen King TV series, “Kingdom Hospital.” I had extremely mixed feeling about watching the series because I want so desperately to like anything based on his work. Almost every one of the ‘made-for-TV’ adaptations of his work has been terrific. “The Stand” and “The Shining” (which was far superior to the Stanley Kubrick theatrical version) come to mind.

In the case of “IT”, the mini-series was excellent all the way through only to lose credibility with the final confrontation, which suffered from really bad special effects. There has been only one misfire that I can think of, which was “Rose Red.” It had so much potential, but it ultimately turned into a poorly edited, CGI-heavy mess.

In this case of a project like “Kingdom Hospital” I wanted even more to like it because it wasn’t an adaptation at all, but one that he wrote directly for the network. But memories of the afore-mentioned “Rose Red”, which was also a direct teleplay, were the main cause for my hesitation. Undaunted, I set my VCR to catch the first episode of the series (I wasn’t going to home that night), only to find that the infernal recording machine decided that night to go on the fritz, and the video quality was horrendous. After 3 minutes of garbled blue screen, I gave up. Realizing I really needed TIVO, I called a few friends of mine who I just KNEW would have it recorded. No such luck. It seemed I was destined not to watch it.

Since there was no way I could convince myself to watch the series without seeing the premiere episode, I opted instead to get back spoiler-free comments and reviews from those friends of mine who were watching it. Most of those comments weren’t very positive I’m afraid to say, but still I wanted to see for myself. I hoped that the network would air a re-run of the series after the initial show ended, but those hopes were soon dashed when ABC started pre-empting episodes and changing the schedule. That is usually a bad sign.

So the series came in with a bang and went off with a whimper, so I started turning my hopes to the eventual release of a DVD set. Shortly after, news of a DVD set came down the wire so I patiently waited for my copy to show up. Putting in the first disc, I was reminded of all the comments I has heard but decided I would do what any decent reviewer would do. Watch it without prejudice and give it my honest assessment.

Though the story wasn’t an adaptation of one of King’s works, it was still an adaptation. As it turns out, King himself adapted an older Danish mini-series “Riget”, by Lars von Trier, giving it his own spin and turned it into “Kingdom Hospital”. He also took a little bit of his own life’s experiences and put them into the plot, as one of the main characters is an artist who is hit by a speeding van, sending him to the hospital. The main difference between the experiences is that the hospital King went to wasn’t haunted… or at least we hope it wasn’t. As the plot unfolds, the hospital becomes the playground for some very nasty spirits and we learn of the very dark history surrounding the ground it was built on.

I sat down to watch the first episode, pretty much ready for anything. Or at least so I thought. When it was over I wasn’t sure what I had just watched. Quirky is one of the words that came to mind, as well as downright disturbing. Admittedly, as much as I like weird stuff I wasn’t too impressed with the premiere. We had the hit and run of the artist and the requisite hospital, but I also had to deal with an ocular-impaired scarecrow of a security officer, a pair of giggling janitors with Down Syndrome… and a talking crow and anteater. Yes, you read that right. A talking crow and anteater. If this was any indication of what was to come, I wasn’t sure I would make it through the remaining 12 episodes.

I thought I’d wait a day in order to full digest what I had seen, and the next night I stumbled into what I hoped would not be an abyss of bizarre situations with no discernible connection. I’m relieved to say that those few hesitant steps turned into a race for the end. The episodes began to improve, and though the story continued to include increasingly peculiar plot devices, there was a certain sense to be made of them. “Kingdom Hospital” is in essence, a mystery. And like all good mysteries, information is fed to you on a limited diet, allowing you to unravel the puzzle at the same rate as those involved in the story. As far as the eventual outcome of this particular series, it all came together and what was confusing at first became clear.

This is not to say the series was without faults. I think part of the problem it had ratings-wise had quite bit to do with those first couple of episodes. It’s safe to say that the average TV viewer isn’t all that bright. They don’t want to be challenged, they want to be entertained. The beginning of the series shouldn’t have been written to be quite as ‘far out’ as it was. I think it turned people off instead of hooking them in. As the ratings dropped, the series started airing at different times, and if you couldn’t watch the episodes in order, you would ultimately become lost.

I think the “Kingdom Hospital” would have worked better as a straight mini-series set out over 4-5 nights. The flow would have kept people watching because the improvements would have been noticed a lot quicker. Even lacking the proper ‘hook’ in the first episode, viewers have a tendency to stay with something they’re watching if continues over the next couple of nights instead of the next few weeks. You know the old ‘short attention span’ thing. Of course, watching it on DVD? Even better.

The DVD set that Sony / Columbia Tristar is releasing for “Kingdom Hospital” is actually a very nice one. First off, you get to watch the series in widescreen format, which makes everything look better. Plus the sound, which has been set up in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound is infinitely better than anything you can watch directly from the networks. Then, there is the matter of extra features, of which there is quite an abundance of.

First off, there is a commentary on that first episode by King, director Craig Baxley, executive producer Mark Carliner and effects supervisor James Tichenor. It is an extremely entertaining commentary, one that actually makes watching that first episode a lot more fun. Plus King spends quit a bit of time talking about his accident, and as you may be aware he is a great storyteller.

Then there are four separate featurettes, each coming in a little above or below the 10 minute mark. “Inside the Walls” focuses mainly on how the whole project cane together. It is full of interviews with the cast and crew, as well as King himself. “Patients and Doctors: The Cast of Kingson Hospital”” is as it sounds as it allows some of cast to discuss their characters. “Designing Kingdom Hospital: A Tour” offers just that. Production designer Crag Sterns takes viewers on a tour of the sets, which is followed by a look at some of the costumes. Finally, in “The Magic of Antubis”, some of the effects crew talk about how they created this unusual CGI character. (And if you can’t figure out who Antubis is by reading this review… well…) Fans if King’s writing will enjoy the enclosed insert that features an essay by the author.

It’s a shame that “Kingdom Hospital” did so poorly on television, but the fault lies equally with the writing in the early episodes and the networks shabby treatment. Hopefully, new viewers will give the series a try on DVD. If they just can stick with it past the first few bumps (and artists) in the road, they will find it to be an enjoyable, if not peculiar, experience.

Episodes:
Thy Kingdom Come
Death’s Kingdom
Goodbye Kiss
West Side of Midnight
Hook’s Kingdom
The Young and the Headless
Black Noise
Heartless
Butterfingers
On the Third Day
Seizure Day
Shoulda’ Stood in Bed
Finale

Starring: Andrew McCarthy, Bruce Davison, Diane Ladd, Brandon Bauer, Jack Coleman
Extras: Stephen King and Filmmaker’s Commentary, Inside the Walls: The Making of Kingdom Hospital, Patients and Doctors: The Cast of Kingdom Hospital, Designing Kingdom Hospital: A Tour, The Magic of Antubis, Exclusive Essay Written by Stephen King
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 10/12/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Kingdom Hospital a B.