Stephen King's The Mist is a beloved novella that became an also beloved movie adaptation, but the failed TV show crashed and burned quickly. The Mist is one of King's most unique stories, with more than a dash of H.P. Lovecraft thrown into the mix, an author whose work King reveres. The novella focuses on a group of residents of the small Maine town called Bridgton, who end up trapped inside a local grocery store when the titular mist rolls in and brings with it otherworldly monsters.
The acclaimed 2007 film adaptation, written and directed by noted King-whisperer Frank Darabont, stayed mostly faithful to the book, outside of its infamous change to the ending. While said ending proved divisive, King himself loved it, and even those who don't are unlikely to argue that it ruins what had been a great experience until that point. When a TV series version was announced, there was a good amount of cautious optimism from King fans, as The Mist seemed like a scenario that could easily be stretched into an ongoing narrative.
Unfortunately, The Mist TV show drew mostly negative reviews, and ended up tanking in the ratings as well. It's fair to say the show has a lot of problems, but it all seems to lead back to one fateful creative decision.
Stephen King: Why The Mist TV Show Failed
The Mist's failure is directly tied to the decision to jettison the Lovecraftian monstrosities Stephen King and Frank Darabont had residing within the titular substance, and instead try to go the psychological horror route, focusing on more personal terrors. While there's obviously nothing wrong with a good psychological horror story, this show purports to be an adaptation of King's The Mist, and that novella's defining characteristic is having humans besieged by otherworldly creatures almost too frightening to contemplate. Just because there's fog, doesn't mean people tuning in to The Mist TV series wanted to see Silent Hill.
Not helping matters was the unwillingness of those behind The Mist show to come out and it to fans that monsters weren't on the way. Sure, there were a handful of creepy crawlies lurking with the show's mist, but nothing remotely comparable to the book and movie's monsters. When asked about the lack of the monsters, the show's team would kind of dance around it, seemingly leaving the door open that some might eventually appear. That all said, the lack of monsters, while the overriding issue with the show, wasn't The Mist's only problem. The writing just wasn't very good, and was full of twists that alternated between being nonsensical and too easy to see coming. Somewhere, there exists a good idea for translating The Mist to TV. This wasn't it.
