There are numerous notable differences between miniseries has a lot of differences from Kubrick's movie.
The miniseries stars actor Steven Weber as Jack Torrance, Rebecca De Mornay as Wendy Torrance, Courtland Mead and Wil Horneff as Danny Torrance at different ages, and Melvin Van Peebles as Dick Hallorann. King himself appears an an orchestra conductor in a brief cameo, and many other horror writers and filmmakers also make small appearances as well. At the time of its airing, The Shining series was received favorably; critics praised its pacing, makeup, and sound editing, and it went on to win Emmy and Saturn awards. As horror buffs know, though, the series didn't age well, and today's critics tend to look back at it with turned up noses.
The Shining miniseries is overall loyal to King's book - perhaps even more so than the movie. It centers on the story of Jack Torrance, his wife, Wendy, and his son, Danny, who are staying at the Overlook Hotel in the Rockies during the off-season. Once there, Danny - with the help of the hotel's head chef, Dick - discovers that he is telepathic. As the Torrances' stay at the hotel stretches on, it becomes clear that it beholds an evil force; Danny can feel it and Jack can see ghosts. While most of the general plot summary of the series indeed follows the book, the television adaptation does often deviate from its source material.
The Slow Pace
King took writing the 1997 TV adaptation of The Shining as a chance to regain control of the story and show audiences what the original story was all about. The general plot of the show is intensely loyal to the book; King put in every little bit of information and dialogue that was missing from Kubrick's film adaptation. So, the show details - to a T - Jack's time at the prep school in such detail that it nearly becomes excruciating. There ends up being too much dialogue in the show, with too many speeches adapted from the streams of consciousness in the novel. Jack doesn't even start becoming affected by the hotel until episode three.
In the book, which is 447 pages, the pace feels fine as the story jumps between different characters' perspectives. However, the translation of each and every thought and minor event to the screen wasn't meant to be. Television show plots must be as concise and evenly paced as possible, so as to keep audiences' attention and to not go off-track into side stories that don't end up being relevant.
Jack's Sobriety
Jack's struggle with alcoholism is front-and-center in the television show. In the miniseries, Jack stops drinking and attempts to be sober as well as work on himself as a person. Before he and his family get snowed in, Jack is seen attending AA meetings. After the snow comes, he's seen reading from AA books. The show details the ups and downs and staying sober.
The book does touch on some of Jack's struggles with sobriety, but it doesn't go into as much detail as the show does. This is in part, reportedly, because King himself had had personal experience with sobriety in the 20 years between the book's publication and the miniseries. He wanted to include his new perspectives in the show and portray Jack as a more sympathetic character.
Danny's Age and Character
In the book, Danny is a five-year-old boy. That occasionally makes him hard to relate to since he is such a young character. In the TV series, though, his age was raised to seven, which makes a big difference in of how he talks and behaves.
In both King's novel and Kubrick's movie adaptation, Danny is an overall quiet child who says very little, even to his parents. This makes his overall presence seem mysterious as the story goes on. In the miniseries adaptation, he is very vocal, and even borders on annoying. He complains to his parents constantly and can certainly appear irritable to viewers.
Tony's Presence
In King's book and Kubrick's movie adaptation, Tony is Danny's imaginary friend. He is completely imaginary. In the book, readers see Danny converse with him inside of his head, and in the end it's uncovered that Tony is actually Danny's future adult self. In the movie, Tony "speaks" through Danny's wiggling finger (pictured); in fact, Danny voicing Tony's words makes for some famous creepy moments.
In the show, viewers see a real-life version of Tony. He appears as a glasses-clad high school student and says his lines in front of a green screen that is meant to represent Danny's imagination. Seeing Tony as a person is confusing, and also ends up taking the mystery out of Danny's eerie visions. In the end, though, it's made clear - as in the book - that Tony is actually Danny's adult self speaking to him from the future.
The Time Jump
The biggest change the television adaptation made was to the ending - it's entirely new. It contains the book's ending, with the boiler exploding and Dick saving Danny and Wendy, but then it tacks on a time jump. The story fast-forwards a decade to Danny's graduation from high school. As it turns out, he appears to be the Tony of his imagination, implying that the Tony he spoke to as a child was always his future self. Wendy and Dick are pictured at the graduation, showing that they remained friends over the years, and it's implied Jack's spirit is watching over his son.
While the time jump is interesting - everyone wants to see where their favorite characters will end up in the future - it certainly wasn't a necessary addition to the story. Dick saving Danny and Wendy from the Overlook and driving them away from it is evidence enough that the three will go on to become friends, and that Danny and Wendy will have a life without Jack. Some things are best left to the imagination of viewers - it's fun to try to guess what will happen after the credits roll. Though, of course, viewers got to see what became of Danny in King's 2013 sequel to The Shining, called Doctor Sleep, and its 2019 movie adaptation.
Overall, the 1997 miniseries adaptation of The Shining is extremely loyal to its source material. Some of its changes, like Danny's age and Jack's sobriety, are welcome additions to the story that make sense for a television show. But other aspects, like its pacing, intense attention to detail, and time jump, are unnecessary and end up weakening the story. Perhaps, in the future, there will be another attempt to adapt The Shining for the small screen that will rival this one. To date, it's clear why most prefer the movie version of King's iconic story.
