Today is the day, folks. After fans have been waiting for decades, CBS All Access debuts the first episode of the long-awaited epic miniseries, “The Stand.” This new series aims to be the definitive adaptation of Stephen King’s attempt to tell the “American Lord of the Rings.” And that’s where The Playlist Podcast comes in. Does the new ‘Stand’ live up to the hype? We discuss, as well as talk to showrunner Benjamin Cavell about adapting the behemoth.
“The Stand” tells the story of a pandemic that wipes out nearly the entire human population of Earth. (Yes, it does feel awfully similar to a certain pandemic we’re facing now.) The story doesn’t dwell on death too much as it quickly turns into a story about two opposing forces, one Good, the other Evil, as they fight for the souls of those that are left.
To help Charles, Mike, and Brian discuss “The Stand,” the hosts are joined by two guests. First, we have Playlist contributor Warren Cantrell, who also happens to be a massive fan of the original source material. And finally, the hosts are joined by Benjamin Cavell, who talks about the struggles of adapting the story and the pressure of trying to stay faithful to King’s words, while also changing some things up in the process.
“[When working on the show] a couple of things jumped out,” explained Cavell. “One of the things is that it became clear that we ought to do a non-linear narrative…in part to differentiate ourselves, and also, in part because it seemed to me that we didn’t want to make people sit through three episodes of the world dying before we got to the meat of our story—this elemental struggle for the soul of what’s left.”
In addition to all things “The Stand,” Cavell also shared which King story he’d like to tackle next. And it may surprise those listening that the writer has his eyes set on “The Running Man,” as a multi-part, non-campy series. A stark contrast to the ‘80s adaptation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“[The original ‘Running Man’ novella] is very different from the movie,” Cavell said. “I think in a lot of ways [the novella] is more interesting and more relevant to all sorts of stuff we’re talking about now. This reality TV, competition game show era. I would love to do ‘The Running Man’ as a limited series.”
“The Stand” debuted on CBS All Access today and will have new episodes weekly. You can hear the entire interview and “The Stand” discussion below:
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