Some TV shows nail their book adaptations... others' flubbed it. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re comparing books that made for great TV shows and ones that didn’t quite stick the landing.
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00:00A shocking scene. Not at all what I intended.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're comparing books that made for great TV shows
00:10and ones that didn't quite stick the landing. There are some spoilers here, so tread carefully.
00:16Terrible things happen in this world, and the only comfort we get is that we didn't cause them.
00:24Number 5. Nailed It! Big Little Lies
00:28Co-executive producers and co-stars Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman snapped up the rights to Leanne Moriarty's novel soon after it was published,
00:37transplanting the story from Australia to Monterey, California.
00:41HBO's Big Little Lies is a murder mystery that takes place among the cutthroat world of a renowned elementary school.
00:48Can you just make your son apologize?
00:50Renata!
00:51Stay out of it.
00:53I can't make him apologize for something that I know he didn't do.
00:56The novel and the series share the same strengths.
00:59They both work backwards to uncover the circumstances surrounding the death of one of its characters,
01:04whose identity isn't revealed until the climax.
01:07Think about fundraisers.
01:08Everybody wants to prove who's the richest.
01:10They're vicious.
01:11Add alcohol to the mix and the fact that women don't let things go.
01:14The makers also nailed the original story's balance of humor with deadly serious topics.
01:19While its second season seemed to show there was little story left to tell,
01:23the first remains a near-flawless season of appointment television.
01:27You're the one that's getting mad at me.
01:29Instead of some little b---- who's chomping on our kid.
01:32Will you just listen?
01:33Number five, Flubbed It, Hemlock Grove.
01:36Original author Brian McGreevy had a hand in bringing his own story to life for Netflix.
01:42This Pennsylvania-set horror-thriller includes a whole host of supernatural creatures amid the murder mystery at its center.
01:49Who are you?
01:51Oh, please.
01:52Oh, please.
01:54Where am I?
01:55In my room, breaking my heart.
01:57Breaking your heart, you jerk.
01:59Hemlock Grove is kind of a lot.
02:01The show throws every gothic monster trope at the wall to see what sticks,
02:05and judging from the critical response, not much did.
02:08I came to Hemlock Grove because of the invitation.
02:10It was dark, there was no one else there.
02:12I thought that was a part of it.
02:13Wait, what invitation?
02:15Fun, fun, fun.
02:17Initial reviews were mixed at best,
02:19but many critics felt it was unfocused and messy without much payoff.
02:24Despite the series' promisingly high viewership,
02:27when it first premiered, Hemlock Grove didn't improve quality-wise,
02:31and some would even argue got worse as the seasons progressed.
02:36You know my name?
02:39You're the kid in the candy store.
02:44This is the part where you leave.
02:464. Nailed It! Normal People
02:48Author Sally Rooney's novel Normal People is about the romance between two teenagers
02:53that follows them into young adulthood.
02:56You just always know what you think.
02:59I don't like that.
03:00You must know what you feel, though.
03:02No.
03:04I struggle with that, actually.
03:06The Irish miniseries follows Conall and Marianne as they first fall in love,
03:10as two teens from different worlds,
03:12and we watch every beautiful and heartbreaking turn in their road.
03:16But its release early in the COVID-19 pandemic
03:19made its story of the couple struggling to keep contact over space and time especially poignant.
03:25I don't really know what to say other than the fact that I miss you,
03:29and I really love you, Marianne.
03:34Normal People also helped launch the careers of Paul Mescol and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
03:39Like the book, the miniseries isn't overly sentimental.
03:42It makes you sit in the real human moments these two have,
03:45whether they're sweet or ugly.
03:48I would never pretend to not know you, Conall.
03:53Would you love?
03:56No.
03:574. Flubbed It! Under the Dome
03:59One thing remains consistent about Stephen King adaptations through the years,
04:03there are just as many great ones as there are stinkers.
04:10Why can't we hear the sirens?
04:12No, no, no, no, stop!
04:14This three-seasoner sits squarely in the stinker category.
04:18When the town of Chester's Mill is enclosed in a dome and cut off from the rest of the world,
04:23characters on both sides of the barrier work to figure out what it is and where it came from.
04:29Doing tests. Must be checking to see if water can come through.
04:33Doesn't look good. We're screwed.
04:37The first season got decent reviews, but as soon as the second season came around,
04:42its cyclical storytelling began to wear on viewers.
04:45By the end, many felt that it had wasted its potential
04:49and the suspension of disbelief around its entire concept.
04:58It's magnetic.
05:023. Nailed It! Sharp Objects
05:05Midwestern nice turns poisonous in this small-town mystery.
05:09In her debut novel, Gillian Flynn, writer of Gone Girl,
05:13turned her pen to toxic mother-daughter relationships.
05:16We need to talk about your daughters.
05:19What about them?
05:21Not one of them is dangerous.
05:24The HBO miniseries expands upon her novel without taking away from its honest and brutal handling of trauma, secrets, and shame.
05:32Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson do career-best work as a journalist investigating a murder
05:38and her overbearing, emotionally destructive mother who sabotages her at every opportunity.
05:43Sharp Objects never lets you relax.
05:47I mean it. You tackled those demons.
05:50My demons are not remotely tackled. They're just mildly concussed.
05:53There's something evil and ugly behind every corner.
05:56Even conversations between characters are filled with danger.
06:00I never loved you.
06:03You were born to it.
06:07That cold nature.
06:093. Flubbed It! Game of Thrones
06:12Few shows had as much anticipation and acclaim going into its last few seasons
06:17as the HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy, Game of Thrones.
06:23Ned, Ten is too young to see such things.
06:27He won't be a boy forever.
06:31And winter is coming.
06:33From the moment it premiered, it was true appointment television.
06:37And yet, despite several seasons of good writing and strong characterization,
06:41the conclusion left many fans furious.
06:43I don't have love here.
06:47I only have fear.
06:49Critics felt that, as the series began moving past the published books,
06:53the plot became less focused on the characters and more dependent on spectacle.
06:57But the rushed storylines of its final season were the final straw.
07:01You're my queen.
07:04Now and always.
07:07Daenerys Targaryen's inevitable descent into madness
07:10and the bewildering choice to make Bran Stark the new king felt unearned,
07:15alienating fans and tarnishing a stellar legacy.
07:182. Nailed It! The Leftovers
07:21Here we have the somewhat apocalyptic series about what happens
07:25after 2% of the world's population vanishes without warning.
07:29Those left behind either form cults or try to resume life as normal.
07:33Just give me that horrible Saturday.
07:35All four of us sick and miserable, but alive and together.
07:42Based on a novel by Tom Perotta,
07:44The Leftovers didn't start off with as glowing a reputation as it would end up earning.
07:50The first season was admired but criticized for its somber tone.
07:54Because if we can no longer separate the innocent from the guilty,
07:58everything that happened to us, all of our suffering, is meaningless.
08:03However, its quality only got better with each successive season.
08:07By the end of its brilliant third and final year,
08:10some TV critics were touting it as one of the greatest series ever.
08:18I'm here.
08:202. Flubbed It! The Stand
08:22Maybe releasing an epic about a deadly pandemic was not the move in 2020.
08:27Or maybe it just wasn't that good.
08:30I just got a secondary alert. What do you see?
08:32Sir.
08:33Go ahead.
08:34Is this an exercise?
08:36No, it's private. This is not an exercise.
08:38Paramount Plus' miniseries based on the Stephen King epic, The Stand,
08:42had some good moments, but it was largely overblown and underwhelming.
08:46A far-reaching story about a deadly global pandemic
08:50and a humanity-defining battle between good and evil
08:53shouldn't leave its audiences shrugging.
08:55My God, you people are terrified of him.
08:59Is that all he has over you? His fear? That's it?
09:04While it wasn't a disaster, given how incredible the book is,
09:07just OK isn't OK.
09:10The Stand had a cast that included such heavy hitters as James Marsden,
09:14Alexander Skarsgård, and Whoopi Goldberg,
09:17but it left them all with not much to do.
09:19You can't send me anywhere that God can't find me.
09:25If it's my time to go, I'll be gone.
09:29The 1994 miniseries might be a bit dated, but it does the book more justice.
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09:51Number 1. Nailed It! Watchmen
09:54Legacy isn't in land, it's in blood.
09:57Passed to us from our ancestors and by us to our children.
10:00Showrunner Damon Lindelof considered his HBO limited series a remix
10:05rather than an adaptation of the original graphic novel
10:08by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
10:10Set within the continuity of Watchmen,
10:13the series acts as both an adaptation and sequel to the story,
10:16starring Regina King as Sister Knight.
10:18Its expansive and groundbreaking storytelling
10:21reignited interest in the legendary source material.
10:25How do you know he's 7K?
10:28I got a nose for white supremacy and he smells like bleach.
10:32It fused American history with the alternate history of the original book,
10:36shining a light on the largely forgotten Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.
10:41But apart from all that, it was just a masterful series in its own right.
10:46People who wear masks are driven by trauma.
10:49They're obsessed with justice because of some injustice they suffered,
10:52usually when they were kids, ergo the mask.
10:55Number 1. Flubbed It! 13 Reasons Why
10:58Skepticism and downright hostility surrounded the Netflix adaptation
11:02of this already controversial young adult novel.
11:05Get a snack, settle in.
11:08Because I'm about to tell you the story of my life.
11:12More specifically, why my life ended.
11:15Told from the point of view of Hannah Baker,
11:17a high schooler who takes her own life,
11:19it got heavy fast and never let up.
11:22But the first season was at least well made and had purpose.
11:28It's powerful.
11:30And painful.
11:33Just to imagine what Hannah's last days were.
11:37Once Hannah was no longer the focal point,
11:39it became about the people left behind.
11:41The show started spinning its wheels.
11:43Salacious storylines and traumatic events were chucked at viewers at an alarming rate.
11:57While it started out as a bleak but somewhat grounded show
12:00about a sensitive topic,
12:02the show continued to pour at disturbing subjects
12:05without giving them much depth.
12:07What book would you like to see made into a TV series?
12:10Let us know in the comments.
12:12Lin's path was to be prepared by 60 women wearing gold crowns
12:16who'd fill the river valleys with blood.
12:19Hmm. Doesn't rhyme.
12:22All good predictions rhyme.
12:24Do you agree with our picks?
12:26Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
12:28And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.