Review: Stephen King modeled 'The Stand' on 'Lord of the Rings.' TV has done it no favors

As a story of a world-gutting flu pandemic, Stephen King's "The Stand," whose second, superior miniseries adaptation began Thursday on CBS All Access, could not be more timely. And as a story of good and evil facing off for the usual high stakes — and of democracy versus autocracy, self-sacrifice versus narcissism — it also feels very on brand for 2020. Whether that makes people more or less inclined to watch, I couldn't say.

I have reviewed a lot of King adaptations over the years, and apart from "The Shining," my King reading consists entirely of preparing to review TV adaptations of Stephen King novels. Sometimes they are better than the books and sometimes worse. First published in 1978, at 840