Every Stephen King TV Show, Ranked Worst to Best

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – June 3, 2021

Originally a reluctant convert to television, best-selling horror author Stephen King has seen over two dozen projects bearing his name reach the small screen over the past 40+ years, from Salem's Lot to the just-launched Lisey's Story. While most of these have been adaptations of King's novels and stories, a few were wholly new projects written by the author directly for TV. Some have been deeply mediocre at best, but quite a few of King's TV shows have received a warm welcome from critics.

In the gallery on this page, we rank every Stephen King series from worst to best by Metascore, reflecting the critical consensus at the time of each show's debut. Miniseries are included alongside conventional TV shows, but made-for-TV movies are excluded.

18 of 26 photo by CBS

68 Under the Dome (CBS, 2013–15)

Based on the novel Under the Dome (2009)

[tied for #7] That score is a bit misleading, since it is derived mainly from the pilot. A major hit when it debuted on CBS in the summer of 2013 (when, yes, it was met by quite a few positive reviews), the Dean Norris- and Mike Vogel-led Under the Dome eventually "descended into complete mediocrity." Those aren't the words of a critic but of King himself as he looked back upon the series, which, like his novel, depicted a town that becomes mysteriously trapped underneath a giant, transparent, and indestructible dome. Critics, too, soured on the series as it returned for a second (and then third) season that stretched the story further than it was meant to go. Those later seasons also operated without its series creator (noted comic book writer Brian K. Vaughan), who departed after season one—though King himself wrote the season 2 opener.

“Another Stephen King adaptation that started with considerable promise but, as packaged for TV, lacked the necessary cohesion to go the distance.” —Brian Lowry, Variety

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