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.

22 of 26 photo by Sonar Entertainment/Peacock

72 Mr. Mercedes (Audience/Peacock, 2017–present)

Based on the novels Mr. Mercedes (2014), Finders Keepers (2015), and End of Watch (2016)

[#4] Stephen King's trilogy of crime novels centering on retired detective Bill Hodges was adapted by TV veteran David E. Kelley into a fairly successful, if hard to find, TV series. Brendan Gleeson and Harry Tredaway (a late replacement for Anton Yelchin, who died just before the start of production) headed a strong cast, which saw a partial overhaul (including the departure of Treadaway) for the third and most recent season. Originally running on the AT&T-owned Audience Network (available only on DirectTV and U-verse), Mr. Mercedes found itself in limbo after that network was discontinued. As of early this year, the three existing seasons can now be found on Peacock, and there is hope that the streaming service could commission a fourth season, though there has been no indication from the streamer so far.

“Mr. Mercedes is a fine example of something that has been less frequent over the years--an effective Stephen King adaptation carried by strong performances and smart writing choices.” —Dan Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter

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