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.

23 of 26 photo by ABC

74Storm of the Century (ABC, 1999)

Written directly for television

[#3] King's second original television project was a three-part horror series that received a positive reception from critics when it debuted on ABC in early 1999. (The author liked it too, recently telling The New York Times that it was his all-time favorite TV project.) Directed by Craig R. Baxley (who would later direct several lesser King projects) and starring Tim Daly and Colm Feore, Storm finds the residents of a small Maine island dealing with a murderous, mind-controlling stranger amidst a massive blizzard that cuts the island off from the mainland.

“As chilling and gripping as any Stephen King film since Stanley Kubrick's classic movie of ''The Shining,'' this six-hour mini-series works the way the most enduring horror tales do, stretching back to Edgar Allan Poe: by blending supernatural events with purely human psychological terror.” —Caryn James, The New York Times

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