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.

25 of 26 photo by CBS

82 Salem's Lot (CBS, 1979)

Based on the novel Salem's Lot (1975)

[#1] It was the first—and the best. Stephen King's 1975 vampire novel has been adapted twice for the small screen—most successfully as this two-part, four-hour miniseries starring James Mason and David Soul and directed by Tobe Hooper in his first TV project (five years after the release of his classic horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre). It was also the very first attempt to bring King's work to the small screen, and it proved successful, collecting three Emmy nominations and earning a cult following over the ensuing years, though a 1987 feature film sequel was a disappointment.

“One of those stomach-churning, white-knuckle fright films that masterfully sets us up, shakes us around and leaves us jumping at our own shadows.” —Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

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