As one of the most heavily-adapted authors in history, Stephen King has largely been powerless when it comes to the people tasked to bring his writings to life in live-action, which also perfectly explains why he’s gone on record naming Storm of the Century as his favorite-ever episodic Stephen King adaptation.
The reason is as simple as it is ego-driven; the titan of terror wrote a completely original story and screenplay for the ABC miniseries that aired in February of 1999, with the three-episode blockbuster carrying a weighty $35 million budget. With no screenwriters, studio heads, or creatives slowing him down, he was free to create his own ideal small screen offering from the ground up.
That’s not to say the creative freedom and carte blanche went to his head, with Storm of the Century undoubtedly lingering among the very top tier of King page-to-screen translations, even if it does tend to fall into the “most underrated” category, too. You can barely turn around without one of his works being right in front of you these days, but one of the best tends to get slept on more often than not.
Colm Feore is a force of nature as the mysterious Linoge, who descends upon a coastal town in Maine just as the titular weather is about to cause chaos in more ways than one. The townsfolk turn from worried to outright terrified when unexplainable events begin occurring as the bodies pile up, and anybody’s to have seen Storm of the Century will no doubt wholeheartedly agree with its creator’s steadfast belief that it’s top-tier King.