“Are you a book-guy or a movie-guy?”
How many times did we get into a discussion with somebody who had “just seen the movies” (the Potterheads know something about it)? Many classics of Cinema take inspiration from great books and Sagas: “The Lord of The Rings,” “Misery,” “Pride and Prejudice,” and many, many others. But in recent years, a lot of books have been adapted into TV Series as well, also given the boom of the streaming platforms. Whether a TV series allows more depth and developing space for a good book adaptation than a movie, it’s not up to say.
What we know, though, is that many of our favorite shows were ink on paper first, and we might not even know that!
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American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace
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It recently earned Darren Criss an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, and it won as Outstanding Limited Series, so the second Season of “American Crime Story” is definitely a success. But the series (which stars Édgar Ramírez, Ricky Martin, and Penélope Cruz alongside Criss) is based on the non-fiction book by Maureen Orth: “Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History.“
The book itself was never confirmed or approved by the Versace Family, hence (predictably) the family took distance from the TV series as well.
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The Alienist
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The recent success of the TNT series “The Alienist,” starring Luke Evans, Elle Fanning, and Daniel Brühl, doesn’t come unannounced. It is, in fact, based on the best-sellers of the “Kreizler series,” an on-going collection of historical crime novels by Caleb Carr. Till now the series, begun in 1994, counts five books, one set to be published in 2019 and with the fifth one (“The Strange Case of Miss Sarah X”) still to be announced. The second Book of the series, “The Angel of Darkness” set in 1897, will give the main plotlines for the second season.
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Under the Dome
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Brian K. Vaughan developed the series for CBS between 2013 and 2015, but it’s based on the 2009 science fiction novel by Stephen King. The story of the doomed city of Chester’s Mill is not the first or only work by King adapted for the small screen: we can also count “1.22.63,“ “The Mist,” “Castle Rock” and the upcoming “The Dark Tower.”
Fun fact: in 2010, King also made a cameo in the famous series “Sons of Anarchy,” appearing as a cleaner.
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Big Little Lies
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Before being an awarded HBO series with a stellar cast (Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Alexander Skarsgård and Zoe Kravitz are only a few), “Big Little Lies” was a 2014 novel written by Liane Moriarty. The Book was one of the New York Times Best-Sellers and was described as compelling and engaging read, finding the perfect balance between fun and serious themes.
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Pretty Little Liars
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Although Marlene King is known as the “mother” and developer of the beloved ABC’s teen drama, “Pretty Little Liars” is actually based on the young adult novels by Sara Shepard. The protagonists are always the same four girls, but many things change between the 18 books (plus three sides stories based on Alison’s character) and the TV adaptation.
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Orange is the New Black
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The autobiographic story by Piper Kerman, who narrated her drug trafficking in”Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison” became one of the most loved and ground-breaking series of the recent years. The negotiations for turning Kerman’s memoir into a TV Series by Jenji Kohan begun and were green-lighted in 2011, one year after the release of the book, but the series didn’t premiere until 2013. The book holds great importance up to this day, focusing on how actions are going to impact the future in ways people don’t always imagine.
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Girlboss
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Although the show was canceled only after one season, the autobiography by the American Businesswoman, founder of Nasty Gal and Girlboss Media, is still a milestone for many young girls who dream of thriving in the fashion business. The Netflix series counts 13 episodes, and Britt Robertson played Sophia’s character.
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The Handmaid’s Tale
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The Hulu series, which won eight Emmys and two Golden Globes for its first Season and three Emmys for the second one, is based on the 1985 dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood. The Canadian author set her story in a possible near-future New England. The book won the Commonwealth Literature Prize and, despite the problematic themes (also portrayed in the series, which cost it the accusation of having gone “too far” with the second season) it is often used as a learning tool, for example in high-schools.
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13 Reasons Why
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The controversial Netflix Series who shook the industry is based on the young adult 2007 novel by Jay Asher. Just like the series, the book focuses on Clay Jensen, who’s also the narrator, but there are many differences between the two projects: in the book, for example, Clay listens to all the tapes left by Hannah in one night, and (spoiler alert) also the way Hannah takes her own life is very different. Although reaching the top of the New York Times Best Seller list in 2011, like the TV Series, the book has met (and keeps on meeting) mixed reactions, although being considered less graphic and triggering than the screen version.
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American Gods
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Starz received critical acclaim for the 8-episodes first series of its adaptation of “American Gods,” which was released in 2001, but the book was a real phenomenon in the Urban-Fantasy world. It’s written by the beloved English author Neil Gaiman, who created “The Sandman series,” “Coraline” (yes, the same one of the Henry Selick’s adaptation) and “Neverwhere,” and also co-wrote two “Doctor Who” episodes. The series’ second season is scheduled for 2019.
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Sex & The City
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Everybody has heard of Carrie Bradshaw and her crazy friends, with the Manhattan-based series reaching the cult-status since 1998. But not everybody has read Candace Bushnell’s 1997 collection of essays. The book collected Bushnell’s articles written in 1994 for the The New York Observer, so we can say that Carrie Bradshaw is a fictional version of Bushnell’s herself! However, although Bushnell used Carrie as her alter-ego as a columnist for privacy reasons, series creator Darren Star wrote the screenplay for the TV series pilot with SJP in mind.
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BBC Sherlock
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The name of this show’s protagonist is enough to ring a (mighty) bell in everyone: the famous Sherlock Holmes, the prototypical hero of the modern detective figure born in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s mind at the end of the 19th century. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman’s John Watson made it to history in this modern-day retelling of the classic books, creating a renovated interest for the new generation for the literary success by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (and teaching them the virtue of patience, considering that each three-episodes long season usually takes years to see the light).
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Hannibal
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Bryan Fuller’s NBC horror-thriller takes from the same source of Demme’s “The Silence of The Lambs,” adapting the story of Doctor Hannibal Lecter. But the real fictional father of Hannibal (played in the series by an incredible Mads Mikkelsen) is American author Thomas Harris. The TV series aired from 2013 to 2015 and is officially part of the “Hannibal Lecter Franchise.” The story started in 1981 with Harris’s “Red Dragon” and was further developed through the years in the novels “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Hannibal” and the 2006 “Hannibal Rising,” which explores the man’s childhood.
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Wolf Hall
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Counted between the “10 Best Historical Novels” by The Observer, “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel is the first book of a trilogy (currently ongoing) and has been adapted into a miniseries by BBC Two in 2015. The narrative follows the first two books (“Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies“) and focuses on the figure of Thomas Cromwell and his rise to power at the side of King Henry VIII. The six-episode series won a Golden Globe as Best Miniseries or Television Film and stars a pre-“The Crown” Claire Foy who sits yet again on the English throne, this time as Anne Boleyn.
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Gossip Girl
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Before Leighton Meester and BlakeLively, in 2002 Cecily von Ziegesar invented Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen.
The 13 novels are inspired by Ziegesar’s years at her all-female University prep school and the first book, “Gossip Girl” was the inspiration for the series. Main differences with the TV Series involve Chuck’s character, who is a secondary and generally disliked character in the book and who never begins a relationship with Blair, whose soulmate is “beyond doubt” Nate. And, whatever Dan Humphrey might say, in the books, Gossip Girl’s identity is not out yet.
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Anne with an E
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This adorable 2017 Canadian Series (produced by CBC and available worldwide on Netflix) is based on the 1908 novel “Anne of Green Gables” by Lucy Maud Montgomery, which is to this day considered one of the classics in children’s literature. The book takes from Montgomery’s own childhood memories and follows Anne, a dreamy and one-of-a-kind young girl who is adopted by the old siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. “Anne with an E” is not the first adaptation of the book and its many sequels, but it won us over with its beautiful photography and delicate narrative.
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Game of Thrones
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The George R. R. Martin series of bestsellers doesn’t need an introduction, for sure. The HBO adaptation of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” fantasy saga premiered in 2011, while the books (and the several prequel novellas) begun to be published as a trilogy in the ‘90s and are currently on-going. To all the ones who are surprised that the fifth (and latest) volume of the saga took Martin so many years (being published in 2011), just know that the first book, “A Game of Thrones” took him five years to be completed.
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Poldark
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The BBC aired not one, but two adaptations of Winston Graham’s historical novels, set in Cornwall between 1783 and 1820. The twelve books follow the life of Ross Poldark (based upon a soldier that Graham met in training during World War II) and his family. Robin Ellis first embodied the character of Poldark in the 1975 version of the show, and Aidan Turner took over in the most recent, currently on-going TV Series, opposite Eleanor Tomlinson in the role of Ross’s spouse, Demelza.
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Cathedral of The Sea
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The 2006 historical novel by Ildefonso Falcones is set in Barcelona and tells the life and fortune of a young man during the construction of Santa Maria del Mar, the cathedral of the people. After a great reception by the audience (with the book winning awards in Spain and Italy) in 2018, Netflix released an 8-episodes miniseries based on the Spanish best-seller.
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My Brilliant Friend
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The Italian-American production puts HBO and Rai Cinema together for the adaptation of literary success “My Brilliant Friend,” by best-selling Italian author Elena Ferrante. The author had a say in every stage of the series (directed by Saverio Costanzo) and specifically required non-professional child actors to portray the two protagonists throughout their childhood. The first two episodes of the drama premiered at the Venice Film Festival and, while the first series will be composed of eight episodes, twenty-four more are already scheduled to cover all the four books by Ferrante.
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The Vampire Diaries
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Together with “Gossip Girl,” the phenomenon “The Vampire Diaries” and its spin-offs proved how a TV series can take a path quite different from the source and still gain enormous success. The supernatural drama counted 171 episodes and signed the success of actors Nina Dobrev, who plays both the protagonist Elena and the antagonist Katherine, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley as the Salvatore brothers and the antagonist (with his own spin-off, “The Originals,” which recently hit the series finale) Joseph Morgan. Together with “True Blood,” L. J. Smith’s “The Vampire Diaries” is one of the most famous TV adaptation for a modern vampire-centered Saga.
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Dexter
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The crime drama by Showtime pioneered another form of antihero, the vigilante Dexter Morgan (played by Michael C. Hall). But Dexter was originally the protagonist of the novels by Jeff Lindsay: the Dexter Series counts eight books, published between 2004 and 2015, and it tells through a first-person narrative the story of the sociopath serial killer, ending with the last, self-explicating title “Dexter is Dead.” The series starts off by following the plot-lines of the first novel, “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” but subsequently take a few different turns and follows storylines that are not in the books.
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House of Cards
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Netflix’s political thriller set in Washington D.C. is known for its compelling narrative and for being the first original online-only web television series to receive major Emmy nominations, but not everybody knows that the source was the novel by Michael Dobbs. The book was published at the end of the ‘80s, followed by two sequels, and counts a first adaptation by BBC dating back to the ’90s. Specifically, the Netflix series (which follows USA politics, differently than the original London-based work) is the adaptation of the BBC drama and not directly of the books.
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Outlander
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The time travel adventures of Claire Randall (portrayed by Caitriona Balfe) as told by Starz follow closely the series by American author Diana J. Gabaldon: the nine novels of the series (the first being published in 1991 and the ninth recently announced) are completed by two characters’ guides and a Graphic Novel. Gabaldon also wrote the script for one episode of the second season but described herself “impressed” and “happy” with the “wonderful work” done with the TV show, which has been already green-lighted for a fifth and sixth season.
