Miniseries offer closer adaptation of novels

For those who feel discouraged when an interesting show requires the commitment of watching dozens of 20-episode-long seasons, a little something called the “miniseries” offers a less time-intensive form of entertainment. Some of miniseries from the last couple of years include “Big Little Lies” and “Chernobyl,” both of which received both critical and popular acclaim.

A miniseries, officially defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “a television drama presented as a small number of feature-length episodes,” tells a story in a limited amount of time. This keeps the plot concise and relevant while also preventing the companies and writers from excessively drawing out the content for multiple seasons due to viewer demand. 

Take pretty much any book series that was adapted into a film series, such as “Harry Potter” or “The Hunger Games.” Both popular series have sparked the following question from fans online: what if these stories were someday remade as miniseries? While it seems unnecessary, as popular and well-liked film adaptations have already been made for these two particular series, the idea behind the miniseries can be beneficial for other adaptations of books. 

Breaking out of the two-hour time restriction that comes with a film adaptation, the miniseries allows for deeper character and plot development, which are the central components that most fans feel movie adaptations fail to accomplish. A longer timeline allows for a much more accurate and direct adaptation, and separate episodes let creators maintain suspense without extending the story too far beyond the original source material.

Yet, the question remains: is a miniseries always the best option? After Stephen King was dissatisfied with Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of his book “The Shining,” he went on to write the script for a miniseries adaptation of his novel in 1997. Despite the author’s direct relation to the production of the miniseries, it is largely disregarded by fans of the original film version of the “The Shining.” While this is likely because Kubrick’s film maintains such a large cult following, it still leaves one to question whether or not a book is always best suited to a miniseries over a film. 

On a different note, a miniseries might be something you can easily forget about. Once it is done, it is done, and fans do not have the opportunity to wait in suspense for new content. Therefore, the hype surrounding it is typically short-lived, which can render it less successful than a potential serial program.

No matter your thoughts on a miniseries versus a film or TV show, the miniseries is indisputably on the rise. “Chernobyl” (2019) won two Golden Globe awards, and less recent but still notable “Big Little Lies” (2017) received widespread praise. While “Big Little Lies” strayed from the novel in the second season, it was still created under a limited run with short, seven-episode seasons. 

Miniseries have won awards and sometimes been just as popular as regular TV programs. This newly popularized media form will surely continue to be relevant and can hopefully change the way that book adaptations are made for the screen.