From ‘Money Heist’ to ‘Fargo’: Stephen King’s TV show recommendations
The esteemed writer often takes to social media to comment on his favorite series. Here is a look at some of his top picks
Stephen King likes to fiddle around on X (formerly Twitter), where he has more than 7 million followers, and he often uses the platform to recommend movies, books and series. His recommendations instantly turn into authoritative arguments as to why these picks should be supported. Many people trust in his opinions. So what does the esteemed writer think about the latest TV shows and movies? Here is an example of some of his most recent recommendations.
He found the first episode of The Tourist (Netflix) “exciting, suspenseful, mysterious.” He also quite liked the first two episodes of Constellation (Apple TV+), but he wonders if the story will hold up over the chapters. He loved the fifth season of Fargo (Hulu) and praised the performances of Juno Temple and Jennifer Jason Leigh. “Never seen anything like it,” he posted. King has also taken to X to complain about Freeve, Amazon’s free ad-supported platform, saying that the continual ads take away from the effect of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
If you go further back in his tweets, there is a lot of Netflix, so much so that actor David Harbor (from Stranger Things‚ another of King’s favorites) told him that perhaps he needed to perform “an intervention” so that King would go back to writing books, joking that he had become a “Netflix addict.”
Money Heist. The author of It is a big fan of the Spanish series. So much so that he even took a photo with the famous Dalí mask. In 2018, he highly recommended the show. In 2019, he said the new season was even better than the first, calling it “exciting and hilarious,” and in 2020, he was back with the praise, celebrating the first episode of the fourth season: “More excitement and pure daffy fun than in the whole season of most shows.” Few fans of the Spanish series are as dedicated as him. (Netflix).
Search Party. The show’s combination of mystery and comedy with an indie touch won it King’s recommendation in 2017. “Crazed mix of genres, beautiful comedic turns with self-obsessed millennials.”(HBO Max).
The Americans. When recommending this spy thriller-come-family drama, King focused on a small detail that, for him, represented why cable drama was above the rest: in one episode, two characters covered a dish of leftovers with plastic wrap, a detail of daily life that, according to him, is rarely seen in a traditional TV series. (Hulu).
Game of Thrones. Stephen King loved the final season of Game of Thrones, “including Dani going bugshit all over King’s Landing.” “There’s been a lot of negativity about the windup, but I think it’s just because people don’t want ANY ending. But you know what they say: All good things...” (HBO Max).
Homeland. This was another spy thriller that King eagerly followed and posted about on X (Twitter at that time). In 2018, he claimed that Homeland, The Americans and Game of Thrones were a cut above anything else on television and that they were regularly watched at his home. (Hulu).
Dark. In 2020, the author of Carrie recommended this intricate German sci-fi series. “Dark, complex and... well... very German. Terrific show,” he said, listing two websites that provide show recaps for anyone might get lost with the show’s convoluted time travel plot. (Netflix).
Marianne. On this list there had to be terror, of course. King recommends Marianne for those who like to be scared. “There are glints of humor that give it a Stranger Things vibe. It also has (I say with all due modesty) a Stephen King vibe.” (Netflix).
The Good Fight. And The Good Wife before it, of course. As an avowed Democrat (and Trump critic), he had to love the Alicia Florrick and Diane Lockhart series. In 2017, he expressed his love for The Good Fight, which in 2019 he praised again as “the best show on television.” (Paramount).
Black Mirror. In 2014, before Black Mirror moved to Netflix, King was already a fan of this British series, then in the hands of the BBC. “Loved Black Mirror. Terrifying, funny, intelligent. It’s like The Twilight Zone, only rated R.″(Netflix).
Servant. More terror. The show by M. Night Shyamalan was also among King’s favorites. “If there’s anything creepier or more bingeworthy than this, I don’t know what it is. Tight focus, great acting and atmosphere,” he said in 2021. He also sang the show’s praises during the third season: “Can’t recommend it strongly enough. Claustrophobic setting, maximum suspense... and cooking!” (Apple TV+).
The Night Agent. “Farfetched but ridiculously entertaining,” said the novelist about this action thriller, highlighting the chemistry between the lead actors, the attention to detail and the show’s “enjoyable paranoia.” (Netflix).
Painkiller. King said he closely identified with the TV series about the opioid epidemic in the U.S. “After getting smashed up in 1999 [he was hit by a van and nearly had his leg amputated], the docs said, ‘We have this wonderful new drug for pain called OxyContin. You’ll like it.’ Like it? I loved it. Almost to death.” (Netflix).
Mindhunter. In 2017, King highly recommended this thriller by Joe Penhall and directed by David Fincher about the first FBI agents who made psychological profiles of serial killers. (Netflix).
Midnight Mass. This creation by Mike Flanagan received King’s approval before it even premiered, with the writing praising its dense and beautiful cinematography, “a terror tale that climbs to a high pitch of horror in the seventh and last episode.” (Netflix).
Halt and Catch Fire. Stephen King also praised this drama set in the world of IT pioneers. “What a beautiful thing, covering 1983 to 1994 — as full and engrossing as a long novel.” (Prime).
Fauda. “Cool Israeli thriller. With episodes only a little longer than your average sitcom, it’s all killer and no filler,” he said. The first comment on his tweet from February 2017 is from, Avi Issacharoff, one of the creators of the series, who thank him for his words. (On Netflix).
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