2020 Preview: 10 New Shows Based on Page-Turners (PHOTOS)
The Outsider
Based on Stephen King’s 2018 supernatural crime thriller, the 10-part miniseries stars Jason Bateman (also an executive producer) as a beloved small-town teacher and Little League coach accused of an unspeakable crime. Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline), Cynthia Erivo (the upcoming Genius: Aretha), and Mare Winningham (American Horror Story) costar.
The Outsider, Series Premiere, Sunday, Jan. 12, 9/8c, HBO
Briarpatch
In the first installment of a planned anthology, Mr. Robot guru Sam Esmail brings his quirky vision to this adaptation of Ross Thomas’ pulpy 1984 tale. A private eye (Rosario Dawson) uncovers corruption (and escaped zoo animals) in her Texas hometown while digging into her sister’s murder.
Briarpatch, Series Premiere, Thursday, Feb. 6, 10/9c, USA
High Fidelity
Big Little Lies‘ Zoë Kravitz headlines a gender-flipped take on Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel — the basis of a John Cusack movie and a Broadway musical — as a record-store owner who may not be able to make it work with a new guy (Fosse/Verdon‘s Jake Lacy) until she sorts out her old romantic missteps.
High Fidelity, Series Premiere, Friday, Feb. 14, Hulu
The Good Lord Bird
James McBride’s 2013 National Book Award winner about Henry Shackleford, the teen slave who crossed paths with the likes of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass during the Civil War, becomes an eight-part limited series costarring Ethan Hawke as abolitionist John Brown. Newcomer Joshua Johnson-Lionel plays Shackleford.
The Good Lord Bird, Series Premiere, Winter, Showtime
ZeroZeroZero
A shipment of cocaine’s journey from its Mexican source to a buyer in Europe is told through the eyes of the brokers, dealers and couriers handling it along the way in this eight-part crime drama. It’s based on Roberto Saviano’s 2015 nonfiction report on the global drug trade, with an international cast that includes Gabriel Byrne and Waco‘s Andrea Riseborough.
ZeroZeroZero, Series Premiere, Spring, Prime Video
Snowpiercer
The 2013 postapocalyptic film about a train carrying mankind’s survivors around the now-frozen Earth gets a serialized adaptation starring Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) and Tony winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton). Both the movie and series are based on a 1982 French graphic novel, Le Transperceneige.
Snowpiercer, Series Premiere, Spring, TNT
Belgravia
Lies, forbidden loves and the Battle of Waterloo collide when Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes brings his juicy 2016 novel, set in 19th-century London’s high society, to life. The soapy tale of one family’s dirty little secret features Tamsin Greig (Episodes) and Tara Fitzgerald (Game of Thrones).
Belgravia, Series Premiere, TBA, Epix
The Haunting of Bly Manor
A governess hired to take care of two kids in a possibly haunted country estate? That sounds like a job for the folks behind The Haunting of Hill House, who continue the anthology franchise with a rendering of Henry James’ 1898 chiller, The Turn of the Screw, starring Hill vets Victoria Pedretti and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.
The Haunting of Bly Manor, Premiere, TBA, Netflix
The Right Stuff
Patrick J. Adams (Suits) and Jake McDorman (the Murphy Brown revival) play astronauts John Glenn and Alan Shepard in this drama based on Tom Wolfe’s 1979 tome.
The Right Stuff, Series Premiere, TBA, National Geographic
The Stand
James Marsden, Whoopi Goldberg, Amber Heard, Greg Kinnear, and Daniel Sunjata take on Stephen King’s 1978 epic. With so much talent signed on, this tale — about the forces of good and evil duking it out after a worldwide plague — packs a cast as big as the 800-plus-page novel.
The Stand, Series Premiere, TBA, CBS All Access
The holiday season is over, but TV has some new gifts you'll never want to return. Settle in for 12 months of fan-favorite stars (Fran Drescher, Edie Falco), inspiring physical feats (the Olympics), new streaming services, and another must-see season of Outlander.
If you're a fan of TV shows and books, then you're in luck in 2020.
From High Fidelity to Briarpatch to The Stand, there's something new coming to television based on a page-turner throughout the year.
See Also
10 Books That Should Be Adapted Into TV Shows (PHOTOS)
Click through the gallery above for a look at the shows you won't want to miss.
For More of Our 2020 Preview:
8 Reboots & Spinoffs Coming to TV
'Schitt's Creek,' 'The 100' & 7 More TV Shows Ending
'Outmatched,' 'Kimmy Schmidt' & More Laughs on the Way
6 U.S. Athletes to Watch Ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics
HBO's 'Perry Mason' Is More 'Gritty Fixer Than Polished Lawyer'
