Stephen King Called These Two Shows “Unbeatable Entertainment”
Stephen King is known as the King of Horror, but when he’s not writing books he likes to share his favorite TV shows online. Back in 2021, he told fans about two series he really enjoyed. On social media he called them “unbeatable entertainment.”
The first show he recommended was The Sinner. It’s a crime drama that started out as a limited series but became so popular that it ran for four seasons.
The story comes from a novel by Petra Hammesfahr, and it was developed for TV by Derek Simonds. Bill Pullman plays a detective who investigates crimes that often look simple at first but turn out to be much deeper.
What makes the show different is that the real focus is not on who committed the crime, but on why they did it. Pullman is the only actor who stays through the whole series, while the rest of the cast changes with each season’s case.
The first season of The Sinner made a strong impact, even getting Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy nomination for Jessica Biel, who both starred in and produced the show. Critics praised the series, and audiences kept coming back until its final season wrapped in 2021.
King’s other choice was Mr. Mercedes, which is based on his own trilogy of books about retired detective Bill Hodges. The series was created by David E. Kelley and stars Brendan Gleeson as Hodges, alongside Harry Treadaway. It first premiered in 2017 and ran for three seasons. In 2020, the series moved over to Peacock, where all three seasons are still available to stream.
Even though the show ended without a fourth season, fans of King’s books and crime dramas still see Mr. Mercedes as one of the best adaptations of his work. Gleeson’s performance especially earned a lot of praise.
Stephen King doesn’t recommend TV shows lightly, so when he calls The Sinner and Mr. Mercedes “unbeatable entertainment,” it’s worth paying attention. Both series dive into the darker side of crime and human nature, which makes it easy to see why they caught his attention.
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