# Stephen King's KINGDOM HOSPITAL **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2004, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304 "2004-01-20T09:11:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/21 "2004-03-04T04:16:03Z")
Looks like I have a new show to watch on Wednesdays! Damn good thing it won’t be up against Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/22 "2004-03-04T06:10:46Z")
Well, the first episode premiered tonight, and I FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT. Damn. Anybody see it? How was it? Did King schlock the thing all up to ber damned? I hear the Down’s Syndrome dishwashers actually made it into King’s version, which is a good sign. When’s it air again? ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/23 "2004-03-04T06:25:20Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Well, the first episode premiered tonight, and I FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT. Damn. Anybody see it? How was it? Did King schlock the thing all up to ber damned? I hear the Down’s Syndrome dishwashers actually made it into King’s version, which is a good sign. When’s it air again? Not the best of Stephen King, but the Titles kicked ass!! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/24 "2004-03-04T13:07:51Z")
What does Stephen King actually have to do with this? I’m a big fan of his, but after _Rose Red_ or whatever that steaming pile was called, I’m wary. I did get the book version from the library, but it’s quite a way down in the to-read pile. I figure if the mini-series is any good, I’ll catch it again one of these days, and right now I must watch American Idol. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/25 "2004-03-04T13:16:46Z")
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24739-2004Mar2.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24739-2004Mar2.html) Not a ringing endorsement. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/26 "2004-03-04T13:25:43Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s just more simplistic horror hash from a tired and shameless old slinger. Oh dear. I wish he wouldn’t do these things. Steve, I love you, you know I do, but you disappoint me. ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_D\_oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/839c29/32.png) [@Jane\_D\_oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_D_oh)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/27 "2004-03-04T13:27:39Z")
The credits didn’t mention that ALF was making a guest appearance. They should tell you things like that up front. ugh ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/28 "2004-03-04T15:16:44Z")
May I ask a question? I was playing games at a friends house and his wife was watching this on the TV. I couldn’t see the video but could hear audio. What I’m wondering is what was up with the recurring song “Red Dragon Tattoo” by Fountains of Wayne? I noticed that they were playing it over and over, but it took me awhile to realize that it might represent a recurring _scene_, probably traumatic, with flashbacks and the like. Am I mistaken? ---
**Author:** ![ShawnKemp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@ShawnKemp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShawnKemp)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/29 "2004-03-04T15:41:33Z")
I watched the whole show last night and loved it. The “Alf”/anteater was a little strange but still pretty cool. King has actually put on a pretty good show here which is nice. It was surprisingly funny too. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/30 "2004-03-04T15:55:23Z")
I kinda liked it too. I haven’t seen the original (I guess it’d be subtitled or something, right?), but would like to if I have the chance. **Ludovic** , you are right. It is the song playing on the radio when the artist is hit by the van. I guess both the artist and the van driver were listening to the same station or something, but anyway that song appears in flashbacks of the incident. Wednesdays at 9c, it gives me something to watch other than yet another episode of Law & Order. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/31 "2004-03-04T16:01:20Z")
Was the anteater in the Lars Von Trier version? ---
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/32 "2004-03-04T16:11:02Z")
Jesus, that was awful. The only bright spot was Ed Begley Jr. nailing the character of the hospital administrator. A few months back there was a thread about things that were so bad that we’ve agreed they never happened. This show never happened. ---
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/33 "2004-03-04T16:13:30Z")
and what the _hell_ was an anteater doing in the Maine woods? ---
**Author:** ![Mogwei22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@Mogwei22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogwei22)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/34 "2004-03-04T16:17:02Z")
**Wumpus** regarding the anteater: Absolutely Not. Where’s Bondo? I’m reserving judgment till I’ve seen more. I believe I’ll watch the later installments more out of curiosity to see what was ripped directly from Lars. This is no Twin Peaks. ---
**Author:** ![luluBahrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@luluBahrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luluBahrain)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/35 "2004-03-04T16:23:47Z")
I love Stephen King but I want to kick his ass for this show. I was so looking forward to watching it. Saw it last night and was embarassed for him…AWFUL! ---
**Author:** ![anonplz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@anonplz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anonplz)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/36 "2004-03-04T16:27:36Z")
> [@LabRat](#): > > Jesus, that was awful. The only bright spot was Ed Begley Jr. nailing the character of the hospital administrator. A few months back there was a thread about things that were so bad that we’ve agreed they never happened. This show never happened. I thought the guy who plays Dr. Stegman did a HILARIOUS job! I haven’t laughed so hard in AGES! What a big, bumbling drama queen - fumbling for his ID card, glowering at the group of a half dozen junkies who’ve pegged him for mischief, he parks his car not 20 feet away in an unprotected, unfenced parking lot, as they hoot and holler at his stupidity; he then makes a big show of pulling out - THE CLUB! 😃 - and locking up his steering wheel. So then, as he’s about to run to his meeting, he does a doubletake and goes back to his trunk, and mysteriously, ominously pulls out - a Boot - 😃😃😃 - and locks his front wheel with it, muttering about the punks as they continue to point and laugh at him! As he backs away, he trips in a crack in the pavement, dropping his briefcase and papers all over, and the junkies just keep laughing, amazed at how dumb he looks. I’m still laughing about that! 😃 that said, I don’t think this was supposed to be a comedy, but Stephen King’s style has NEVER translated well to the big or small screen. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/37 "2004-03-04T16:30:27Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > Oh dear. I wish he wouldn’t do these things. > > Steve, I love you, you know I do, but you disappoint me. Pay no attention to that Washington Post writer. Sounds like he wasn’t paying much attention and has an axe to grind. > [@](#): > > The lone security guard peers at his copy of “Spanking Nurses” through thick round glasses while in the basement, two little boys who appear developmentally challenged break into delighted and high-pitched giggles even when the building goes into one of its conniption fits. The only one in the basement is Dr. Hook. These “deveolpmentally chanllenged” people are kitchen staff. They _work_ there, which automatically makes them adults. And isn’t one of 'em female? > [@](#): > > After lying motionless beside the road through two, or maybe three, commercial breaks, Rickman is finally rescued by paramedics and rushed – well, not exactly rushed – to the hospital. I though it was _one_ commercial break and if the paramedics weren’t rushing, what the hell _were_ they doing? [quote] Thus does Rickman lie there, and lie there, and lie there, his thoughts heard in voice-over and his ordeal punctuated by such very minor thrills as a crow cawing [quote] And wanting to peck out the guy’s eyes. > [@](#): > > and an anteater eating an ant. > > The anteater – or it could be an aardvark – has unusually long and threatening dentures That’s the point! Rickman feels threatened by it! > [@](#): > > It’s too early to tell which, but German shepherds seem to be everywhere; one even talks, in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice, to the hospital’s imbecilic security guard. There’s only _one_ German shepherd! > [@](#): > > King being King, he may make devices like the presence of the anteater pay off somewhere down the line He already did, in the surgery scene. Or weren’t you paying attention when Rickman woke up? > [@](#): > > First, for no real reason, Stegman loses control of his Jaguar and almost has an accident, the car and the camera swerving and lurching. Then cometh The Parking of the Car. Stegman, intimidated by a gang of hooligans that inexplicably hangs around the entrance to the hospital parking lot (and looks like the cast of “Hair,” or maybe “Fame”), takes steps to make sure the car is secured, first with a lock on the steering wheel, then with one of those boot things on one of the wheels. Dr. Stegman is a prima donna jackass who evidently suffers from road rage and assumes those hooligans are out to steal his car. > [@](#): > > The obvious question is, how many weeks will it take before the spooks and spirits buried beneath the hospital stop teasing and playing around and actually do some scary stuff? To judge from the premiere, which is really just two hour-long episodes joined at the spine, it could be months, or it could be never. Or it could be next week. I guess reviewers don’t get to see previews of following episodes. > [@](#): > > Added distractions include Diane Ladd wandering around the hospital in a purple bathrobe babbling gibberish Gibberish? She’s the only one who knows what’s really happening! > [@](#): > > and a glimpse or two of the hit-and-run van driver at home, where he gulps pills with one hand and downs beers with the other. And having some really weird visions of a game-show contestant being electrocuted and a bloody Rickman left to lie in the ditch. > [@](#): > > It fills you with the urge to wander. Maybe you shouldn’t wander so much, Mr. Shales. ---
**Author:** ![anonplz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@anonplz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anonplz)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/38 "2004-03-04T16:35:29Z")
> [@](#): > > The villain of the piece, an evil neurologist named Stegman, played by Bruce Davison, arrives in the second hour, and it’s an arrival that takes longer than a mother-in-law’s departure. > > First, for no real reason, Stegman loses control of his Jaguar and almost has an accident, the car and the camera swerving and lurching. Then cometh The Parking of the Car. Stegman, intimidated by a gang of hooligans that inexplicably hangs around the entrance to the hospital parking lot (and looks like the cast of “Hair,” or maybe “Fame”), takes steps to make sure the car is secured, first with a lock on the steering wheel, then with one of those boot things on one of the wheels. > > It’s ridiculous and overdone, but it sure does kill time… (From the Washington Post review cited above) Well, I thought it was funny… But I do agree with this guy’s annoyance at all the cute double-entendres King uses. He’s always been fond of that. For example, “Jesse James” and “Johnny B. Goode” are administrators at the hospital. “Peter Rickman” could be a sly way of referring to Phil Rickman, who is a famous English horror author, someone probably King is friendly with. Then one of the songs on the radio which we heard at some point during the show contained cute references to famous works, like “Red Dragon” by, of course, Dean Koontz. :rolleyes: Enough, already. Cute is not horrifying. Horror is horrifying. Back to basics, King. ---
**Author:** ![anonplz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@anonplz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anonplz)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/39 "2004-03-04T16:39:14Z")
And then the security guard with the glasses thing - yeah, I also found myself wondering how a security guard at a hospital in rural Maine could possibly find it in his budget to afford such Oliver Peeples type glasses? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304/40 "2004-03-04T16:55:57Z")
> [@LabRat](#): > > and what the _hell_ was an anteater doing in the Maine woods? Because the hospital put it there. King seems have taken _The Kingdom_ and infused it with elements from The Shining and It.The hospital, which was built on the site of a fire that killed several children, is aware of and influences the goings on inside it and in the surrounding area. > [@anonplz](#): > > Back to basics, King. Did you see the previews for next week? Vampire! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-kingdom-hospital/225304.md?page=3)