Kingdom Hospital

[Genetic Mishap]

Anyone see this last night? Whooooo boy. Best laugh I've had in weeks.

SPOILERS:

1. My biggest beef- the atmosphere of the hospital. I have a deep seated fear of hospitals- long story. For this show, they tried to make it look "menacing"- making it look like a normal old building instead of a hospital. Bad move. Hospitals are the scariest places because of their over-sterility. Mess with the formula removes all the creepiness.

2. I haven't seen the original Danish show on which this was based, but the whole hit and run thing was WAAAAAAAAAY too self referential on King's part.

3. Biggest beef for sane people- this show was SOOOOO hilariously campy. Spooky ghost faces that don't even try to be scary? "Johnny B. Goode" and Jesse James? Talking German Shepard (with German accent)? King's parodying himself! I know I can expect camp from King TV miniseries, but this was over the top.

4. ANTEATER?!? WTF! (Not just any anteater- a sabre-toothed hell anteater!)

GM
Huge slam on anteaters out of NOWHERE!

[JohnL]

I completely forgot about this. I was watching Angel on the WB. With the entire week available did they have to schedule it opposite the only other somewhat horror-themed show on TV?

[Tilebreaker]

The original is better. It's been awhile since i've seen it so my memory might be fuzzy. I don't remember any subplot of a guy who was hit by a car being admited. It seems they added that to make it  more "steven king" From what i recall the original was more or less people working in the hospital and strange things happening.  There were no talking animals, but everything else seems true.  they even lifted some of the same shots.  My biggest problem is the soundtrack, which is just inappropiate, it's too happy. Plus it comes in when it shouldn't. the original had a more scarier twin peaks style of music mood.   I'll probably watch it next week.

[jmc]

It's a total ripoff.  I don't expect the original to ever be aired on ABC since it's just too foreign with a lot of stuff I think only Danes would get, but at least try to have a fresh take on the material.  The stuff with the artist being hit by the van doesn't fit in with the rest of the story.  At least they could have changed a few things here and there, but they didn't.  

It makes me want to watch the original again too.

[ulthar]

I did not see it (was working), but my wife watched it.  She's  a King fan and a doctor in a hospital.  She said it was 'okay, but not scary.'

Interesting review, since I saw something the other day that basically said this program was going to be the scariest thing ever on tv (or some such marketing hype).

Too bad.  I think it DID have potential.

[Chopper]

LoL. sounds like a real clunker. i rented the Danish version once and i turned it off after i started falling asleep.

[jmc]

I was hoping they'd just take the basic premise [haunted hospital] and go in their own direction with maybe a few nods here and there to the original, but this is about as original as Gus Van Sant's PSYCHO.   Maybe not quite that bad, but in the same ballpark.  

Some of the trouble is that while the original has creepy moments, I think it's more of a dark comedy.

[Max Gardner]

I was all set to hate Kingdom Hospital.  I didn't.  If anything, I was surprised to find the series so entirely geared toward fans of the original.  Lars von Trier is on board as an executive producer, the humor is still there, if odder and more unexpected (a talking guardian ardvaark?), and the American actors look uncannily like their Danish counterparts.  Surprisingly fun, considering King's awful track record with movies and TV miniseries.  Can't wait for "Dr. Stegman" to start yelling "DANISH SCUM!" (I guess it'd be "Maine-ish Scum" in this case.)

[petrol lunatic]

I like the Danish one better, even though it goes kind of slow. Mostly because of the mean Swedish guy(can't remember his name) I hated him so much because I love Denmark (they have good cookies, meatballs aren't anything compared to cookies)

[BoyScoutKevin]

I liked it, and it is the only network show, and one of the few shows on television, the Australian "The Tribe" is the  only other that I plan on seeing every week. I like the bit about the artist. For me, it was like really being there at Stephen King's accident. I just hope that King is a better writer then the artist is a painter. And remember this is only the first episode in a 13-episode arc. There are 12 more to come. And if this is a hit, King has a second season planned.