'' was a thirteen-episode
Miniseries based on
Lars Von Trier 's ''
Riget '', which was developed by
Horror Writer Stephen King in
2004 for
American Television . It was first aired on
ABC on
March 3 and was scheduled to conclude on
July 15 ,
2004 . The show airing was put on hold during NBA playoffs half way through, but resumed airing on June 24, and concluded mid-August.
The story tells of the fictional Kingdom
Hospital located in
Lewiston, Maine built on the site of a mill that manufactured military uniforms during the
American Civil War . Subsequently, a hospital known as the "Old Kingdom" was built on the site but it burnt down. The current hospital is known as the "New Kingdom". The hospital's "turbulent" nature seems to reflect its ominous logo, a crimson stylized dagger, predicting what will to come.
A psychic named Mrs. Druse has checked into the hospital numerous times and is taken by the staff to be a
Hypochondria c. She asks for the assistance of Dr. Hook to uncover the truth about the hospital and the mysterious spirits who haunt it — including a young girl, killed in or after the original fire; a teenage boy who was subjected to horrible test experiments in the Old Kingdom; and a strange animal, similar to a
Giant Anteater , whose long snout opens up to a horrifying set of teeth.
And elsewhere, Peter Rickman, a
Painter who is admitted to the hospital following a road accident (with severe injuries to his
Skull and
Spine ) begins to discover the ghastly goings-on while he lies
Coma tose in room 426.
Other subplots included the initiation of arrogant chief of surgery Dr. Stegman into the secret society known as the 'Keepers', and the challenged-at-every-turn flirtation between young Dr. Elmer Traff and sleep doctor Lona Massingale.
The series is known for its tangential plots and characters who recur throughout, it is — as King called it — a "novelization for television".
While written as a mini-series, many fans wanted it to be renewed for a second season, and Stephen King himself had had a storyboard written out for one. Despite incredibly successful ratings for the first episode — making it the highest rating drama debut of the year on ''.
The entire miniseries is now available on
DVD .
- Andrew McCarthy as , the handsome surgeon who lives in the hospital's basement, and who has made it his life's work to destroy incompetence among doctors.
- Bruce Davison as , the arrogant Neurosurgeon who is on the verge of being initiatied into the secret society of Kingdom Hospital, despite his numerous Malpractice suits and his repetitive bragging of his "great career" in Boston, Massachusetts .
- Meagen Fay as , Steg's only true friend in the hospital, an ambitious woman who would stop at nothing for what she wants.
- Ed Begley Jr. as , Kingdom's Chief of Staff, and member of the 'Keepers' - the Secret Society, who spends his time intiating "Operation: Morning Air".
- Jamie Harrold as , a young surgeon whose father is an important man in the hospital.
- Sherry Miller as , the enigmatic sleep doctor, and love interest of Elmer, despite her determination not to get involved with "a child".
- Allison Hossack as , Kingdom's friendliest doctor, who has a romantic interest in Doctor Hook.
- William Wise as , the leader of the Keepers, and also an important doctor at Kingdom; its longest serving member.
- Lena Georgas as Peter's nurse, afraid of blood.
- Brandon Bauer as , an Orderly , with Down Syndrome , who sneaks around Kingdom Hospital with his friend Christa, being a trickster.
- Jennifer Cunningham as , Abel's partner-in-crime, who also has Down Syndrome. Abel and Christa show a strange affinity for the hospital's mechanical workings.
- Julian Richings as , the all-purpose man of Kingdom, who regularly watches the security feeds. Otto is accompanied by Blondi, an intelligent German Shepherd Dog . He (Blondi, not Otto) has on several occasions shown self-consciousness and actual thought capabilities; as an In-joke , he thinks in a German Accent . Blondi's name is possibly a reference to Adolf Hitler 's German Shepherd Dog , also named Blondi .
- Del Pentecost as , Mrs. Druse's son, and an orderly at the hospital.
- Diane Ladd as , a professed Psychic , who regularly checks into Kingdom Hospital for all sorts of complaints, and who is determined to discover the truth lurking in the hospital's depths.
- Jack Coleman as , Comatose painter who is discovering the past, and future of Kingdom.
- Suki Kaiser as , Peter's wife, determined not to believe in the phenomena plaguing Kingdom.
- Jodelle Micah Ferland as , the ghost of a girl murdered to cover up the arson of the mill in the 1860s , she is a symbol of death in Kingdom Hospital.
- Kett Turton as , a boy killed in the Old Kingdom, who haunts the hospital as a figure of evil.
- ''Richings and Turton provide the voices of Blondi the dog, and the anteater respectively.''
- Zak Santiago Alam as
- Beverly Elliott as
- Christopher Heyerdahl as Reverend , a "miracle worker"
- Antony Holland as , an elderly patient
- Michael Lerner as , a scheming Attorney
- Bill Meilen as , a ghostly Torture expert
- Claudette Mink as , reporter for Channel 9
- Ty Olsson as , an EMT
- Gerard Plunkett as , a Seismologist
- Paul Perri as , a Vagrant who falls victim to Steg's incompetence and Elmer's pranks
- Benjamin Ratner as , Danny's fellow EMT
- Ryan Robbins as , Peter's hit-and-run driver
- Alan Scarfe as
- Jim Shield as , a Convict in the hospital
- Emily Tennant as , a young girl with irreparable Brain Damage due to Steg's incompetence
- Janet Wright as
Lorena Gale (''
Battlestar Galactica ''),
Bruce Harwood (''
The Lone Gunmen ''),
Evangeline Lilly (''
Lost ''),
Tygh Runyan (''
The L Word '') and
Christine Willes (''
Dead Like Me '') all have guest appearances.
Peter Rickman is admitted to hospital and, while in surgery, begins to discover Kingdom Hospital is more than it seems; Dr. Stegman asks vacuous Chief of Staff Dr. James to help him rid the hospital of
Hypochondriac Mrs. Druse; and
Earthquakes hit Kingdom.
Peter's hit-and-run driver arrives at Kingdom, becoming one of the first to witness the strange events building there; Elmer attempts to attract Lona during a dinner in the
Morgue ; and Hook schemes to keep Mrs. Druse on for observational purposes.
Dr. Hook becomes drawn into Mrs. Druse's plight after seeing the ghost of Mary; a prisoner and his girlfriend plan a suicide pact gone wrong when the prisoner is saved by the staff; Dr. Stegman is accused of malpractice again; and Peter is visited by the spirits of Kingdom in the form of Mary and Paul.
Dr. Traff's ex-wife dies on the operating table; Elmer dreams of Antubis; the deceased Lenny helps Mrs. Druse in her quest; Stegman goes crazy after finding his car defaced and decides to find the culprits; Paul uses Pedersen to get rid of Mrs. Druse.
Paul and Antubis face off; Pedersen plots to kill his roommate; Dr. Gupta is stunned by the likeness of a dead patient to Elmer; Elmer and Lona flirt in the sleep lab; Dr. Hook shows Draper his home in the bowels of the Kingdom; Mary reaches out to Peter; Abel and Christa ask a favor of Dr. James; and the believers gather in "Hook's Kingdom".
Dr. James holds a dinner to get funding for an investigative project into the earthquakes, which involves the accidental destruction of a recovering alcoholic seismologist; Steg's initiation goes ahead, while Brenda destroys documents incriminating him; Peter, Paul, Mary, Antubis and the headless victim wander the bowels of the hospital and Elmer uses a corpse to play a trick on Lona, but it goes wrong.
Elmer is suspected of desecrating the corpse, while its headless body wanders the corridors below Kingdom; Hook's new patient is a self-serving attorney who finds himself sharing a room with the badly-burnt Rolf Pederson; Peter's new roommate - meanwhile - is a seismologist brought in to study the earthquakes, and his paranoid thoughts on the hospital make him the perfect partner to help Mrs. Druse and Natalie save Mary; Druse asks Bobby to help her gain access to medical records; and Dr. James holds a meeting for all staff in which he attempts to ascertain if Kingdom is haunted - an idea Steg is heavily against.
Fleischer schemes to get himself moved up the transplant list, by making a deadly deal with Antubis; Natalie and Mrs. Druse discover more secrets about Mary and the Gates Mill Fire of
1869 ; Hook uses the missing head to gain Elmer's help in bringing down Steg; Steg's day goes from bad to worse as he begins losing his sanity; Massingale and Elmer experience a bizarre dream experience; Hook learns of the
1869 and
1939 fires on the site of Kingdom; and Draper and Mrs. Druse suffer at the hands of Steg, the former losing credit on a story in a
Medical Journal , the latter being confined to her bed.
The day of the
World Series final brings excitement to everyone at Kingdom, except Steg, but a suicide attempt by disgraced former New England Robins player Earl "Error" Candleton sees tension building amongst the staff, and it is up to Peter and Mary to save Candleton from Paul, and an untimely death.
Reverend Jimmy is
Crucified in a back alley, and his body becomes the source of a series of miracles which profoundly affect Nurse Wright. As the miracles grow, thousands converge upon Kingdom Hospital, waiting for the anticipated resurrection of the Reverend. Elsewhere, Massingale, Havens and Otto are trapped in the morgue after an
Earthquake ; Dr. Schwartzon predicts the future; Steg entices Brenda to destroy incriminating evidence against him, while Hook schemes to get that evidence back with Elmer's "help"; and Natalie and Mrs. Druse continue to learn more of Mary's death.
A mounted policeman patrols near the hospital and gets knocked down by a blinding light, and is brought to the hospital where he convulses and has seizures. Dr. Hook sees a pattern of the people revolving around the hospital who experienced the same thing. Bobby Druse is sent by Sally to retrieve old hospital files about Mary, Elmer is sent by Hook to retrieve a file related to the Mona Klingerman case and Brenda is sent by Stegman to retrieve the same Klingerman document. Antubis makes Stegman hallucinate during an operation on a patient's brain. While Steg meets with lawyers in the Klingerman case, Lona investigates Elmer's strange dreams, and Hook and Draper get closer together.
Dr. James continues work on his "Operation: Morning Air" badges; Elmer gets his head back; Hook publicly shames Steg in the Mona Klingerman case, leading to Steg's suspension as a surgeon; and - as he rejects Brenda - she gets revenge on him; Antubis shows Peter and Mrs. Druse a possible future; Paul convinces Steg to end it all; and Peter brings everyone together to hold a seance, before it is too late.
On
All Souls Day , with only hours until the destruction of Kingdom Hospital, the doctors, patients and staff of Kingdom come together to hold a seance where they learn the truth about the Gates Falls Mill fire, and Mary's death, and must make one last attempt to set things right; while an insane Steg wanders the halls searching for them, certain that they brought about his destruction.
List of songs played during the miniseries.
1
- The series can be dated both by the timing of the World Series , the mentions of All Souls Day , and the onscreen evidence in episode 9 that it is October 26.
- While Peter Rickman is jogging, he is seen to be wearing a sweatshirt with "Little Tall" written on it--a place King fans are familiar with...Little Tall Island, the setting of Dolores Claiborne and Storm Of The Century .
- The character of Peter Rickman was heavily influenced by King's own experiences when he was hit by a car in Maine in 1999 .
- Many of the characters' names, and events, are in-jokes, such as Nurse Carrie von Trier — a combination of King's best-seller '' Carrie '' and the director of ''Riget'', Lars von Trier.
- A recurring line in the series first comes from Lenny and is in direct reference to the " Emperor Of Ice Cream ", a poem by Wallace Stevens and which was used as both an epigram and section title in King's '' Salem's Lot ''.
- There are several references to some of King's other works, including the ''Dark Tower'' series. The drink " Nozz-A-La ", which Dr. Hook refers to as a "Nozzie" in one episode is a drink in the alternate reality that Roland's Ka-tet comes across on their journey to the Dark Tower. However, at the end of the finale of the show, the Nozz-A-La machine has become a Pepsi machine.
- The phrase "See it very well." which we hear Mary telling Peter near the end of the series is a nod to the Dark Tower as well.
- Links can also be drawn to '' Insomnia '', when Paul tells Peter to "butt out, short-time"
- We see several people throughout the series reading Stephen King books. For example, while Peter Rickman's wife sits next to him in his hospital room near the end of the series, we clearly see her reading '' Misery ''.
- The hospital Janitor , Johnny B. Goode , is constantly absent from work, and each episode sees someone different filling in for him. When we finally do see him, he is played by none other than Stephen King.
- The three characters in touch with the spirit world — Peter Rickman, Mary Jensen, and Paul Morlock — form the names of three saints mentioned in the Bible. St.Paul , St.Peter , and Saint Mary . One of the melicious spirits of the hospital mocks the Hail Mary prayer, saying, "Hail Mary, full of disgrace, the Lord has abandoned you."
- There are several references to the Bible: characters named Mary and Saul, who changes his name to Paul after a life-changing event. The near-blind guard cracks his glasses in an Earthquake, but is miraculously cured and can see perfectly afterwards. One character is beaten and "crucified" but continues to bleed after his death. Miraculous things, like water from the tap turning to wine, sandwiches multiplying, and of course, a certain character returning from the dead, begin to occur after the grisly crucifixion.
- The News Presenter ,who announces Peter's accident also mentions that he is from Castle Rock , a town that features heavily in some of King's other works.
- The ambulance that brings all patients to Kingdom Hospital, starting with Peter and continuing with all the other patients of note, is Unit 19--a number which is highly influential, as many readers of The Dark Tower will recognize.
- Fountains Of Wayne 's Adam Schlesinger wrote the theme tune, and during the final episode the band's 1999 hit Red Dragon Tattoo is played as the hospital begins to collapse. Stephen King is a big fan of the group, and often makes references to Fountains of Wayne in his periodic pop-culture related articles in Entertainment Weekly. In December 2005, he started a list of his favorite Christmas songs with Fountains of Wayne's "I Want An Alien For Christmas." Schlesinger's other band, Ivy , perform the series' theme song.
- The exteriors of the hospital were filmed at the Workers' Compensation Board building (now the WorkSafeBC building) in Richmond, British Columbia .http://www.worksafebc.com/publications/newsletters/worksafe_magazine/Assets/PDF/wsm_nov_dec_2003.pdf
- In the episode Seizure Day, a nurse is reading a book entitled "Make Him Want you with Witchery, Love Potions, Charms and Spells" by Barlow Straker. Mr. Barlow and Mr. Straker are two characters in Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot .
- According to the website (Cited at the bottom) an address exists for the Hospital in Maine (warned to be the gates of Hell, where one would be greeted by the walking dead), but the zip code is for New York City. While there is no Kingdom Road in this zip code, there is an Empire Boulevard which has a #686, which appears from Googlemaps to be an apartment building. Of course, New York hasn't suffered a major earthquake for decades, and no hospitals currently exist on Empire Blvd. However, two hospitals named Kings County Hospital and Kingsbrook Med. Ctr. both are in the zip code, with the addresses of 585 and 606, which may have been the source of the address for the Hospital in the show being 686. The zip code was probably picked arbitrarily or simply because it was completely outside of the state of Maine.
