The book was great, but I have to disagree with Ted Bessell on the faithfulness of the miniseries. I really don't think it was very faithful to the book by any search and was nowhere near as good as a result. This should've been a great miniseries, but instead it's a mediocre wasted opportunity IMO.
I'll admit that I may've exaggerated somewhat. It's not that the mini-series is horrible, but it feels like such a wasted opportunity and was such a let down for me. This was easily one of the best books Stephen King has ever written and I feel like the mini-series just cuts out way too much material. It lost a lot of the richness and depth that made the book work. When I was reading 11/22/63, I could suspend my disbelief (and that's key because the book plays everything pretty straight and doesn't work if you think to much about certain elements that are more than a little out there) because of how much we saw of Epping's day-to-day life in Dallas circa 1963 or even his regular interactions with the residents of Derry. The interactions had a very authentic feel and there was a nice slow burn during certain portions (especially in Dallas). I feel like that all got lost in the mini-series and now it just feels like a generic time-travel story. I guess I'm more disappointed because of how excited I was when I first heard it was being made into a mini-series, it just didn't live up to my expectations at all
I also think James Franco was probably miscast although Epping isn't the most dynamic character in general, IIRC.
