Stephen King's 'Under the Dome' Is A Hit

I'm not sure how many of you visitors to this blog are watching 'Under the Dome', but from what I'm reading, there are many people out there who are like me and have been tuning in. This 13 episode mini-series based on Stephen King's 1000+ page novel - with the same name: Under the Dome: A Novel - that was published in 2009, is proving to be a summer hit for CBS. In fact, it's the network's biggest success since 1992, which must be nice for them with all the wonderful projects other networks are up to lately. 'Under the Dome' debuted on June 24th to 13.1 million viewers, and a few weeks in, the mini-series continues to be the top watched network show this summer. That's pretty impressive.
I myself am enjoying what I've seen so far, 5 weeks in. With all these characters caught in such an extraordinary circumstance, it very much has a Stephen King feel to it. I haven't read the book yet, however, and in fact, I'm somewhat happy that I haven't. There are many reports of the show deviating from the book in several different ways, some of them fairly large I understand. King himself has even released a letter to his "constant readers" defending these changes, and insisting that the TV show is as good - or maybe even better in ways - as the book. I know I'll find my way to reading this massive novel in time - I plan to read all his works before I die - and I'll let you know at that time which I liked better, the novel or the show. For now, I'm just enjoying the series for what it is, and millions of others are doing just the same. Join us - 'Under the Dome' airs on CBS, Monday nights.
For those who aren't watching, and/or have not heard anything about the show, here's a preview that was released shortly before the series began: