Whether it be Catch-22 or Outlander, some of the most beloved TV series spawn from books. Some series take great liberty with their source texts–putting them in different eras, or extending the story far beyond the textual canon–while others stay faithful to their origin. Many of these series aren’t even the first attempt at adapting these books: the Sherlock Holmes character has been portrayed 41 times on the small screen alone.
Below are ten of the most adored text-to-TV adaptations, whether they be first attempts or fortieth.
The Witcher
The new Netflix fantasy may be best known by its video game incarnation of the same name, but the world of The Witcher originated in the book series by Andrzej Sapkowski. While the show’s timeline threw off some newcomers and fans alike, the show’s release was met with great success: in its first four weeks on Netflix, 76 million member households binged Witcher.
Taking on the challenge of adapting a story with three video games and eight books was no easy feat, but the show weaves Geralt’s dry humor and undeniable heart with the dramatic flair of monster hunts to make a show that enchanted audiences.
Friday Night Lights
NBC’s beloved sports series received multiple Emmy award nominations for the way it tackled issues in contemporary America. The show, based on the 1990 nonfiction book of the same name, adapted the source text to address issues of race, economic inequality, and family values in the early 2000s. Kyle Chandler personally received Emmy nods for his strong performance as the team’s football coach, Eric Taylor.
Executive producer Jeffrey Reiner famously allowed the actors room for improvisation within the scripts’ boundaries, and this allowed the show to have the emotional breadth that makes this show a staple on many peoples’ top lists to this day.
Handmaid’s Tale
In a time of great political distress, many people seek escapism in media. Yet the Hulu series based on Margaret Atwood’s haunting dystopian novel won its way to an Outstanding Drama Series Emmy and received a devout following. The show follows the novel pretty closely in the first few seasons, proving to be a loyal adaptation.
When it ran out of material from the book, it bravely forges ahead and imagines a world where June stays in Gilead to find her daughter. Handmaid’s Tale’s bold choices and inability to shy away from harsh realities make it a worthy adaptation indeed.
Queen Sugar
Queen Sugar has many accolades to its name: executive produced by media powerhouses Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay and is also the first TV show to have women directing all of its episodes.
This series takes after the American novel of the same name which follows a rural Louisiana family as well as all of its drama. It’s had a successful four-season and was recently renewed for a fifth; a true testament to its narrative resonance.
Big Little Lies
Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Zoe Kravitz, Shailene Woodley…few other shows on television have this stellar of a cast. This team of women plays the conniving characters from Big Little Lies, a book by Liane Moriarty. This slow burn of a series captivated millions of viewers across both seasons, enrapturing audiences with stories of deception and murder.
While there are some notable differences between the text and the show, fans still consider it a pretty faithful adaptation.
Orange is the New Black
Piper Kerman’s memoir about her time spent in a woman’s prison led to the explosive hit Orange is the New Black, a Netflix original series based on Kerman’s experiences. The show didn’t shy away from any hard-hitting issues: it addressed race, sexuality, immigration issues, and mass incarceration. Raw, honest, yet always funny, Orange is the New Black kickstarted a lot of important conversations–and a lot of now-famous careers.
Breakout star Natasha Lyonne, who played Nicky, can be found starring in Russian Doll on Netflix. The lasting impact of this series earns it a spot on this list.
MAS*H
A comedy about the Korean War had no right being as successful as MASH was. This show based on a movie based on a book has a straightforward reason for its success: its characters.
Hawkeye and the other wisecracking surgeons were pulled right from the original book by Richard Hooker, but first appeared in the 1970 film. The TV series continues to be the most renowned adaptation of the franchise and is known for kicking off Alan Alda’s career.
Game of Thrones
Likely the most famous of these adaptations, Game of Thrones was so popular many users simply pirated it–season seven was illicitly downloaded over one billion times. Season one was a beloved carbon copy of the first book in the Thrones series, but the rest of the seasons took more liberty, and eventually, the televised content stretched beyond the original canon. This led to the blusteringly controversial eighth season, which ticked off pretty much every Thrones fan there is.
At the end of the day, however, its mythology spanned multiple decades and drew in billions of viewers each season, which is an impressive amount of cultural resonance.
Sherlock BBC
While also a controversial adaptation, Sherlock’s bold and unique take on the Sherlock Holmes world earns it a spot on this list (at least the first two seasons!). Sherlock introduced most American audiences to the now-beloved Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Martin Freeman. Taking the world of Sherlock from the grasp of the sultry Victorian era and into modern-day London was a bold move.
It may not be the most faithful adaptation, but its clever setting switch allowed the writers to modernize the universe and comment on humanity’s ever-changing values throughout the eras.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
This Netflix series took on no easy feat. The Unfortunate Events books series is a very verbose, literary series; not in just that it is literally a book series, but the novels are an ode to the quirks, tragedies, and beauty of language. To translate this into a visual medium isn’t easy: but the Netflix series nails it. The show is as lovely, quirky, emotional, and witty as the books from whence it came. Its cinematography has an air of Wes Anderson to it and immediately draws you into the world of the Baudelaires.
Including the fake author, Lemony Snicket, was another clever way to allow the book’s narration to seep into what would otherwise be lost in the translation from prose to screen. Before jumping the shark, the series ended perfectly at three seasons, remaining loyal to both the series’ structure and its heart.
