What Binge-Worthy TV Most Makes You Want to "Binge-Read?"
Below are the highest ranked (by Metacritic) TV series that are based on books. Instead of choosing your favorite series, which story, book, or series of books would you most like to read, or read again?
The shows are not in the order in which Metacritic ranked them.
After voting, see the inclusion criteria and/or discuss here
See the complete list by Metacritic here: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/best-tv-series-based-on-books
The shows are not in the order in which Metacritic ranked them.
After voting, see the inclusion criteria and/or discuss here
See the complete list by Metacritic here: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/best-tv-series-based-on-books
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- CreatorTerence WinterStarsSteve BuscemiKelly MacdonaldMichael ShannonAn Atlantic City politician plays both sides of the law by conspiring with gangsters during the Prohibition era.Based on Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, by Nelson Johnson.
- CreatorJohn Sacret YoungWilliam Broyles Jr.StarsDana DelanyMarg HelgenbergerBrian WimmerThe trials of a weary nurse, her friends and colleagues in a Vietnam War field hospital.Based on Home Before Morning, by former U.S. Army Nurse Lynda Van Devanter.
- CreatorJames Manos Jr.StarsMichael C. HallJennifer CarpenterDavid ZayasHe's smart. He's lovable. He's Dexter Morgan, America's favorite serial killer, who spends his days solving crimes and nights committing them.Based on Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the first novel in a series about Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay.
- CreatorDavid BenioffD.B. WeissStarsEmilia ClarkePeter DinklageKit HaringtonNine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.Based on A Game of Thrones,the first novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin.
- CreatorBryan FullerStarsHugh DancyMads MikkelsenCaroline DhavernasExplores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter and a young FBI criminal profiler who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.Based on Thomas Harris' novels Red Dragon and Hannibal, which, along with Silence of the Lambs, form a trilogy.
- CreatorJason KatimsStarsDavid WaltonBenjamin StockhamAl MadrigalWomanizing Will lives a carefree bachelor life on a Christmas song's royalties - until 11-year-old Marcus and his cute mom Fiona move in next door. Will provides an escape for Marcus from his vegan, hippie, uncool, depressed mom.Based on About a Boy, a novel by Nick Hornby.
- CreatorKatherine FugateStarsBrian McNamaraWendy DavisCatherine BellFour women and one man share the common bond of loving someone in the U.S. Army.Based on Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage, by Tanya Biank.
- CreatorBeau WillimonStarsKevin SpaceyMichel GillRobin WrightA Congressman works with his equally conniving wife to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him.Based on House of Cards, by Michael Dobbs.
- CreatorHeidi ThomasStarsVanessa RedgraveLaura MainJenny AgutterChronicles the lives of a group of midwives living in East London in the late 1950s to late 1960s.Based on a trilogy of memoirs by Jennifer Worth, the first of which is Call the Midwife, later called Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s.
- CreatorSilvio HortaStarsChad WillettRena SoferReno WilsonA young, highly qualified reporter can't find work with a major paper and signs on with a tabloid. There he learns that all the tabloid stories including aliens, big foot, and reincarnation are true.Based on the News from the Edge, a series of science fiction novels by Mark Sumner.
- CreatorMichael PillerShawn PillerStarsAnthony Michael HallNicole de BoerChris BrunoJohnny had the perfect life until he was in coma for six years. When he awoke, he found his fiancee married to another man. His son doesn't know him. Everything's changed, including Johnny. With one touch, he can see things.Based on the novel, The Dead Zone, by Stephen King.
- CreatorRobert DohertyStarsJonny Lee MillerLucy LiuAidan QuinnA crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD's most impossible cases. Following his fall from grace in London, eccentric Sherlock escapes to New York where his father forces him to live with his worst nightmare - a sober companion, Dr. Watson.Based on Arthur Conan Doyle's four novels and 56 short stories featuring the character of Sherlock Holmes, the most famous and most critically acclaimed of which is The Hound of the Baskervilles.
- CreatorBrannon BragaDavid S. GoyerStarsCourtney B. VanceJoseph FiennesJack DavenportA special task force in the FBI investigates after every person on Earth simultaneously blacks out and awakens with a short vision of their future.Based on the novel, Flashforward, by science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer.
- CreatorPeter BergStarsKyle ChandlerConnie BrittonZach GilfordA drama that follows the lives of the Dillon Panthers, one of the nation's best high school football teams, and their head coach Eric Taylor.Based on the nonfiction book, Friday Night Lights, by H. G. Bissinger.
- CreatorPaul AttanasioStarsAndre BraugherRhona MitraRubén BladesChief of experimental medicine at prestigious hospital uses unorthodox healing methods on critically ill patients. Skilled healer mentors young doctors while treating patients.Based on The Measure of Our Days, the nonfiction book by physician Jerome Groopman.
- CreatorPaul AttanasioStarsRichard BelzerClark JohnsonYaphet KottoAn American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit.Based on Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, by Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon, describing the year he spent with detectives from the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit.
- CreatorSavannah DooleyWinnie HolzmanStarsNikki BlonskyZander EckhouseRaven GoodwinFunny, heartbreaking, and provocative, "Huge" follows the lives of seven teens and the staff at a weight-loss camp as they look beneath the surface to discover their true selves and the truth about one another.Based on the young adult novel, Huge, by Sasha Paley.
- CreatorGraham YostStarsTimothy OlyphantNick SearcyJoelle CarterEnforcing his own brand of justice, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, a strong-willed, quiet law-man haunted by his past, returns to his native town to see that justice is served to those in need.Based on the short story, "Fire in the Hole," by Elmore Leonard, whose other writings include work that inspired movies such as Jackie Brown, Get Shorty, and 3:10 to Yuma.
- CreatorJason SmilovicStarsCarla GuginoBill DukeRobert ForsterThe adventures of U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco in Miami.Based on a character of writer Elmore Leonard's. The character appears in short stories by Leonard, as well as the novel, Out of Sight, which was adapted for a movie.
- CreatorDamon LindelofTom PerrottaStarsJustin TherouxAmy BrennemanChristopher EcclestonThree years after the disappearance of 2% of the global human population, a group of people in a small New York community try to continue their lives while coping with the tragedy of the unexplained nature of the event.Based on The Leftovers, the novel by Tom Perrotta.
- CreatorHunt BaldwinJohn CovenyStarsRobert TaylorKatee SackhoffLou Diamond PhillipsWalt Longmire is the dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Widowed only a year, he is a man in psychic repair but buries his pain behind his brave face, unassuming grin and dry wit.Based on the Walt Longmire Mysteries, a series of novels written by Craig Johnson.
- CreatorMichelle AshfordStarsMichael SheenLizzy CaplanCaitlin FitzGeraldDrama about the pioneers of the science of human sexuality whose research touched off the sexual revolution.Based on Thomas Maier's Masters of Sex, a biography of Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson.
- CreatorAlex GansaStarsBeau BridgesLiz VasseySam RobardsA "Twin Peaks"-like series. "Maximum Bob" is an ultra right-wing conservative judge in Florida who has a psychic ex-marine show mermaid for a wife. The sheriff is a widower who ballroom dances. The public defender is a spitfire from Miami. And somehow, there is a family of truly odd individuals, all with the same type of glasses. The jury's out on the sanity level, but it is based on Elmore Leonard, after all.Based on the novel, Maximum Bob, by Elmore Leonard.
- CreatorAdrian HodgesStarsLuke PasqualinoTom BurkeSantiago CabreraSet on the streets of 17th-century Paris, "The Musketeers" gives a contemporary take on the classic story about a group of highly trained soldiers and bodyguards assigned to protect King and country.Based on the characters from the novel, The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas.
- CreatorDan BerendsenStarsSkyler SamuelsGracie GillamKi Hong LeeA girl with special cat-like powers is being hunted by an assassin.Based on the series of books, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, by Liz Braswell.
- StarsJill ScottAnika Noni RoseLucian MsamatiPrecious Ramotswe launches the first-ever female detective agency in Botswana. She embarks on various adventures while investigating cases and must also overcome several challenges in her quest.Based on the series of novels, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith.
- CreatorJenji KohanStarsTaylor SchillingDanielle BrooksTaryn ManningConvicted of a decade-old crime of transporting drug money, ordinarily law-abiding Piper Chapman is sentenced to 18 months behind bars and quickly discovers the realities of life-changing prison time.Based on Piper Kerman's memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, about her time spent at a minimum-security federal prison.
- CreatorRonald D. MooreStarsCaitríona BalfeSam HeughanSophie SkeltonClaire Beauchamp Randall, a nurse in World War II, mysteriously goes back in time to Scotland in 1743. There, she meets a dashing Highland warrior and gets drawn into an epic rebellion.Based on the Outlander series of novels about time travel by Diana Gabaldon.
- CreatorJason KatimsStarsShiri ApplebyJason BehrKatherine HeiglThe lives of three young alien/human hybrids with extraordinary gifts in Roswell.Based on the Roswell High young adult book series, by Melinda Metz.
- CreatorMark GatissSteven MoffatStarsBenedict CumberbatchMartin FreemanUna StubbsThe quirky spin on Conan Doyle's iconic sleuth pitches him as a "high-functioning sociopath" in modern-day London. Assisting him in his investigations: Afghanistan War vet John Watson, who's introduced to Holmes by a mutual acquaintance.Based on Arthur Conan Doyle's four novels and 56 short stories featuring the character of Sherlock Holmes, the most famous and most critically acclaimed of which is The Hound of the Baskervilles.
- CreatorJosann McGibbonSara ParriottStarsDebra MessingJudy DavisChris DiamantopoulosA television show centered around Molly Kagan, the ex-wife of a Hollywood entertainment mogul who transitions into a fabulous independent life after her divorce.Based on the novel, The Starter Wife, by Gigi Levangie Grazer.
- CreatorGuillermo del ToroChuck HoganStarsCorey StollDavid BradleyKevin DurandA mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism ravages the city of New York.Based on the trilogy of novels, The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.
- CreatorJustin HalpernPatrick SchumackerStarsChristopher MeloniRachael HarrisConnor BuckleyA boy becomes a man, and a man becomes a father, in a time before coming of age was something you could Google.Based on Justin Halpern's autobiographical book, I Suck at Girls.
- StarsKenneth BranaghRichard McCabeJeany SparkUnable to unsee the dark crimes he's tasked to investigate, Wallander's job comes at a cost to his family and relationships.Based on a series of mystery novels, featuring the character Kurt Wallander, written by Henning Mankell. The first novel of the series is Faceless Killers.
- StarsJon HammDaniel RadcliffeRosie CavalieroIn the early 20th century, a young doctor arrives in a small Russian village around the time of the Russian Revolution to work in the local hospital.Based on the short story collection, A Young Doctor's Notebook by Mikhail Bulgakov, who also wrote the novel, The Master and Margarita, which is widely considered to be one of the literary masterpieces of the 20th century.