An underrated Stephen King show that came out in 2025 deserves the attention of all those who are fans of two of the best books written by the author: It and Firestarter.
HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry is currently performing incredibly well and has also garnered favorable reviews from viewers and critics. However, before the Stephen King TV show landed on HBO, another memorable series based on a 2019 Stephen King book premiered earlier this year. Unlike It: Welcome to Derry, the show did not shatter any major streaming records and even earned an average Rotten Tomatoes score of 64%.
Yet, despite not being as well-received as the HBO series, the show deserves more attention. Interestingly, the show has already been renewed for another season, making it the first Stephen King TV adaptation to get a follow-up installment in years.
If You Love Stephen King’s IT & Firestarter, You Must Watch The Institute On MGM+
Fans of Stephen King’s Firestarter and IT will find MGM+’s The Institute to be the perfect blend of all the storytelling devices and tropes they have grown to love in the horror author’s novels:
- Endangered children under the supervision of morally corrupt or negligent adults.
- Sinister government-funded organizations that exploit.
- Exploration of the frightening potential of psychic abilities.
In all three Stephen King stories, the primary characters are children who either have traces of “the shining” or possess potent supernatural powers. Firestarter and The Institute do not feature cosmic monsters like IT‘s Pennywise. However, like Stephen King’s IT, they show how children are forced to lose their innocence after being confronted with terrors they cannot fully understand. In all three, especially in IT and The Institute, the power of friendship ultimately becomes the young characters’ ultimate weapon, allowing them to stand tall in the face of danger.
“The Shop” in Firestarter is also quite similar to the titular Institute in the MGM+ Stephen King adaptation. Both organizations run experiments on children either to give them supernatural powers or enhance their existing abilities. They are both also hinted to be government-related organizations, designed to justify evil in the name of perceived greater good.
The Institute & It: Welcome To Derry Are Perfect Examples Of How Stephen King Shows Should Be Made
2025 has been a great year for Stephen King adaptations, especially the ones on the small screen. After 2020’s The Outsider, almost all Stephen King TV shows struggled to perform well both critically and commercially. It: Welcome to Derry and The Institute have finally broken this trend by not only earning favorable reviews but also driving good viewership numbers. It would be fair to say that they have marked the beginning of a new era for Stephen King‘s TV adaptations, and future shows based on the author’s work should learn from them.
