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Top 10 TV Shows You Didn't Know Are Based on Books

Top 10 TV Shows You Didn't Know Are Based on Books
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VOICE OVER: Samantha Clinch
You might be surprised at how many of your favorite TV series started as page-turners! In this countdown, we're exploring memorable shows whose gripping stories first came to life in novels, short stories, and columns. Prepare for everything from macabre mysteries to unforgettable comedies, with a few unexpected literary origins along the way. Entries include “Sex and the City”, “M*A*S*H”, “House of Cards”, “Dexter”, “Killing Eve”, “Shōgun”, “You”, “True Blood”, “Friday Night Lights”, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. Which adaptation amazed you the most? Let us know in the comments below!

#10: The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

The Fall of the House of Usher & Other Works by Edgar Allan Poe


The famously macabre writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe may have died in 1849, but his legacy endures through the many adaptations his works still receive today. One example is Mike Flanagans Netflix miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher, which many may not realize was actually based on Poes short story of the same name. However, instead of a direct adaptation, the series reimagines Poes gothic world through a modern lens. The Usher family is portrayed as a wealthy, corrupt pharmaceutical empire whose members are killed off one by one until the entire dynasty crumbles. The show is chock-full of references to Poes works, with episode titles taken from his short stories and its characters being named after some of his most iconic figures.


#9: Friday Night Lights (2006-11)

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H. G. Bissinger


Before becoming the NBC sports drama we know today, Friday Night Lights lived many lives. It began as a 1990 non-fiction book that chronicled the 1988 football season of the Permian High School Panthers in Odessa, Texas. Then, it was adapted into a movie, although director Peter Berg wasnt thrilled about cutting off characters and storylines to fit time constraints. With a TV show, however, he got the leeway to fully develop the themes he wanted to explore. While the book is centered around the real-life Odessa, the series takes creative liberties by setting the story in the fictional town of Dillon and introducing original characters and storylines. Nevertheless, it remains faithful to the books core themes, showing how high school football can come to define small towns.


#8: True Blood (2008-14)

The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris


HBOs hit fantasy-horror show True Blood first breathed life as The Southern Vampire Mysteries, a book series written by best-selling author Charlaine Harris. Both follow Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress in a rural Louisiana town who becomes entangled with vampires after the invention of synthetic blood allows them to live openly among humans. True Blood kicks off with the same framework as the book series, but it quickly carves its own darker, bloodier path. The show greatly expands on the original story, developing numerous subplots and preserving characters like fan-favorite Lafayette, who dies early in the novels. As the series progresses, it cranks up the gore and erotic content, to make a show that ultimately feels much different from its source material.


#7: You (2018-25)

You by Caroline Kepnes


Books are a recurring motif in this Netflix psychological thriller series. The main character, Joe Goldberg, is a bookstore manager who becomes dangerously fixated on the women he likes, and sometimes uses the store to imprison his victims. But the series connection to literature runs deeper, as it is based on Caroline Kepnes 2014 novel of the same name. Season one closely mirrors the book, focusing on Joes obsession with Guinevere Beck and the extreme measures he takes to infiltrate her life. Although Kepnes has since written multiple sequels, the show gradually diverges from her work in subsequent seasons. The most notable difference though is how it softens Joes character, making him more introspective and, at times, more sympathetic than his literary counterpart.


#6: Shgun (2024-)

Shgun by James Clavell


If the sprawling saga in Shgun feels all too real, its because much of it is actually rooted in history. The critically acclaimed FX series follows John Blackthorne, an English sailor shipwrecked in 17th-century Japan, who is taken under the wing of the powerful Lord Yoshii Toranaga. The show is an adaptation of the 1100-page novel written by James Clavell in 1975, which itself was a dramatized retelling of real historical events. Blackthorne is based on real-life English navigator William Adams, who arrived in Japan in the 1600s and became a samurai under the feudal lord Tokugawa Ieyasu, the inspiration for Toranaga. The show builds on Clavells novel, retaining the elements that made it a hit while giving more narrative weight to the Japanese characters.


#5: Killing Eve (2018-22)

Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings


Between 2014 and 2016, British author Luke Jennings released four e-book novellas that were later combined into a single novel titled Codename Villanelle. This novel formed the basis for the hit spy series Killing Eve. Starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, the show revolves around a cat-and-mouse game between an intelligence officer and an assassin, who are locked in a dangerous battle of wits. The first season, which was written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, uses Jennings book as a springboard, before taking the story down a more complex and darkly comedic direction. Following the shows success, Jennings published two sequels, Killing Eve: No Tomorrow and Killing Eve: Die for Me, although plot-wise, they have little in common with the TV adaptation.


#4: Dexter (2006-13)

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay


In its original run, this crime drama series lasted eight seasons on television, consistently earning some of the highest ratings in Showtimes history. The titular character, Dexter Morgan, is a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police who moonlights as a vigilante serial killer, targeting other murderers who have escaped justice. Dexter premiered in 2006, but the mysterious character was first introduced two years earlier in Darkly Dreaming Dexter, a novel by author Jeff Lindsay and the first in his crime thriller series. The first season is a close adaptation of the first novel, but later seasons completely ignore the events of the subsequent books, allowing the show to develop its own unique tone.


#3: House of Cards (2013-18)

House of Cards by Michael Dobbs


The Netflix series House of Cards has been praised by political insiders for its realistic portrayal of the cutthroat world of U.S. politics. But surprisingly, the shows roots lie not in America, but in the UK. It was adapted from the 1989 novel of the same name by British author Michael Dobbs, which was first turned into a BBC miniseries in 1990. The original story follows Francis Urquhart, a cunning Conservative Party whip who schemes his way to power after being passed over for a promotion. Netflixs adaptation relocates the story to Washington D.C. and reimagines its lead character as Frank Underwood, an equally ambitious figure determined to reach the White House, with his wife Claire firmly by his side.


#2: M*A*S*H (1972-83)

MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker


One of the most popular shows in television history actually began as a 200-page novel by a former military surgeon. MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors written by H. Richard Hornberger under the pen name Richard Hooker, drew from his real-life experience as a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital doctor during the Korean War. It was first made into a film in 1970, starring Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould and Robert Duvall. When plans for a second film based on the books sequel fell through, producers instead settled on developing a TV show, which premiered on CBS in 1972. This version became a massive success, masterfully incorporating dark humor into its stark portrayal of the grim realities of war.


#1: Sex and the City (1998-2004)

Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell


Carrie Bradshaw is a fictional newspaper columnist from Sex and the City that we all came to know and love over six seasons on the HBO series. But the character is actually based on a real person, Candace Bushnell. Between 1994 and 1996, Bushnell wrote a column of the same name for The New York Observer, chronicling her romantic experiences and those of her single friends. Bushnells columns were later compiled into a 1996 book, which then served as the basis for the HBO show. Darren Stars TV adaptation significantly expands the scope of the story with fresh characters and plotlines, but it retains several key figures from Bushnells columns, including Carrie, her close-knit circle, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte, as well as Mr. Big.


Which books would you like to see adapted into TV shows in the future? Let us know in the comments below.

MsMojo TV shows based on books television adaptations Sex and the City M*A*S*H House of Cards Dexter Killing Eve Shogun You True Blood Friday Night Lights The Fall of the House of Usher book adaptations literary TV shows novels to screen adaptation Edgar Allan Poe Charlaine Harris Caroline Kepnes Candace Bushnell James Clavell Luke Jennings Jeff Lindsay Michael Dobbs Richard Hooker best TV series drama series mystery series
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