(TV/streaming video) New & Leftover Items, a Touch of 2024, and some Nostalgic Forensics

Some Nightmares Before Bedtime?

Almost anyone with basic cable knows that TNT is beginning a four-week, Wednesday night Stephen King "event" tonight, presenting hour-long teleplays of eight Stephen King stories. If I'm recalling correctly, they're being presented commercial-free.
Four of the adaptations are based on stories from King's 1993 anthology NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES. The Road Virus Heads North comes from King's 2002 anthology Everything's Eventual, while Battleground comes from 1978's Nightshift.

Initially I was a little bothered that only half of the tales were being taken from the titular anthology, but after a little reflection it's probably for the best. I'd have liked to see an adaptation of Dolan's Cadillac, but much of what made that work as fiction in print - the narrative running in the main character's head - would likely have made clumsy material for a screenplay. That Crouch End and (later in the series) Umney's Last Case were selected were, IMHO, good choices.

Tonight begins the run with two stories, Battleground at 9pm and Crouch End at 10 pm. (Both EST.) I only vaguely recall the first, but the second was King's attempt at H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulu mythos, and I'm hoping the screenwriter and director haven't screwed it up fiercely.

Battleground
Starring William Hurt
Teleplay by Richard Christian Matheson, based on the short story by Stephen King, directed by Brian Henson
Jason Renshaw (Hurt), a professional hit man, successfully murders the CEO of a prestigious toy company, only to face the biggest fight of his life when a package from the toy company is delivered to his house with surprising, deadly contents.

Then, at 10...

Crouch End
Starring Eion Bailey, Claire Forlani
Teleplay by Kim LeMasters, based on the Short Story by Stephen King, directed by Mark Haber
A newlywed American couple (Bailey and Forlani) honeymooning in London goes to Crouch End to have dinner with a friend. They soon learn the town is not what it appears to be, and the more they get lost, the more they become trapped in another dimension.

I don't have a still from the latter, but I've run shots of the leads.

[Afterword: Oh, well... it wasn't as bad as it might have been. What bothered me most weren't even the bad video effects in Crouch End, but the moronic "twist" at the end concerning her husband becoming a deformed cat. What dolt decided to do that, and what drooler signed off on it?]