Under The Dome Could Last More Than One Season

By Nick Venable | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

domeSeen above is the first piece of key art released from CBS’ upcoming “event series” Under the Dome, adapted of course from the Stephen King novel of the same name. While it’s a nice image and all, it makes this show look like it will deliver an E.T. brand of sentimentality rather than showcasing a city in peril. Could be because Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers. Could be they just want to attract “dog people.”

Regardless, The Hollywood Reporter has much more interesting things to tell us about Under the Dome, gleaned from show producers Brian K. Vaughan (Lost) and Neal Baer (ER). Apparently, calling it a miniseries could be misleading, as they’ve already discussed with King ways to extend this show for many years, despite the fact that the novel only takes place over a week’s time. Already, this first season has stretched the timeline, and each episode covers roughly a day in the characters’ lives. And while a multi-year run is optimistic at best, the 13-episode season is a much easier way to adapt to such an extension. This will, of course, tamper with the way the novel ended, but a lot of people had a problem with that part anyway, so they could possibly top it. Should it go into a second season, King has already expressed interest in writing an episode.

Having worked on Lost, Vaughan was keen to confirm that mysteries developed during Under the Dome will get resolved for the most part, though the staff is hoping that the town’s residents engage audiences enough to where the show’s more mysterious elements can take a backseat. “The mythology is an added bonus,” he says, “but it’s about revealing characters. I’m not too concerned that people will tune out if they’re not getting the biggest answer as long as they love the people on the screen.” Some of those characters are new inventions not present in the novel. Without disrespect, I think it’s hilarious that the writers decided to add an interracial lesbian couple with a daughter to add a “socially relevant” storyline. They’re sure going for the gusto there.

While the first episode will lay all the violent dome-in-groundwork, the second episode promises equally impressive visuals, along with an explosion. Ker-pow, dome! The series premieres on Monday, June 24, 2013 on CBS, and will be available on Amazon Prime Instant just four days later.

In case you missed the extended preview we showed you a few weeks ago, you can check it out below.