Stars, bestselling source material power 'Big Little Lies': How HBO, FX are remaking miniseries
'Big Little Lies,' which is based on the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty and stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley, debuts on HBO on Feb. 19.
'Big Little Lies,' which is based on the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty and stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley, debuts on HBO on Feb. 19.
A new miniseries from HBO, 鈥淏ig Little Lies,鈥� debuts on the network as content creators such as HBO and FX have continued to keep miniseries an acclaimed entertainment option.听
HBO鈥檚 鈥淏ig,鈥� which is based on the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty, stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley as three women whose children attend the same school and who become friends.听
Miniseries have been popular for decades, with the 1977 production of 鈥淩oots鈥� becoming one of the most popular entertaiment properties of all time. Ensuing decades saw productions including 1985鈥檚 鈥淣orth and South鈥� and the 1989 show 鈥淟onesome Dove鈥� finding their way to TV.听
HBO鈥檚 early-2000s productions 鈥淏and of Brothers鈥� and 鈥淎ngels in America鈥� found critical acclaim, with both winning multiple Emmy Awards.
The network has had similar success in the past few years, with the 2014 production 鈥淥live Kitteridge鈥� and the 2016 show 鈥淭he Night Of" receiving awards season attention. HBO is planning miniseries based on Karen Joy Fowler's novel "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves" and the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, among other projects.
FX has also made miniseries part of its bread and butter, showing the ubiquity of the TV format. FX鈥檚 鈥淭he People v. O.J. Simpson,鈥� which aired in 2016, became one of the most acclaimed TV properties to be released that year, dominating that year鈥檚 Emmy Awards.听
The success of recent miniseries seemed to come full circle when the History Channel released a well-received remake of 鈥淩oots鈥� in 2016.听
鈥淏ig鈥� seems poised to be the latest miniseries success for HBO, as it鈥檚 based on a bestselling book and features many well-known actors, including not only Ms. Witherspoon, Ms. Kidman, and Ms. Woodley but Adam Scott, Alexander Skarsgard, and Laura Dern.听
FX won't be far behind 鈥� it will debut 鈥淔eud,鈥� which will depict the careers of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and stars Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, in March.
[Editor's note:听The original version of this article misidentified the subjects of the TV series "Feud."]听