Movies - Kingdom Hospital

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Kingdom Hospital

	Movies - Kingdom Hospital

Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital was a thirteen-episode miniseries based on Lars von Trier's Riget, which was developed by horror writer Stephen King in 2004 for American television. It was first aired on ABC from March 3 to July 15, 2004. The showing on ABC was unfortunately cut short due to the NBA playoffs.

Plot Overview

The story tells of the fictional Kingdom Hospital located in Lewiston, Maine built on the site of a mill manufacturing military uniforms during the American Civil War. Subsequently, a hospital — now known as the "Old Kingdom" — was built on the site but it too burnt down, and the current hospital is known as the "New Kingdom".

A psychic named Mrs. Druse checked in to the hospital numerous times and is mistaken by the staff there as a hypochondriac. She asks for the assistance of Dr. Hook to uncover the truth about the hospital and the mysterious spirits who haunt it — including a young girl, killed in or after the original fire; a teenage boy who was submitted to horrible test experiments in the Old Kingdom; and a giant anteater who's long snout opens up to a horrifying set of teeth.

And elsewhere, Peter Rickman, a painter who is admitted to hospital following a road accident (with severe injuries to his skull and spine) begins to discover the ghastly goings-on while he lies comatose in room 426.

Other subplots included the initation of arrogant neurosurgeon Dr. Stegman into the secret society known as the 'Keepers', and the challenged-at-every-turn flirtation between young Dr. Elmer Traff and sleep doctor Lona Massingale.

The series is known for its tangential plots and characters who recur throughout, it is — as King called it — a "novelization for television".

While written as a mini-series, many fans wanted it to be renewed for a second season. Despite incredibly successful ratings for the first episode — making it the highest rating drama debut of the year on ABC — ratings sharply fell, and ABC didn't help matters by moving the show up against CSI.

The entire miniseries is now available on DVD.

Cast

The hospital staff

Andrew McCarthy
as Dr. Hook, the handsome surgeon who lives in the hospital's basement, and who has made it his life's work to destroy incompetence among doctors.
Bruce Davison
as Dr. Stegman, the arrogant neurosurgeon who is on the verge of being initiatied into the secret society of Kingdom Hospital, despite his numerous malpractice suits and his repetitive bragging of his "great career" in Boston, Massachusetts .
Meagen Fay
as Dr. Brenda Abelson, Steg's only true friend in the hospital, an ambitious woman who would stop at nothing for what she wants.
Ed Begley Jr. as Dr. Jesse James, Kingdom's Chief of Staff, and member of the 'Keepers' - the Secret Society, who spends his time intiating "Operation: Morning Air".
Jamie Harrold as Dr. Elmer Traff, a young surgeon whose father is an important man in the hospital.
Sherry Miller
as Dr. Lona Massingale, the enigmatic sleep doctor, and love interest of Elmer, despite her determination not to get involved with "a child".
Allison Hossack
as Dr. Christine Draper, Kingdom's friendliest doctor, who has a romantic interest in Doctor Hook.
William Wise as Dr. Louis Traff, the leader of the Keepers, and also an important doctor at Kingdom; it's longest serving member.
Lena Georgas as Nurse Carrie von Trier Peter's nurse, afraid of blood.
Brandon Bauer as Abel Lyon, an orderly, with Down's Syndrome, who sneaks around Kingdom Hospital with his friend Christa, being a trickster.
Jennifer Cunningham as Christa, Abel's partner-in-crime.
Julian Richings
as Otto, the all-purpose man of Kingdom, who regularly watches the security feeds.
Del Pentecost as Bobby Druse, Mrs. Druse's son, and an orderly at the hospital.

Patients, past and present

Diane Ladd
as Sally Druse, a professed psychic, who regularly checks into Kingdom Hospital for all sorts of complaints, and who is determined to discover the truth lurking in the hospital's depths.
Jack Coleman
as Peter Rickman, comatose painter who is discovering the past, and future of Kingdom.
Suki Kaiser as Natalie Rickman, Peter's wife, determined not to believe in the phenomena plaguing Kingdom.
Jodelle Micah Ferland as Mary, the ghost of a girl murdered to cover up the arson of the mill in the 1860s, she is a symbol of death in Kingdom Hospital.
Kett Turton
as Paul, a boy killed in the Old Kingdom, who haunts the hospital as a figure of evil.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Kingdom Hospital ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Kingdom Hospital; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay