Salem's Lot is a 2004 two-part television miniseries which first aired on TNT on June 20 and ended its run on June 21, 2004. It is the second television adaptation of Stephen King's 1975 vampire novel 'Salem's Lot following the 1979 miniseries adaptation. Although the novel and original miniseries were both set in the 1970s, this version updates the story to take place in the 2000s.

REAR COVER

Ben Mears, a writer returns to the small Maine town of Jerusalem's Lot (also known as Salem's Lot), where he spent the first few years of his life, to write,a book? Little does he or the townfolk realize that a couple of other new residents are coming...

Straker, an antiques dealer, and his pariner and master Barlow, an ancient and malevolent vampire bent on making Salem's Lot his new home.

PRODUCTION

In February 2003, it was announced TNT had cast Rob Lowe as the lead in a new adaptation of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot with Peter Filardi writing the script and Mikael Salomon directing. Rutger Hauer and Samantha Mathis joined the cast in April of that year.

In his memoir, Love Life, Rob Lowe stated that he had a difficult time working with Rutger Hauer. Lowe said, "I once starred in a big miniseries that culminated with the villain giving a two-page monologue trying to goad me into killing him. The actor playing the bad guy wanted to ad lib his own version of the movie-ending speech. Although he was playing a vampire, he went into a soliloquy about being a cowboy. The director was not impressed. After a very tense negotiation, the actor was forced to shit-can his self-penned opus and stick to the original script. There was only one problem: He hadn't bothered to learn it." Lowe noted that because there wasn't time for Hauer to memorize the lines organically, his character's monologue had to be written on cue cards and placed next to Lowe's head.

CRITICAL RESPONSE

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the miniseries a 69% approval rating based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Salem's Lot is a bit anemic due to a dearth of proper scares, but its effectively creepy atmosphere and solid performances make for a respectable adaptation of Stephen King's revered novel." On Metacritic, the miniseries has a score of 65 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews"

VIEWERSHIP

The broadcast of Salem's Lot drew 5.9 million viewers upon its debut, making it the number 1 longform program on basic cable for the year.