Plot
The story tells of the fictional Kingdom Hospital located in Lewiston, Maine, built on the site of a mill that manufactured military uniforms during the American Civil War. Previously, a hospital known as the "Old Kingdom" had been built on the site, but it burned down. The current hospital is known as the "New Kingdom". The hospital's "turbulent" nature seems to reflect its ominous logo, a crimson stylized dagger, predicting what will come.
A psychic named Mrs. Druse has checked into the hospital numerous times and is taken by the staff to be 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 after the original fire; a sinister teenage boy; and a strange animal that follows and protects the young girl she calls Antubis, who is similar to a giant anteater, whose long snout opens up to a horrifying set of jagged teeth.
Elsewhere, Peter Rickman, a painter who is admitted to the 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 initiation of arrogant chief of surgery 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, and Stephen King himself had a storyboard written out for one. Despite incredibly successful ratings for the first episode — making it the highest rating drama debut of the year on ABC—ratings plummeted thereafter. The season averaged just over 5 million viewers per episode.
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