The Details

Bag of Bones

December 11-12, 9 p..m., A&E

There was a time when a miniseries based on a Stephen King novel would be a network television event for the height of sweeps, but the latest King TV adaptation, Bag of Bones, has been relegated to A&E (not exactly known as a destination for sophisticated drama) in the middle of the holiday repeat season.

Go-to King-adaptation director Mick Garris (he’s helmed TV versions of King’s novels The Stand, The Shining and Desperation) rarely brings much creativity to his versions of the author’s work, and Bones is another lackluster adaptation, sticking closely to the plot of King’s novel but capturing little of its haunting tone.

Pierce Brosnan is miscast as grieving writer Mike Noonan, who tries to deal with the sudden death of his wife Jo (Annabeth Gish) by retreating to his family’s lake house in Maine. He gets involved in a custody battle between a single mother (Melissa George) and her sinister father-in-law, which leads to the discovery of a deadly secret that the locals have been hiding.

King’s book is more melancholy than frightening, with the supernatural elements mostly taking a backseat to Mike’s inner turmoil. But Garris plays up the horrors, which are realized on the cheap for TV, and the result is neither suspenseful nor emotionally affecting.

Garris could have used the cable platform as a chance to embrace King’s more intimate story, but instead he’s come up with a more threadbare version of the same overblown spectacle he used to create for network TV.