Golden Years (1991)
Good buildup, poor payoff.
15 January 2003
Stephen King is no stranger to television, both with adaptations of his work (from "Tales From The Darkside"'s version of 'Word Processor of the Gods' to the miniseries "The Stand") and original scripts (witness "Storm of the Century" and that episode of "The X-Files"). "Golden Years" was his first venture into television originals, and it certainly avoids the depths of "The Shining" (the Kubrick version, not the one with Rebecca DeMornay), but neither is it as effective as "The Dead Zone."

An elderly janitor (Keith Szarabajka in old-age makeup) is caught in an explosion at the plant where he works; he survives, but he soon starts to grow younger, and with his wife (Frances Sternhagen) he goes on the run from the people behind the plant... this blend of "Cocoon" and "The Fugitive" worked for the most part, with Szarabajka's rejuvenation a slow process instead of an overnight thing (by the end of the series he was still pretty old), and his pursuers (Ed Lauter, Felicity Huffman) weren't out-and-out villains. But the series blew it in the final episode, never producing a real finale - it just seemed to stop, leaving a distinct "That was IT?" impression.

Proof that it's never a good idea to rest on your Laurels.
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