Under the Dome season 3 premieres tonight

Book adaptations are lottery draws on the silver or small screen. Either they’re downright abysmal or remastered brilliance. It’s a hit-or-miss game. Another trend today is that most adaptations come from the young adult market. That reduces the surprise factor in adaptations. A good chunk of adaptations today are either action adventure teen vs. world or soppy love story.

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Going against the grain is the modern master of horror Stephen King. The name needs no introduction. Needless to say, his works don’t fit into today’s zeitgeist. The Shining, 1408, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Mist were all products of his dark imagination. And they’re all great movies. Work attributed to Stephen King is trusted. It’s why I was optimistic when Under the Dome‘s adaptation was announced for the small screen. And why I still am.

Last week, we were treated to a special press screening of Under the Dome Season 3. The series’ story is essentially The Simpsons Movie meets X-Files. The inhabitants of Chester’s Mill are trapped from the rest of the world by a dome-shaped force field of alien origin. Being a TV adaptation, some stretching of the story had to occur. Season 2 ended with the population supposedly finding a way out of the dome. This is a departure from the book’s original story. Season 3 starts with the cast coping with a life after the Dome.

Emmy Award winner Marg Helgenberger joins the cast as therapist Christine Price who helps the town’s residents with all the events surrounding the Dome’s descent on Chester’s Mill. She joins series regulars Mike Vogel, Rachelle Lefevre, Dean Norris, Eddie Cahill, Alexander Koch, Colin Ford, Mackenzie Lintz, and Kylie Bunberry.

Without giving away too much of the premiere’s plot, Chester’s Mill’s inhabitants have to draw battle lines between them and an enemy within. While coping with a life after the Dome, they have to face the fact that the Dome may never leave them alone for good.

It was an exciting two-hour premiere which sets the stage for the plot and mystery of the third season. It’s a definite must-watch for those looking for a breather from all the usual tiring stories on TV.

Under the Dome is executive produced by Steven Spielberg. It is based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel of the same name. The two-hour premiere will be broadcast first on RTL CBS Entertainment HD today July 1 at 9:55pm.

RTL CBS Entertainment HD is a joint venture channel between the RTL Group and CBS Studios International. The channel will be the first to exclusively air popular shows in the Philippines, such as House of Cards, Extant, Elementary, and The X Factor UK. It is available on Sky Cable Ch. 53 (SD) & Ch. 196 (HD), Destiny Cable Ch. 53, Cable Link Ch. 37 & Ch. 313 (HD), and Dream Satellite Ch. 17.