From Pages to Prime Time: Books that Became TV Shows

Do you remember when guilty pleasure TV shows were rare, and you felt a mischievous thrill sitting down to watch them, akin to eating ice cream straight from the carton? Back then, you’d get your fix from one episode of The Real World and move on to something with more substance. Then reality TV spread like an oil spill, and suddenly we’re up to our ears in Real Top Models of the Jersey Shore. Sure it was nice to have so many options to watch scandals in the making, but after a while, the era of reality TV had us all wondering – where has all the quality programming gone?

Books that Became TV Shows

Fortunately, it seems to be coming back. Thanks to authors everywhere, TV shows are being born from the pages of books and growing up into successful series adored by the masses. Here are a few of our favorite books that have become successful TV shows.

Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell

Even though this particular gem has moved to the silver screen as well, it spent six seasons as a beloved adaptation of a novel that provided women with all of the scandal and drama they wanted from reality shows tempered by the exploration of bigger issues in relationships and female friendships.

Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris

We can argue the literary merit of modern vampires until the cows come home, but there’s no denying that True Blood, based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, is an incredibly popular show. Now in its sixth season, the show – like the vampires – shows no signs of dying.

 
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman

I have to admit, I watched the pilot and wasn’t sold. To be fair, a horse dies and nobody warned me. Fortunately, a friend convinced me to give it another chance, and now this awesome show – based on the graphic novel series – is one of my favorite on air.

 
A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin

No list of books that became awesome TV shows would be complete without the A Song of Ice and Fire books, which have become the series that took television by storm. Named after the first book in the series, A Game of Thrones has already become so culturally significant that George R.R. Martin gave the show’s writers an outline of events to come in case he passes away before he can finish writing the books. I think I speak for all fans when I say that I sincerely hope that George R.R. Martin remains forever in excellent health.

 
So what is the lesson to be learned here? If you want to write a successful, long-running TV show, you should write a book first. Keep a pencil handy at all times, because you never know when inspiration will strike, and when your pilot gets picked up, let all of us here at Pencils.com know so we can watch it!