The Stand (also known as Stephen King's The Stand) is a 1994 American post-apocalyptic horror television miniseries based on the 1978 novel The Stand by Stephen King. Written by King and directed by Mick Garris, the four-part miniseries depicts the aftermath of a deadly engineered strain of influenza that kills most of the world's population. The remaining survivors gradually align themselves with either the benevolent Mother Abagail or the demonic Randall Flagg, leading to a final struggle between good and evil. The ensemble cast includes Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Jamey Sheridan, Laura San Giacomo, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Matt Frewer, Miguel Ferrer, Adam Storke, and Rob Lowe. The project spent several years in development before reaching television. During the 1980s the novel was initially planned as a theatrical film adaptation to be directed by George A. Romero, but the scale of the story and its projected budget prevented the project from moving forward. In the early 1990s the adaptation was revived as a television miniseries for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), allowing the narrative to be presented across multiple episodes. Filming took place primarily in Utah and Nevada, with additional production in Pennsylvania and New York, and involved extensive prosthetic makeup and visual effects work to depict the devastation caused by the pandemic. The miniseries originally aired on ABC over four nights from May 8 to May 12, 1994. It attracted strong ratings and was watched by millions of viewers during its broadcast run. The Stand received generally positive reviews from critics and was nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards, winning for Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or a Special.
Plot On June 13, a weaponised strain of influenza known as Project Blue is accidentally released from a secret U.S. Army laboratory in California. A soldier, Charlie Campion, escapes the facility with his wife and child, unknowingly spreading the virus as they travel across the country. Days later he crashes his car in Arnette, Texas, where locals including Stu Redman attempt to help him. Campion dies after warning of a mysterious pursuer he calls the "Dark Man". The military soon quarantines the town under orders from General Starkey, but the virus—nicknamed "Captain Trips"—rapidly spreads across the world, killing 99.4% of the global population within weeks. Among the scattered survivors are aspiring musician Larry Underwood; deaf-mute drifter Nick Andros; pregnant college student Frannie Goldsmith and her neighbour Harold Lauder; imprisoned criminal Lloyd Henreid; and a disturbed arsonist known as the Trashcan Man. Many survivors begin experiencing dreams in which they are summoned either by the benevolent Mother Abagail, an elderly woman living in Nebraska, or by the sinister "Dark Man", revealed to be the supernatural Randall Flagg. The dreams urge them to travel either to Abagail or to Flagg, forcing them to choose sides. Lloyd is freed from prison by Flagg and becomes his lieutenant. Meanwhile, Larry escapes the chaos of New York City and travels with a woman named Nadine Cross, who believes she is destined to join Flagg. She eventually leaves Larry, who later joins other survivors heading west. Stu escapes a government facility where scientists were studying the virus and forms a group with Frannie, Harold, and former professor Glen Bateman. In the Midwest, Nick befriends Tom Cullen, a man with an intellectual disability, and together they travel west with farmer Ralph Brentner. These survivors eventually reach Mother Abagail's farm in Hemingford, Nebraska. She warns that a final confrontation between good and evil is approaching and instructs them to travel to Boulder, Colorado, where they establish a community known as the Boulder Free Zone. In Las Vegas, Flagg builds a harsh authoritarian society from the survivors who pledge loyalty to him. Seeking to destroy the Boulder community, Flagg sends the Trashcan Man to locate a nuclear weapon. Back in Boulder, jealousy drives Harold—who resents Stu's leadership and loves Frannie—to ally himself with Nadine and secretly work for Flagg. After Mother Abagail temporarily leaves Boulder in a crisis of faith, the Free Zone committee sends three spies to infiltrate Las Vegas. Harold and Nadine plant a bomb intended to kill Boulder's leadership during a council meeting. Most of the leaders escape following a psychic warning from Abagail, but several residents, including Nick, are killed in the explosion. Before dying, Abagail declares that Stu, Larry, Glen, and Ralph must journey west on foot to confront Flagg directly. As the men travel across the desert, Stu breaks his leg and is forced to remain behind with Glen's dog, Kojak. The others continue on but are captured upon reaching Las Vegas. Glen is executed after openly defying Flagg. During a public spectacle meant to demonstrate Flagg's power, the Trashcan Man returns with a stolen nuclear warhead. A supernatural force manifests and detonates the weapon, destroying Las Vegas and killing Flagg and his followers. Tom Cullen later rescues Stu, and the two witness the distant explosion before returning to Boulder during the winter. There they find the settlement rebuilding. Frannie has given birth to a daughter, and although the baby briefly contracts the virus, she survives. The community takes this as a sign that humanity can endure and begins the long process of restoring civilisation.
Cast
Development
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