''Golden Years'' (also referred to as ''Stephen King's Golden Years'') is an American television

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

that aired in seven parts on CBS from July 16 to August 22, 1991 as a part of its 1991 schedule.

Plot

Harlan Williams, an elderly janitor, is caught up in an explosion at the top-secret laboratory where he works. After surviving but discovering he is now "aging" in reverse, he ends up on the run from an operative of "The Shop".

Cast

;All episodes *

Keith Szarabajka Keith Szarabajka (; ; born December 2, 1952) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Mickey Kostmayer on '' The Equalizer'', Daniel Holtz on ''Angel'', Gerard Stephens in ''The Dark Knight'' and Adam Engell in ''Argo''. I ...

as Harlan Williams *

Felicity Huffman Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American actress. Huffman began her acting career in theatre, and in the 1990s also had many supporting roles in film and television. She starred as Dana Whitaker in the comedy-drama '' Spor ...

as Terry Spann * Frances Sternhagen as Gina Williams * Ed Lauter as Gen. Louis Crewes * R. D. Call as Jude Andrews * Bill Raymond as Dr. Richard X. Toddhunter ;Six or fewer appearances * Stephen Root as Maj. Moreland * Philip Lenkowsky as Billy Delois * Tim Guinee as Fredericks * Graham Paul as Rick Haverford *

Erik King Erik King (born April 21, 1963) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Sergeant James Doakes on Showtime's television series ''Dexter''. He is also known for his roles as Moses Deyell on '' Oz''., and as Bobby Davidson in ''Miss ...

as Burton * John Rothman as Dr. Ackerman * Harriet Sansom Harris as Francie Will * Matt Malloy as Redding * Margo Martindale as Thelma *

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

(''cameo/episode 5'') as a bus driver

Production

King called ''Golden Years'' a "novel for television"; it originated as an idea for a novel that sat in his notebook for years. He "wrote the first five episodes and outlined the last two." King credited ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 ...

'' for making it possible for ''Golden Years'' to be produced:

"Up until ''Twin Peaks'' came on, the only sort of continuing drama that TV understood was
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...
, ''
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
'', ''
Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives ...
'', that sort of thing. To some degree David Lynch gave them that. But he turned the whole idea of that continuing soap opera inside out like a sock. If you think of ''Twin Peaks'' as a man, it's a man in delirium, a man spouting stream-of-consciousness stuff. ''Golden Years'' is like ''Twin Peaks'' without the delirium."

The miniseries was intended to lead into a regular series, and therefore ended on a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

. CBS, however, decided not to pick up the option on the full series, and it was never realized. King asked for four hours of airtime in the following spring to finish the story, but CBS denied him this as well. The home video version changes the last few minutes of the final episode to give the story an optimistic ending.

References

External links

* {{Media based on Stephen King works 1990s American television miniseries 1991 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings Television shows written by Stephen King Television shows based on works by Stephen King Television series by CBS Studios CBS original programming