Why is it bad?

I'll tell you the two things that are driving me crazy and taking me out of it:

1. I tried to go along with it, but non-linear storytelling doesn't work here. It jumps all over the place and I don't have a bond with any character. I don't see the evolution of a character from before Captain Trips to Boulder and feel no empathy or concern for anyone. Each episode cuts from one time to another, yet we already know who's alive later so it takes the tension out. Why would I feel concerned Frannie is going to be killed by the trucker when I saw her in Boulder earlier in the episode. Without spoilers, there is a big twist in the second part of the book that is built up in the 4th episode and I didn't understand why the characters are about to do the extreme thing they are planning. I really don't feel connected to Nick or Tom whatsoever. I don't care a lick about Frannie - frankly she's annoying in the quick scenes they give her. Larry is just a cool dude with a guitar - there is zero redemption arc. Stu is bland with dimples. He's a background extra here yet arguably the main character in the novel.

2. This mini-series feels incredibly small. I don't know what the budget is, but it's like watching a cop drama on UPN instead of a min-series event. Sets are small, there is no feeling for how large a disaster this all is (even the New York scenes didn't feel impressive with 6+ million people dead and their ending shot of the city was seriously lacking), and many of the scenes are in more intimate surroundings like a living room. Where are the rows and rows of stalled cars? The towns filled with bodies? We maybe see a cut of a main street as a character goes from A to B with one person dead on a park bench. This is a worldwide cataclysmic event but it might as well have been entirely filmed on a soundstage and a producer's backyard.

I'm having the same reaction as jekporkins, not caring what happens to any of the characters. I think that for me the problem is that the characters' personalities have been changed enough that they've really become different characters. The same names are on the same teams, but beyond that there are dissimilarities. Imagine a remake of The Godfather where Sonny is calm and thoughtful, Fredo is brilliant but unbalanced, and Michael is scheming to betray the family. Might be a good story there, but I probably wouldn't enjoy it -- I'd have the original characters stuck in my head and would largely react, "WTF is this?" Same here.

I'll probably stick it out to the end, but unless they really surprise me I won't revisit it afterward.

I am incredibly disappointed so far. Jumping around in time allows no building of story, no character development. I don't care about any of these people. They are not the Stu, Larry, Flagg, Nick, or Frannie that I know and love watching. It jumped right into the plague... no build up whatsoever. This should have been two stories, like the '90s series: 1) the near-end of humanity via a plague, that leads into 2) a real battle of good vs evil. It wasn't. Also, to nitpick... I love Alexander Skarsgård, but Flagg is not the right role for this guy. His grin is not menacing... it's just goofy.

To sum it up... bad storytelling, bad casting, and far from the epic masterpiece that it should have been.

I subscribed only to see this...what a waste of money. It's boring...no connection to any character.

I'm sure anyone who has not read the book or seen the original series doesn't have a clue what's going on.

I have to mirror a lot of the thoughts on here. The non-linear format was a terrible idea. It killed the development of any momentum, and I question whether this would even be comprehensible for anyone who hasn't read the book or seen the 1994 miniseries. It's a shame, because some of the acting is excellent and the production values are pretty damn good, for the most part. Without question, the 1994 miniseries remains the superior adaptation.

Like others have said, the time jumps are very poorly done. The whole plot feels really messy.
My biggest gripe with the story in general is the personification of "good" vs "evil" driving you to make a choice. It's so simplistic and uninspired.

It isn't bad. It's actually better than I thought it would be. If you can just sit back, relax and keep in mind that it's only a fucking TV show.

So many reasons

The non linear storyline

Changing characters for unnecessary reasons and woke points

I don't like how they made Stu out to be a cuck. In the original he and Frannie both being immune and their child being immune makes it so humanity has seen the last of Capt Trips.

Randall Flagg. I feel no supernatural threat vibe from him. So his eyes glow red big whoop where's his devil face?

And where's more of the bad guys? Should have been an equal showing in the beginning while they all head to their respective bases. Don't see Trash til Ep 6??? Wtf

Mother Abigail is really a mean old bitch in this one the way she snaps at the committee members and anyone trying to help her hobble around

Really I found it a challenge to give a shit about,even like, any of these characters where in the original I still have an emotional attachment to the Boulder group especially the 4 who Stand