It’s been 75 years since Earth Abides was first published, but the apocalyptic George R. Stewart novel is still as relevant as ever. And the new MGM+ adaptation, premiering Sunday, December 1, aims to prove it.
The story has somehow never been adapted to the screen before but has been highly influential to the apocalyptic sci-fi sub-genre — most notably (and, perhaps, most obviously), it inspired Stephen King’s The Stand. Earth Abides is a multi-generational tale of the destruction of mankind in a global pandemic and the second-chance resurgence of mankind seen through the eyes of its protagonist, Ish (portrayed by Alexander Ludwig), who has to realize the hard way that the old ways of living aren’t worth bringing back. Though the adaptation is quite faithful to the novel upon which it’s based, there are some distinctions that bring the narrative into the 21st Century in some significant ways — particularly in a post-Covid society.
For creator Todd Komarnicki, the “key” to bringing this story to life in today’s world is making the deadly outbreak an afterthought. ‘We did not want this to be a show about a virus. We did not want this to be a show similar to other shows. So the quicker we could get through what happened and why and, and not dwell on the science dwell on the the aftermath. That was the goal,” he told TV Insider. “This is not a post-Covid show. This is not Contagion. This is a deeply emotional show about love and how human beings need each other.”
The source material, while still highly thematically and emotionally resonant for modern-day audiences, also had to be updated in certain respects.
“The themes, they’re timeless, but the main flipping of the switch was around the female characters. George Stewart was had a pretty antiquated view of women,” Komarnicki said. “Even though the book is terrific, it’s not exactly you wanna don’t wanna teach it in feminist studies, and so we got a second chance to get that right. Now the women are not background, they’re foreground, and they really are the linchpin of this society recovering and moving forward and growing.”
Indeed, although this adaptation does still closely follow Ish’s journey as presented in the book, it’s his partner Emma (Jessica Frances Dukes) who brings a lot of the emotional weight of the narrative to the fore as the episodes progress. And she’s just one of the female figures who have a prominent role in the new society that develops.
“I’m super pleased about this because not only is it fixing a past wrong, but it’s actually utterly accurate about how the world actually works without women. Without their strength and clarity, we’re screwed and we really have to pay attention to this. When are we gonna have more female leaders? Because the men have run the planet into the ground,” Komarnicki said.
Earth Abides, December 1, MGM+
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