Spielberg and Vaughan-helmed adaptation of ‘UNDER THE DOME’ picked up by CBS.

I’ve never read Whacky Stevey’s novel Under the Dome. Even still, I’m excited that CBS has made it rain all over an initial thirteen episode adaptation of the book. They don’t give no shits! And I wouldn’t either. The entire ordeal is being helmed by Steven Spielberg and Brian K. Vaughan, so one has to imagine them being capable of pulling this off. Or if they cannot imagine that, let them imagine the Brian and Steve lathered in aloe vera gel, twisting each other’s nipples while wearing unicorn horns upon their own domes.

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According to the Deadline report, Vaughan, who wrote the series, “kept the general conceit and many of the characters from the book but also introduced new characters as regulars and tweaked some details and backstory for existing ones.” The ending has been reconfigured, too, allowing for another season (or two). The same report states that King has given his blessing to all of the changes.

Last we heard about “Under the Dome” it was still set up at Showtime, a sister channel for CBS, but when Spielberg’sAmblin Entertainment (which is producing the series) sensed that Showtime was waffling, they were able to take it to different networks. Showtime President David Nevins, who was a fan of the project despite not picking it up for his network, recommended it to CBS. And the rest is history. CBS has attached showrunner Neal Baer to oversee the series’ day-to-day operations and tapped original “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” director Niels Arden Oplev to direct the first episode. It will air alongside new episodes of “Unforgettable.” We wonder if Vaughan will have to tone down the intensity of the episodes, due to the fact that it’s shifting from pay cable to network television, although given the disgustingly copious amounts of blood and guts featured on CBS prime-time fare like “CSI,” we think it’ll be just fine.