One of the best TV shows based on a Stephen King book is now streaming on Netflix, which is notable because “11.22.63,” a time-traveling action thriller, was originally a Hulu series. Based on King’s 2011 novel of nearly the same name (the book’s title writes the date out as “11/22/63”), “11.22.63” premiered on Hulu in early 2016.
Though “11.22.63” makes some notable changes to the book, the general premise is the same. James Franco plays Jake Epping, a man who gets the chance to travel back in time from the then-present day to 1960, where he’s tasked with preventing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — which, in real life, occurred on the titular date.
It turns out that changing the past invites unexpected complications, and the eight-episode series follows Jake as he attempts to blend into the ’60s and deals with conspiracies, romance, and butterfly effects. TVLine’s review of “11.22.63” called it a “good old-fashioned spy thriller, a sweet love story, a freaky slice of sci-fi … and a classic tale of horror.” Fans of any of those genres should check it out on Netflix, as the streamer added it to its library in January 2026.
11.22.63 was one of Hulu’s first original shows, but it was pulled from the library
Though Hulu has tons of great original shows, it’s only been a little more than a decade since the streaming service began making its own series. “11.22.63” was one of the first original series to launch on the streamer and one of the biggest; an Entertainment Weekly report in 2014 noted that the buzzy title signaled Hulu’s intention to compete against Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Despite how important “11.22.63” is to Hulu’s programming history, the streaming service removed the series from its library in 2024 without explanation. Unlike the JFK assassination as seen in “11.22.63,” there probably isn’t some shadowy conspiracy to blame. Hulu simply didn’t make or own “11.22.63.” Instead, Warner Bros. Television and executive producer J.J. Abrams’ company Bad Robot were behind the Stephen King adaptation, along with creator Bridget Carpenter. After a stint on Tubi, it found a new home on Netflix alongside “Castle Rock,” a fellow former Hulu Original based on Stephen King’s works.
This isn’t as uncommon as audiences who are used to shows staying in one place might think. Streaming services either lose the rights to or voluntarily remove titles from their libraries if the number-crunchers think doing so makes business sense. For instance, the Marvel Netflix shows went to Disney+ when the rights expired, and Warner Bros. pulled “Westworld” from HBO Max as a savings measure.