Yeah, you really can't have a "Peyton Place" style anything in the form of a movie. That much breadth & scope really needs a mini/limited series like Storm of the Century (at the very least) so that characters can interact and we can see behind their shutters, their public vs private faces, etc.

This is true, but that's one end of the spectrum, and this is the other end of the spectrum, which seems to just be relying on the idea that we know these characters from the previous iterations of the story. KIng's longer books should be limited series though, I think.