'Lessons in Chemistry': 5 changes to the series from the book, explained
Like most Hollywood adaptions that test a book's formula, "Lessons in Chemistry," a fictional drama about a gifted female chemist who reluctantly becomes a TV cooking show sensation and contends with a sexist establishment, has some controlled and experimental variables that bring changes to the story onscreen.
The series was adapted from Bonnie Garmus' 2022 bestseller of the same name, and the first two episodes have launched on AppleTV+. Lee Eisenberg, who developed the story for television, hopes devotees of the book will be pleased with how the show is faithful to the spirit of its source material without being a carbon copy of it.
"In the early conversations that I had with Bonnie, it was very much her acknowledging that she understood that we're not transcribing her book into a TV show," said Eisenberg. "The source material was so strong; the book was our bible in the writers room. We were sitting with it, we were consulting it, we were pulling lines of dialogue, we were taking descriptions and turning it into sets and locations."
Sarah Adina Smith, who directed the first two episodes, said she treated the block of episodes as its own movie that set up the romance between Elizabeth Zott (played by Brie Larson, who is also an executive producer) and her colleague, Calvin Evans (Lewis Pullman); a relationship whose consequences will shape Elizabeth's journey as the season plays out.
"It's such a beloved book and
