Daisy Jones And The Six: 11 Big Differences Between The Book And The TV Show

Daisy Jones and the Six TV series has been such a huge hit, the success of the series shouldn’t surprise many, especially not fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s book of the same name. Like the fictional band, Daisy Jones and the Six has a dedicated fanbase that began long before it went mainstream with the Prime Video TV series.

The love and devotion to the story and characters made the Daisy Jones and the Six TV series one of the most anticipated adaptations. We all wanted to see if Prime Video could do the story justice and give the characters more dimension.

The Daisy Jones and the Six TV series follows the book fairly closely but it definitely makes many changes. Some of them are small, like making a character who isn’t English be English and making a character who was originally English be American, and other changes are huge.  I want to focus on the big changes in Daisy Jones and the Six TV series. Let’s discuss them. 

Spoilers ahead of you're not caught up on the Prime Video show!

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By Jerrica Tisdale

In Daisy Jones and the Six show, the group likes the irony of naming themselves The Six with only five members. The unofficial sixth member is Camila, so the idea sort of works. However, in the book, there is a sixth member. It’s Pete Loving, Eddie’s brother.

In fact, Pete is one of the original members of the band, not Eddie. Eddie is added later when Chuck leaves. Personally, I was disappointed to see Pete removed from the story. He isn’t a major character but he acts as the level-headed member of the band. He doesn’t take it too seriously and knows that life exists beyond it. He also wants to play hard rock. The show tries to use the hard rock sentiment with Eddie. 

Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne are the typical enemies to lovers story, especially in the book, but without the lovers part. They’re more unrequited love. In the book, they never physically act on their attraction. They do almost kiss in the book but Billy stops himself.

In the book, Eddie’s hatred for Billy is pure. He hates Billy for being Billy. Yes, jealousy and egos are involved but it’s never because Eddie has feelings for Camila. In the show, Eddie not only has feelings for Camila but they have a brief affair while she’s married to Billy.

Now interestingly, there is a section in the book about Camila meeting up with an old flame. Billy doesn’t know what happened but he doesn’t need to know because their relationship is above that type of fear and jealousy. The way Billy talks about it, it seems like he thinks that Camila may have cheated but he’s fine with it. We never get confirmation if anything happened with her and her ex-boyfriend.

The show changes some things in Karen and Graham’s relationship but one of the most important is the secrecy of it. They never publicly become a couple. Only Camila knows that they were dating during that time. Eddie sees them hooking up once but doesn’t know if he really remembers it correctly.

The secrecy adds to why they ultimately end. It represents Karen’s ambition and not just wanting to be someone’s wife or girlfriend.

In the Daisy Jones and the Six TV series, Chuck leaves for a practical career. He goes to school and becomes a dentist. In the book, Chuck has a more devastating fate. He’s drafted into the military and dies in the Vietnam War.

This is a major change because Chuck’s death contextualizes the time and things going on beyond the band’s petty and self-involved drama. It also propels Billy more because he realizes the fleeting nature of mortality, and how he could have easily been in Chuck’s position. 

In the book, Jonah is kind of just there stirring the pot occasionally. Like characters in some of the best movies about journalism, book Jonah is actually a serious reporter and seemingly established when he covers the Six. In the book, he writes about them several times. One of the key times is after spending time with the band and Daisy Jones before they join forces. He writes a whole article on how the band should become seven with Daisy. This is the major catalyst to get the ball rolling to force Billy to add her to the band. 

Simone appears throughout the book but it’s all in relation to Daisy. She’s basically treated as one of the great sidekick characters in the book, but we don’t get her life beyond Daisy. We know she’s touring but don’t see her life on the road.

This is one of the Daisy Jones and the Six character changes that work better in the show than in the book.  

Everything with Billy cheating and drug use during The Six’s first tour matches what happens in the novel. However, in the book, Camila chooses to trust and have faith in Billy. She never wavers on it. This keeps Billy from cheating or relapsing. The TV version of Camila doesn’t have the same confidence in him. 

Billy also steps up as a father in the book. He raises his three daughters (in the book Camila has twin girls soon after Julia) lovingly and manages to be there for them and tour. TV Billy becomes neglectful of Camila and his family. This isn’t to say book Billy is a perfect husband. He admits to himself that he loves Daisy, even more so than Camila at some point, but he needs his family and her. She is his anchor. 

And Camila isn’t unwaveringly confident in their marriage. She realizes that Billy loves Daisy and that their love could bring everything Camila and Billy built down, so she actually asks Daisy to leave the band.

Teddy’s first heart attack kills him in the book. His death in the book is what speeds up the band’s breakup and demise. They all love him, so losing him creates instability within the band. He lives longer in the show and creates an even greater legacy. 

Teddy and Rod really help The Six, and eventually Daisy, to become this big band. Rod is an active and great manager basically from the start of The Six to the end of the band. The show decreases his role in the band’s success. In the show, he only really becomes their manager after they’ve pretty much established themselves. 

The final episode of Daisy Jones and the Six is pretty faithful to the book ending. Nevertheless, the Daisy Jones and the Six ending has one major change: Billy standing at Daisy’s door.

In the book, Camila writes a letter encouraging Billy to finally pursue things with Daisy (and write her a song). It’s implied that Billy and Daisy may finally get a chance to try to make it work. We just never have any confirmation of it. 

The Daisy Jones and the Six TV show is one of the best things to watch on Prime Video. It explores ideas of addiction, loneliness, self-destruction, devotion, and most importantly music. It’s fun with great music and performances. The book and show are different enough to make them both worth experiencing as separate entities or to compare them.