See, to me the original film was a lot more campy than the miniseries. Not that I don't enjoy it.

The prequels don't count. They're not written by Frank Herbert, they're written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. KJA is a cool person, but I've never really liked his writing much.

It's okay if you don't read to the end of the series, they kind of deteriorate as they go on anyway.