Long before the movie series that will have its second and final installment released this week, Stephen King’s 1986 1,138-page epic was first adapted into a 1990 four-hour miniseries for ABC. It was originally going to be an eight-hour, thorough adaptation spread into four parts but the network repeatedly slashed the order, concerned about how much viewers would sit through. It’s hard to imagine now but this was back when broadcast networks still made movies and miniseries (or showed them at all!). By the end of the decade that was HBO’s domain and nowadays the project would unquestionably be a more ambitious undertaking on a premium channel or a streaming service. Or I guess in the form of a two-part movie, LOL.
The movies are collectively over two hours longer than the ABC miniseries (when you subtract time for commercials). Stephen King’s own expectations were “in the basement” for this Cliff Notes version of his story but he wound up being “really surprised” by “how good it was.”
I liked it too. As of this writing I still haven’t seen the second movie so I have to reserve judgement on the film adaptation overall, but I’m already gonna say that for someone with my short attention span the miniseries is likely preferable. Although three hours is still long, it doesn’t feel like it at all.
My favorite thing was the cast. It features the likes of:
- John Ritter – the Three’s Company legend who showed his dramatic acting chops here
- Harry Anderson – the magician who starred in one of the top sitcoms in the 80s (Night Court) and a show I really liked in the 90s (Dave’s World)
- Annette O’Toole – the mom on Smallville, who was currently most famous as Lana Lang in Superman III
- Tim Reid – the dad on Sister, Sister. Don’t know what he was most famous for currently though
- Richard Thomas – the star of The Waltons. As impressed as I was by his acting here, I looked it up and saw that his career didn’t die with that 40-year-old show, as he remains a renowned stage actor. Was nominated for a Tony Award just two years ago!
- Jonathan Brandis – Star of that movie Sidekicks I loved and onetime teen idol. I saw here what a great actor he is (it’s appropriate that he and Thomas, the two actors who most impressed me, played the young and old version of the main character). I looked it up and saw that during his teen years he was nominated for a half-dozen Young Artist Awards.*
- Seth Green – Playing the funny future entertainer, appropriately enough.
- Olivia Hussey – Notable English actress playing the beautiful wife of Thomas’s character
- Tim Curry – As the titular villain, if you will.
It was the latter who got by far the most praise from critics. I’m not saying the Rocky Horror Picture Show star didn’t do a great job; it’s just hard for me to appreciate someone when I can’t see any part of him. Also, it was hard for me to imagine anyone NOT being terrifying in that getup (especially with those sharp teeth!), although maybe the fact that I found Pennywise so automatically scary reflects how well Curry played the part.
In any case, it was easier for me to appreciate the actors whose faces I could see, and they all moved me. The plot, because it did get so condensed, is very simple. A group of middle-aged people who were friends as young adolescents get called back to their hometown of Derry by the only one among them who remained in the town. The reason: the supernatural clown they killed decades ago has come back, and they promised each other they would go after him again if he did.
The miniseries differs from the feature films in that it starts in the present day and alternates between the two time periods, presumably to maintain viewers’ attention by getting right into the meat of the action. Worked for me. I was engrossed from beginning to end, through all the scary, tense, dramatic, and heartwarming moments. The music certainly helped – in fact the score might have been the one thing more acclaimed than Curry. It got this this lukewarmly received miniseries its sole Emmy nomination!
I should mention that, in honor of the new movie, the Honest Trailers YouTube series I love just did an episode on this miniseries. It’s honestly my favorite episode ever of that show, itself an Emmy nominee for Best Web Series!
Now that I’ve given that episode a plug and praise, I’ll review it too. The use of clips from 1990s ABC family-friendly programming was awesome! The “and these guys” parts were brutal but hilarious. Regarding the introduction of the adult actors from the original, I’d have gone with “the dad from 8 Simple Rules”, “the dad from Dave’s World”, and “the mom from Smallville” before saying “the dad from Sister, Sister” though. The narrator was saying that people under 30 wouldn’t have heard of these actors but then why would he be able to just say John Ritter’s name as if they’d know it**? Also, even people under 40 like myself shouldn’t be expected to know Night Court or Superman 3 but 8 Simple Rules was a family sitcom on even more recently than even Sister, Sister and that (although maybe not Dave’s World) would be recognizable to many in their late 20s. Meanwhile, Smallville should be recognizable even to many still in their teens.
I’m nitpicking though. Hilarious video.
And back to the miniseries – nice abridged version of an awesome story!
Agree? Disagree? Feel free to comment.
Bottom line: Has my recommendation (and Steven King’s)!
Up Next: The feature films.
*He is missed. Here is an incredible article about him.
**Not that I’m complaining about him getting honored. I loved the guy!
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