Many ofStephen King’s workshave been adapted to TV for years, and one of the best ones is very easy to watch, as it only takes a bit over three hours.The universe of Stephen Kingis vast, with a variety of horror, sci-fi, drama, and even fantasy stories, with horrifying characters of all types, either human or supernatural.
Given how rich King’s stories are, many of them have been adapted to TV, as it makes it easier to explore and develop the characters and stories as they deserve. Some of them were adapted into miniseries, making it easier and quicker to watch, but one, in particular, is not only quick to watch, but it’s also one ofKing’s best TV shows.
The 1990 It Miniseries Is Only Three Hours Long
It Is Made Of Just Two (Long) Episodes
One of Stephen King’s most famous and scariest novels isIt, published in 1986.Itwas a huge success and introduced one of King’s most terrifying villains: the evil, shapeshifting entity that the main characters referred to as “It.” The success of the novel led to its TV adaptation in 1990, in the shape of a miniseries.
Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, theItminiseries was divided into two parts. Like the novel, the series is set in two different time settings, though different from the novel’s: in the series,the story follows the Losers Club in 1960 and 1990, changing It’s “hibernation” period from 27 to 30 years.
Instead of the first episode following the Losers in 1960 and the second in 1990,theItminiseries goes back and forth between both timelines, showing parallels between them and more. The star of the show was Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, It’s preferred shape, as it took the form of its victims’ biggest fears.
In just two episodes,Itcovered the Losers’ encounters with Pennywise, both the first ones when they were kids and their final confrontation as adults. Witheach episode being around an hour and a half long, theItminiseries can be watched from start to finish in a bit over three hours.
It’s Miniseries Is A Loyal Adaptation Of Stephen King’s Novel
It Is One Of The Most Loyal Stephen King Adaptations
The 1990Itminiseries is not only easy and quick to watch, but it’s also a loyal adaptation of King’s novel. The book is famously long, with over 1000 pages, so adapting it to other media surely isn’t an easy task – luckily, the miniseries succeeded at it by identifying the most important moments in each of the Losers’ stories and in their story as a group.
TheItminiseries made sure to include some of the most terrifying and bizarre moments from the book.
Of course, the miniseries made some changes and adjustments to the novel to better fit the format and time constraints, but overall, it’s a great adaptation. TheItminiseries made sure to include some of the most terrifying and bizarre moments from the book, most notably Stan’s encounter with the creature in a sewer drainage chamber (though in the book it’s a standpipe) and its werewolf shape.
The miniseries also stayed mostly loyal to the Losers’ lifestyles as adults and their return to Derry, though it left out details like the ritual of Chüd. However, by being so loyal to the book, theItminiseries also repeated a big mistake.
Unfortunately, It’s Miniseries Repeated The Book’s Biggest Mistake
It Couldn’t Avoid A Huge Mistake
As successful and popular as King’sItnovel is, it can’t be denied that its biggest flaw is its ending. Many ofStephen King’s works are known for their endings, usually because of how disappointing they are, andItis part of that group.
Given that It’s species, the Deadlights, is hard to describe, and if a human saw them they would die or go insane, the closest to it that the human mind can comprehend is a huge female spider. Because of this,the final confrontation between It and the adult Losers is in its shape of a big spider.
In the book, after entering its mind through the Ritual of Chüd, Bill fights his way inside It’s body, finds It’s heart and destroys it, while Ben destroys the eggs it had laid. Thanks to this,the Losers finally defeat It, and their memories begin to fade.
The ending of the miniseries has been endlessly criticized for being disappointing, boring, cliché, and was even called “cheap.”
In the miniseries, the Losers also confront It as a spider, kicking it until Bill finds its heart and crushes it. The ending of the miniseries has been endlessly criticized for being disappointing, boring, cliché, and was even called “cheap”, but ultimately, it was also as loyal to the book as it could, even if that meant repeating the same mistake.
Why It’s Miniseries Is One Of The Scariest Stephen King Adaptations
It Knew How To Bring The Book’s Horrors To Life
Despite its flaws, theItminiseries continues to be one of Stephen King’s scariest adaptations.Curry’s performance as Pennywise the Clown has caused nightmares in viewers of different ages, and as mentioned above, the show included some of the book’s scariest scenes, with the performances of the kids and adults adding to them.
The exploration of the individual experiences and traumas of the Losers was also keyto the scare factor of the miniseries, and a big part of what makes the novel so scary is its psychological horror parts. TheItminiseries is now a classic, and stands as one of the best Stephen King TV shows despite its flaws.
