# It (1990)

> Seven outcast children in 1960 band together as the Losers' Club to fight a shape-shifting clown, and thirty years later reunite to finish the job.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/18114

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 2
- Episode runtime: 90 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: horror, drama, mystery
- Created by: Stephen King
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Tim Curry, Harry Anderson, Dennis Christopher, Richard Masur, Annette O'Toole, Tim Reid, John Ritter, Richard Thomas
- TMDB rating: 6.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099864/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: eerie, nostalgic, melancholic, tense, dread-filled

## What critics say

Critics find the 1990 miniseries an unevenly executed but memorable adaptation, most valued for Tim Curry's chilling performance as Pennywise.

## Synopsis

It (1990) is an American two-part horror miniseries created by Stephen King for ABC, adapted from his novel. Tim Curry plays Pennywise, the shape-shifting alien who takes the form of a child-killing clown and preys on the small Maine town of Derry. Richard Thomas plays Bill Denbrough, leader of seven outcast children who call themselves the Losers' Club, and the group includes Harry Anderson as Richie Tozier, John Ritter as Ben Hanscom, and Annette O'Toole as Beverly Marsh. The children fight the creature while also enduring bullies and abusive parents at home, and the story's engine is their pact to stop a monster that keeps returning. The narrative moves between their 1960 childhood and their adult reunion decades later, when the creature resurfaces in their hometown and they must face the fear they once buried. The miniseries runs about three hours across two episodes, a sprawling event-style production with a small-town, dread-filled atmosphere. Its tone is eerie and nostalgic, with a melancholic undercurrent of childhood trauma and friendship. Fans of Stranger Things and Castle Rock will find resonance in its blend of supernatural horror and coming-of-age memory.

## Shows like It

- [Castle Rock (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/62137)
- [The Midnight Club (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/104654)
- [Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1992)](https://ember.film/tv/2771)
- [The Shining (1997)](https://ember.film/tv/1763)
- [Storm of the Century (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/4774)
- [Hemlock Grove (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/38657)
- [Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital (2004)](https://ember.film/tv/1521)
- [The Haunting of Hill House (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/63480)
- [Salem's Lot (1979)](https://ember.film/tv/14988)
- [Stranger Things (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/58780)

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