Despite the risk factors, mixed pre-airing critical reviews, and coverage of President George H. W. Bush's foreign trips cutting into the program, It was ABC's biggest success of 1990; the miniseries pulled through with a total of 30 million viewers for its two parts.

They are later joined by Beverly Marsh, who lives with her abusive father, and she and Ben are introduced to Bill and Eddie's other friends: the comical Richie Tozier and skeptical, Jewish Boy Scout Stan Uris.

While looking through Mike's History of Derry school project scrapbook, the Losers realize that Pennywise, whom they refer to as "It", is not a human being but an ancient creature that awakens roughly every thirty years to hunt and feed.

Eddie imagines his inhaler is full of battery acid, injuring half of the clown's face, then Beverly slingshots silver earrings at It, which seems to 'break' Pennywise's head open, his light force seeping out.

Mike recovers in the hospital, explaining how the Losers go their separate ways once again, their memories of It and each other fading over time, save for his journal; Beverly and Ben get married and are expecting their first child, and Richie is cast in a film.

[5] Thomas' only previous horror venture was Tales from the Crypt; and Anderson's experience in the genre included an episode in the series[5] and his magician shows, where he would eat live animals, put a nail up in his nose, and catch a gun bullet with his teeth.

[25] Because It was filmed in Vancouver, most of the supporting cast consists of actors well known in Canadian media and theater; exceptions include British actress Olivia Hussey as Bill's wife Audra, Tony Dakota as his brother Georgie Denbrough, and Michael Cole as Henry Bowers.

[12] The number of the Bowers Gang are reduced from six in the novel to five for the miniseries: Gabe Khouth as Victor Criss and Chris Eastman as Belch Huggins, while the actors of Peter Gordon and Moose Sadler go uncredited.

Other relatives of members of the Loser Clubs include Sheila Moore as Eddie's mother Ms. Kaspbrak; Michael Ryan as Beverly's abusive boyfriend Tom Rogan; Frank C. Turner as her just-as-abusive father Alvin Marsh; Caitlin Hicks as Stanley's wife Patti; Steven Hilton and Sheelah Megill as Bill's parents Zack and Sharon respectively; Noel Geer as Cousin Bradley; Susan Astley as Aunt Jean; and Claire Vardiel as Ben's mother Arlene Hanscom.

[34] Despite garnering a polarized critical response for its huge number of pages and bizarre sexual sequences,[34] It was the best-selling hardcover fiction book in the United States in 1986, according to Publishers Weekly;[35] and a British Fantasy Award winner.

[49] Given the length of the King novel, which runs 1,138 pages,[50] a great deal of material was left out of Cohen's 215-page screenplay,[6] including subplots concerning the personal lives of the adult characters and a scene in which the young male members of the Loser's Club each lose their virginity to Beverly.

"[7] One major change King disliked but had to deal with was the decreased amount of depth of the main characters, particularly Richie Tozier, who was altered from a Los Angeles DJ into a television show comedian.

[12] For the opening scene where Laurie Winterbarger is eaten by Pennywise, Simmons' shots were done while Curry wasn't on set; Wallace stood at the laundry area of the backyard giving her simple directions for emotions.

[10] The makeup used for the werewolf character was kept simple, consisting only of a spandex hood mask, gloves, and hair tied around the neck all put together through KY Jelly; this was done to suit the limited application time and "the nature of the shots.

[60] As Mixon explained, "Director Wallace wanted an empty eyesocket look for Al, so Cabrera sculpted rot inside the sockets and then burned tiny holes through the foam for the actor to see through.

Joey Orosco, with some help from Henry Mayo,[69] used his idea to create a design that included the abdomen and multiple limbs of a spider; and shoulders, hips, and torso-attaching legs of a human; the body parts went through more than 16 concept sculptures.

[28] It also features comic touches to its otherwise scary plot[87][88] and was labeled by a 2019 retrospective review as being a campy production for its "fake-looking" It forms, the over-the-top performances of the main cast, and bizarre story elements, such as adults being terrified by balloons.

[96] That weekend, It and other network programs had to contend with many cut-ins of coverage of president George H. W. Bush's European trips, such as meetings with Václav Havel and Helmut Kohl; and his visit with troops in the Persian Gulf.

[104][81][105][19] The Cincinnati Post labeled it "one of the creepiest productions put together for broadcast TV" (although opined it to be nothing more than for "thrills and chills"),[106] and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Eric Mink cherished it as "a gripping, bloody horror romp that will leave most of your major muscle groups aching from long stretches of constant tension.

[39] Some critics highlighted its priority on character development over the typical horror traits of blood and gore,[81][110][82] Richmond elaborating it was "all the more disturbing and believable by the fact that we are forced to care about these people as individuals.

[114] Virginia Mann of The Record attributed the long length to the story's repetitive structure, where there are multiple scenes involving one Loser encountering the same villain: "After a while, even the scary stuff starts to seem silly.

"[115] Some reviewers felt the miniseries failed to capture King's horror style,[83] one of them included Dusty Saunders; he wrote that its terror wasn't "unrelenting" enough, as some of "the scenes and the special effects come across as routine, familiar work from predictable monster movies."

"[121] Mal Vincent felt the adult characters unintentionally looked like "psychopaths" seeing It's mind images, but also liked the performers of the grown-ups more than most other critics: "they do manage, just as importantly, to suggest camaraderie and friendship which, considering they are mostly stars of competing TV series, is an achievement in itself.

[130] Warner Home Video released the VHS version in the United Kingdom on August 22, 1991; Samhain, Britain's longest running horror magazine, promoted it with a five-copy giveaway for readers who sent in when the original novel was published.

[141] As The Atlantic summarized the terror of the performance and character, "He speaks in a kind of singsongy, guttural growl, his teeth are sharp fangs, and the contrast between his comical yellow dungarees and his penchant for ripping off children's limbs is fairly stark.

"[140] Sandra Harris of Moviepilot noted the miniseries' "gorgeous scenery" and "nice interweaving of flashbacks with the regular scenes,"[148] while Ian Jane of DVD Talk and John Campopiano of Bloody Disgusting praised the combination of childhood nostalgia with horror elements.

[150] The Mary Sue critic Kate Gardner appreciated It for its camp value, but was disappointed with how the miniseries rejected the "character study" aspects of the novel to fit the three-hour running time.

[161][162] The film, directed by Chris Griffiths and produced by John Campopiano and Gary Smart, will feature interviews with members of the miniseries' cast and crew, including Tim Curry, Tommy Lee Wallace, Bart Mixon, Seth Green, Richard Thomas, and Emily Perkins.

[180] Factory Entertainment has released several products based on the miniseries: a lunchbox,[181] a 15" Premium Motion Statue of Pennywise with an audio card playing some of Curry's lines,[182] and a plush doll of the clown.

[192] In March 2020, Japanese company Kotobukiya, as the first product of their Dokodemo horror statue series, released a 3" ARTFX figure that replicates It's shower scene, specifically the part when Pennywise comes out of the drain.