SYFY Airing Original IT Miniseries This Week in Honor of IT CHAPTER TWO

While many Stephen King fans are currently gearing up for the release of IT CHAPTER TWO in theaters this weekend, SYFY is reminding fans of the first adaptation of the iconic novel by broadcasting the 1990 IT miniseries in four-hour blocks in the upcoming week. The original miniseries was one of many King adaptations to land on the small screen in the ’90s, paving the way for adaptations like The Tommyknockers, The Stand, and a new take on The Shining. While King stories were regularly adapted into featured films, IT was the first miniseries adaptation since 1979’s Salem’s Lot, with IT proving how effective such adaptations could be for audiences.

As pointed out by Bloody Disgusting, fans can check out the full four-hour broadcasts of IT at the following times:

• Thursday, September 5th at 8 p.m. ET
• Friday, September 6th at 5:50 p.m. ET
• Sunday, September 8th at 12:26 p.m. ET
• Tuesday, September 10th at 11 p.m. ET
• Wednesday, September 11th at 10:30 a.m. ET

You can head to SYFY’s official site to see their full slate of programming.

Given how beloved fans were of not just the original novel but also this 1990 miniseries, expectations were high for 2017’s IT, with the pressure largely being on Bill Skarsgard and his portrayal of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, as Tim Curry’s performance was one of the most effective components of that first adaptation. The film proved to be mostly effective and wildly successful, going on to earn more than $700 million worldwide, with even one of the makeup artists on the miniseries sharing his support for the production.

“It was cool. I’m certainly fond of mine, but I thought they did a nice job,” Bart Mixon shared with House of Tortured Souls. “I did get to apply that one day for the promotional thing, and there were certainly some similarities to my makeup which probably couldn’t be avoided [with] it being a clown, but I thought it was different enough. I don’t envy [Bill] Skarsgård just having to follow Tim Curry. That must be a pretty daunting task for him, but yeah, I thought it was interesting as a makeup.”

He continued, “For what I did, I think it was about three hours and five minutes long. By the time they do part two, it will probably come into about four and a half hours to cover the same territory, so I am kind of envious that they got another hour and a half to tell the same story and they are not restricted by the 1990 TV censorship as I was. But I’m really looking forward to part two. I got a lot of crap on mine for the spider at the end of ours, so I’m kind of curious to see what they do or if they are even going to do a spider, or if they are gonna chicken out and not do it at all.”

IT CHAPTER TWO lands in theaters this Friday, September 6th.

Do you think the new adaptation is superior to the miniseries? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!