Stephen King's It

Stars: Richard Thomas (TV's "The Waltons," Glory! Glory!), John Ritter (Noises Off, Stay Tuned, Problem Child), Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Oscar, Passed Away), Harry Anderson (TV's "Night Court"), Annette O'Toole (TV's "Danielle Steele's Jewels," Superman III). Stephen King's windy horror epic gets the major miniseries treatment in this so-so adaptation which features a strong first half and a miserable closing. Set in one of King's preferred locales, the sleepy little town of Derry, New Hampshire, It stars Tim Curry as Pennywise, an evil clown with a penchant for dragging young children down into the sewer The first half--an extended flashback--has Thomas, Ritter, Anderson, O'Toole, et al, returning to Derry as adults to face the evil "it" they thought they had dispatched when they were kids. As each gets the call to come home, he or she remembers the events of that period during their childhood. As King does so well, the kids are naturally the losers of the school, picked on by a viscous bully and/or living in terrible homes. Finding a common purpose in the fact that they're all outcasts the kids team up to fight "it." The second half tells the same story as the first half, only now the kids are grown up. Unfortunately, the adults continue to speak "kid" dialogue, making some already large credibility obstacles (being known as "John Boy," or the Three's Company twerp) even larger. Still, the success of the recent Stephen King's Sometimes They Come Back, another King TV-movie, suggests that Stephen King's "It" will also find favor. [Note: Warner Home Video is making the program available in two formats at the same price--buyers have their choice between an SP-recorded double cassette package or an EP-recorded single tape.] Audience: Fans of the King, natch.