title: Causality

text: For nonexperimental data, causal direction can often be inferred if information about time is available. This is because (according to many, though not all, theories) causes must precede their effects temporally. This can be determined by statistical time series models, for instance, or with a statistical test based on the idea of Granger causality, or by direct experimental manipulation. The use of temporal data can permit statistical tests of a pre-existing theory of causal direction. For instance, our degree of confidence in the direction and nature of causality is much greater when supported by cross-correlations, ARIMA models, or cross-spectral analysis using vector time series data than by cross-sectional data.


title: Causality

text: Nobel laureate Herbert A. Simon and philosopher Nicholas Rescher claim that the asymmetry of the causal relation is unrelated to the asymmetry of any mode of implication that contraposes. Rather, a causal relation is not a relation between values of variables, but a function of one variable (the cause) on to another (the effect). So, given a system of equations, and a set of variables appearing in these equations, we can introduce an asymmetric relation among individual equations and variables that corresponds perfectly to our commonsense notion of a causal ordering. The system of equations must have certain properties, most importantly, if some values are chosen arbitrarily, the remaining values will be determined uniquely through a path of serial discovery that is perfectly causal. They postulate the inherent serialization of such a system of equations may correctly capture causation in all empirical fields, including physics and economics.


title: Causality

text: Some theorists have equated causality with manipulability. Under these theories, "x" causes "y" only in the case that one can change "x" in order to change "y". This coincides with commonsense notions of causations, since often we ask causal questions in order to change some feature of the world. For instance, we are interested in knowing the causes of crime so that we might find ways of reducing it.


title: Causality

text: These theories have been criticized on two primary grounds. First, theorists complain that these accounts are circular. Attempting to reduce causal claims to manipulation requires that manipulation is more basic than causal interaction. But describing manipulations in non-causal terms has provided a substantial difficulty.


title: Causality

text: The second criticism centers around concerns of anthropocentrism. It seems to many people that causality is some existing relationship in the world that we can harness for our desires. If causality is identified with our manipulation, then this intuition is lost. In this sense, it makes humans overly central to interactions in the world.


title: Causality

text: Some attempts to defend manipulability theories are recent accounts that do not claim to reduce causality to manipulation. These accounts use manipulation as a sign or feature in causation without claiming that manipulation is more fundamental than causation.


title: Causality

text: Some theorists are interested in distinguishing between causal processes and non-causal processes (Russell 1948; Salmon 1984). These theorists often want to distinguish between a process and a pseudo-process. As an example, a ball moving through the air (a process) is contrasted with the motion of a shadow (a pseudo-process). The former is causal in nature while the latter is not.


title: Causality

text: Salmon (1984) claims that causal processes can be identified by their ability to transmit an alteration over space and time. An alteration of the ball (a mark by a pen, perhaps) is carried with it as the ball goes through the air. On the other hand, an alteration of the shadow (insofar as it is possible) will not be transmitted by the shadow as it moves along.


title: Causality

text: These theorists claim that the important concept for understanding causality is not causal relationships or causal interactions, but rather identifying causal processes. The former notions can then be defined in terms of causal processes.


title: Causality

text: A subgroup of the process theories is the mechanistic view on causality. It states that that causal relations supervene on mechanisms. While the notion of mechanism is understood differently, the definition put forward by the group of philosophers referred to as the 'New Mechanists' dominate the literature.


title: Causality

text: For the scientific investigation of efficient causality, the cause and effect are each best conceived of as temporally transient processes.


title: Causality

text: Within the conceptual frame of the scientific method, an investigator sets up several distinct and contrasting temporally transient material processes that have the structure of experiments, and records candidate material responses, normally intending to determine causality in the physical world. For instance, one may want to know whether a high intake of carrots causes humans to develop the bubonic plague. The quantity of carrot intake is a process that is varied from occasion to occasion. The occurrence or non-occurrence of subsequent bubonic plague is recorded. To establish causality, the experiment must fulfill certain criteria, only one example of which is mentioned here. For example, instances of the hypothesized cause must be set up to occur at a time when the hypothesized effect is relatively unlikely in the absence of the hypothesized cause; such unlikelihood is to be established by empirical evidence. A mere observation of a correlation is not nearly adequate to establish causality. In nearly all cases, establishment of causality relies on repetition of experiments and probabilistic reasoning. Hardly ever is causality established more firmly than as more or less probable. It is most convenient for establishment of causality if the contrasting material states of affairs are precisely matched, except for only one variable factor, perhaps measured by a real number.


title: Causality

text: One has to be careful in the use of the word cause in physics. Properly speaking, the hypothesized cause and the hypothesized effect are each temporally transient processes. For example, force is a useful concept for the explanation of acceleration, but force is not by itself a cause. More is needed. For example, a temporally transient process might be characterized by a definite change of force at a definite time. Such a process can be regarded as a cause. Causality is not inherently implied in equations of motion, but postulated as an additional constraint that needs to be satisfied (i.e. a cause always precedes its effect). This constraint has mathematical implications such as the Kramers-Kronig relations.


title: Causality

text: Causality is one of the most fundamental and essential notions of physics. Causal efficacy cannot 'propagate' faster than light. Otherwise, reference coordinate systems could be constructed (using the Lorentz transform of special relativity) in which an observer would see an effect precede its cause (i.e. the postulate of causality would be violated).


title: Causality

text: Causal notions appear in the context of the flow of mass-energy. Any actual process has causal efficacy that can propagate no faster than light. In contrast, an abstraction has no causal efficacy. Its mathematical expression does not propagate in the ordinary sense of the word, though it may refer to virtual or nominal 'velocities' with magnitudes greater than that of light. For example, wave packets are mathematical objects that have group velocity and phase velocity. The energy of a wave packet travels at the group velocity (under normal circumstances); since energy has causal efficacy, the group velocity cannot be faster than the speed of light. The phase of a wave packet travels at the phase velocity; since phase is not causal, the phase velocity of a wave packet can be faster than light.


title: Causality

text: Causal notions are important in general relativity to the extent that the existence of an arrow of time demands that the universe's semi-Riemannian manifold be orientable, so that "future" and "past" are globally definable quantities.


title: Causality

text: A causal system is a system with output and internal states that depends only on the current and previous input values. A system that has "some" dependence on input values from the future (in addition to possible past or current input values) is termed an acausal system, and a system that depends "solely" on future input values is an anticausal system. Acausal filters, for example, can only exist as postprocessing filters, because these filters can extract future values from a memory buffer or a file.


title: Causality

text: Austin Bradford Hill built upon the work of Hume and Popper and suggested in his paper "The Environment and Disease: Association or Causation?" that aspects of an association such as strength, consistency, specificity, and temporality be considered in attempting to distinguish causal from noncausal associations in the epidemiological situation. (See Bradford-Hill criteria.) He did not note however, that temporality is the only necessary criterion among those aspects. Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) are increasingly used in epidemiology to help enlighten causal thinking.


title: Causality

text: Psychologists take an empirical approach to causality, investigating how people and non-human animals detect or infer causation from sensory information, prior experience and innate knowledge.


title: Causality

text: Attribution theory is the theory concerning how people explain individual occurrences of causation. Attribution can be external (assigning causality to an outside agent or force—claiming that some outside thing motivated the event) or internal (assigning causality to factors within the person—taking personal responsibility or accountability for one's actions and claiming that the person was directly responsible for the event). Taking causation one step further, the type of attribution a person provides influences their future behavior.


title: Causality

text: The intention behind the cause or the effect can be covered by the subject of action. See also accident; blame; intent; and responsibility.


title: Causality

text: Whereas David Hume argued that causes are inferred from non-causal observations, Immanuel Kant claimed that people have innate assumptions about causes. Within psychology, Patricia Cheng attempted to reconcile the Humean and Kantian views. According to her power PC theory, people filter observations of events through an intuition that causes have the power to generate (or prevent) their effects, thereby inferring specific cause-effect relations.


title: Causality

text: Our view of causation depends on what we consider to be the relevant events. Another way to view the statement, "Lightning causes thunder" is to see both lightning and thunder as two perceptions of the same event, viz., an electric discharge that we perceive first visually and then aurally.


title: Causality

text: David Sobel and Alison Gopnik from the Psychology Department of UC Berkeley designed a device known as "the blicket detector" which would turn on when an object was placed on it. Their research suggests that "even young children will easily and swiftly learn about a new causal power of an object and spontaneously use that information in classifying and naming the object."


title: Causality

text: Some researchers such as Anjan Chatterjee at the University of Pennsylvania and Jonathan Fugelsang at the University of Waterloo are using neuroscience techniques to investigate the neural and psychological underpinnings of causal launching events in which one object causes another object to move. Both temporal and spatial factors can be manipulated.


title: Causality

text: Statistics and economics usually employ pre-existing data or experimental data to infer causality by regression methods. The body of statistical techniques involves substantial use of regression analysis. Typically a linear relationship such as


title: Causality

text: is postulated, in which formula_21 is the "i"th observation of the dependent variable (hypothesized to be the caused variable), formula_22 for "j"=1...,"k" is the "i"th observation on the "j"th independent variable (hypothesized to be a causative variable), and formula_23 is the error term for the "i"th observation (containing the combined effects of all other causative variables, which must be uncorrelated with the included independent variables). If there is reason to believe that none of the formula_24s is caused by "y", then estimates of the coefficients formula_25 are obtained. If the null hypothesis that formula_26 is rejected, then the alternative hypothesis that formula_27 and equivalently that formula_24 causes "y" cannot be rejected. On the other hand, if the null hypothesis that formula_26 cannot be rejected, then equivalently the hypothesis of no causal effect of formula_24 on "y" cannot be rejected. Here the notion of causality is one of contributory causality as discussed above: If the true value formula_31, then a change in formula_24 will result in a change in "y" "unless" some other causative variable(s), either included in the regression or implicit in the error term, change in such a way as to exactly offset its effect; thus a change in formula_24 is "not sufficient" to change "y". Likewise, a change in formula_24 is "not necessary" to change "y", because a change in "y" could be caused by something implicit in the error term (or by some other causative explanatory variable included in the model).


title: Causality

text: The above way of testing for causality requires belief that there is no reverse causation, in which "y" would cause formula_24. This belief can be established in one of several ways. First, the variable formula_24 may be a non-economic variable: for example, if rainfall amount formula_24 is hypothesized to affect the futures price "y" of some agricultural commodity, it is impossible that in fact the futures price affects rainfall amount (provided that cloud seeding is never attempted). Second, the instrumental variables technique may be employed to remove any reverse causation by introducing a role for other variables (instruments) that are known to be unaffected by the dependent variable. Third, the principle that effects cannot precede causes can be invoked, by including on the right side of the regression only variables that precede in time the dependent variable; this principle is invoked, for example, in testing for Granger causality and in its multivariate analog, vector autoregression, both of which control for lagged values of the dependent variable while testing for causal effects of lagged independent variables.


title: Causality

text: Regression analysis controls for other relevant variables by including them as regressors (explanatory variables). This helps to avoid false inferences of causality due to the presence of a third, underlying, variable that influences both the potentially causative variable and the potentially caused variable: its effect on the potentially caused variable is captured by directly including it in the regression, so that effect will not be picked up as an indirect effect through the potentially causative variable of interest. Given the above procedures, coincidental (as opposed to causal) correlation can be probabilistically rejected if data samples are large and if regression results pass cross-validation tests showing that the correlations hold even for data that were not used in the regression. Asserting with certitude that a common-cause is absent and the regression represents the true causal structure is "in principle" impossible.


title: Causality

text: Apart from constructing statistical models of observational and experimental data, economists use axiomatic (mathematical) models to infer and represent causal mechanisms. Highly abstract theoretical models that isolate and idealize one mechanism dominate microeconomics. In macroeconomics, economists use broad mathematical models that are calibrated on historical data. A subgroup of calibrated models, dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models are employed to represent (in a simplified way) the whole economy and simulate changes in fiscal and monetary policy.


title: Causality

text: For quality control in manufacturing in the 1960s, Kaoru Ishikawa developed a cause and effect diagram, known as an Ishikawa diagram or fishbone diagram. The diagram categorizes causes, such as into the six main categories shown here. These categories are then sub-divided. Ishikawa's method identifies "causes" in brainstorming sessions conducted among various groups involved in the manufacturing process. These groups can then be labeled as categories in the diagrams. The use of these diagrams has now spread beyond quality control, and they are used in other areas of management and in design and engineering. Ishikawa diagrams have been criticized for failing to make the distinction between necessary conditions and sufficient conditions. It seems that Ishikawa was not even aware of this distinction.


title: Causality

text: In the discussion of history, events are sometimes considered as if in some way being agents that can then bring about other historical events. Thus, the combination of poor harvests, the hardships of the peasants, high taxes, lack of representation of the people, and kingly ineptitude are among the "causes" of the French Revolution. This is a somewhat Platonic and Hegelian view that reifies causes as ontological entities. In Aristotelian terminology, this use approximates to the case of the "efficient" cause.


title: Causality

text: Some philosophers of history such as Arthur Danto have claimed that "explanations in history and elsewhere" describe "not simply an event—something that happens—but a change". Like many practicing historians, they treat causes as intersecting actions and sets of actions which bring about "larger changes", in Danto's words: to decide "what are the elements which persist through a change" is "rather simple" when treating an individual's "shift in attitude", but "it is considerably more complex and metaphysically challenging when we are interested in such a change as, say, the break-up of feudalism or the emergence of nationalism".


title: Causality

text: Much of the historical debate about causes has focused on the relationship between communicative and other actions, between singular and repeated ones, and between actions, structures of action or group and institutional contexts and wider sets of conditions. John Gaddis has distinguished between exceptional and general causes (following Marc Bloch) and between "routine" and "distinctive links" in causal relationships: "in accounting for what happened at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, we attach greater importance to the fact that President Truman ordered the dropping of an atomic bomb than to the decision of the Army Air Force to carry out his orders." He has also pointed to the difference between immediate, intermediate and distant causes. For his part, Christopher Lloyd puts forward four "general concepts of causation" used in history: the "metaphysical idealist concept, which asserts that the phenomena of the universe are products of or emanations from an omnipotent being or such final cause"; "the empiricist (or Humean) regularity concept, which is based on the idea of causation being a matter of constant conjunctions of events"; "the functional/teleological/consequential concept", which is "goal-directed, so that goals are causes"; and the "realist, structurist and dispositional approach, which sees relational structures and internal dispositions as the causes of phenomena".


title: Causality

text: According to law and jurisprudence, legal cause must be demonstrated to hold a defendant liable for a crime or a tort (i.e. a civil wrong such as negligence or trespass). It must be proven that causality, or a "sufficient causal link" relates the defendant's actions to the criminal event or damage in question. Causation is also an essential legal element that must be proven to qualify for remedy measures under international trade law.


title: Causality

text: Vedic period (–500 BCE) literature has karma's Eastern origins. Karma is the belief held by Sanatana Dharma and major religions that a person's actions cause certain effects in the current life and/or in future life, positively or negatively. The various philosophical schools (darshanas) provide different accounts of the subject. The doctrine of satkaryavada affirms that the effect inheres in the cause in some way. The effect is thus either a real or apparent modification of the cause. The doctrine of asatkaryavada affirms that the effect does not inhere in the cause, but is a new arising. See Nyaya for some details of the theory of causation in the Nyaya school. In Brahma Samhita, Brahma describes Krishna as the prime cause of all causes.


title: Causality

text: Bhagavad-gītā 18.14 identifies five causes for any action (knowing which it can be perfected): the body, the individual soul, the senses, the efforts and the supersoul.


title: Causality

text: According to Monier-Williams, in the Nyāya causation theory from Sutra I.2.I,2 in the Vaisheshika philosophy, from causal non-existence is effectual non-existence; but, not effectual non-existence from causal non-existence. A cause precedes an effect. With a threads and cloth metaphors, three causes are:


title: Causality

text: Monier-Williams also proposed that Aristotle's and the Nyaya's causality are considered conditional aggregates necessary to man's productive work.


title: Causality

text: Karma is the causality principle focusing on 1) causes, 2) actions, 3) effects, where it is the mind's phenomena that guide the actions that the actor performs. Buddhism trains the actor's actions for continued and uncontrived virtuous outcomes aimed at reducing suffering. This follows the Subject–verb–object structure.


title: Causality

text: The general or universal definition of pratityasamutpada (or "dependent origination" or "dependent arising" or "interdependent co-arising") is that everything arises in dependence upon multiple causes and conditions; nothing exists as a singular, independent entity. A traditional example in Buddhist texts is of three sticks standing upright and leaning against each other and supporting each other. If one stick is taken away, the other two will fall to the ground.


title: Causality

text: Causality in the Chittamatrin Buddhist school approach, Asanga's () mind-only Buddhist school, asserts that objects cause consciousness in the mind's image. Because causes precede effects, which must be different entities, then subject and object are different. For this school, there are no objects which are entities external to a perceiving consciousness. The Chittamatrin and the Yogachara Svatantrika schools accept that there are no objects external to the observer's causality. This largely follows the Nikayas approach.


title: Causality

text: The Vaibhashika () is an early Buddhist school which favors direct object contact and accepts simultaneous cause and effects. This is based in the consciousness example which says, intentions and feelings are mutually accompanying mental factors that support each other like poles in tripod. In contrast, simultaneous cause and effect rejectors say that if the effect already exists, then it cannot effect the same way again. How past, present and future are accepted is a basis for various Buddhist school's causality viewpoints.


title: Causality

text: All the classic Buddhist schools teach karma. "The law of karma is a special instance of the law of cause and effect, according to which all our actions of body, speech, and mind are causes and all our experiences are their effects."


title: Causality

text: Aristotle identified four kinds of answer or explanatory mode to various "Why?" questions. He thought that, for any given topic, all four kinds of explanatory mode were important, each in its own right. As a result of traditional specialized philosophical peculiarities of language, with translations between ancient Greek, Latin, and English, the word 'cause' is nowadays in specialized philosophical writings used to label Aristotle's four kinds. In ordinary language, the word 'cause' has a variety of meanings, the most common of which refers to efficient causation, which is the topic of the present article.


title: Causality

text: Of Aristotle's four kinds or explanatory modes, only one, the 'efficient cause' is a cause as defined in the leading paragraph of this present article. The other three explanatory modes might be rendered material composition, structure and dynamics, and, again, criterion of completion. The word that Aristotle used was . For the present purpose, that Greek word would be better translated as "explanation" than as "cause" as those words are most often used in current English. Another translation of Aristotle is that he meant "the four Becauses" as four kinds of answer to "why" questions.


title: Causality

text: Aristotle assumed efficient causality as referring to a basic fact of experience, not explicable by, or reducible to, anything more fundamental or basic.


title: Causality

text: In some works of Aristotle, the four causes are listed as (1) the essential cause, (2) the logical ground, (3) the moving cause, and (4) the final cause. In this listing, a statement of essential cause is a demonstration that an indicated object conforms to a definition of the word that refers to it. A statement of logical ground is an argument as to why an object statement is true. These are further examples of the idea that a "cause" in general in the context of Aristotle's usage is an "explanation".


title: Causality

text: Efficient causation was connected with Aristotelian physics, which recognized the four elements (earth, air, fire, water), and added the fifth element (aether). Water and earth by their intrinsic property "gravitas" or heaviness intrinsically fall toward, whereas air and fire by their intrinsic property "levitas" or lightness intrinsically rise away from, Earth's center—the motionless center of the universe—in a straight line while accelerating during the substance's approach to its natural place.


title: Causality

text: As air remained on Earth, however, and did not escape Earth while eventually achieving infinite speed—an absurdity—Aristotle inferred that the universe is finite in size and contains an invisible substance that held planet Earth and its atmosphere, the sublunary sphere, centered in the universe. And since celestial bodies exhibit perpetual, unaccelerated motion orbiting planet Earth in unchanging relations, Aristotle inferred that the fifth element, "aither", that fills space and composes celestial bodies intrinsically moves in perpetual circles, the only constant motion between two points. (An object traveling a straight line from point "A" to "B" and back must stop at either point before returning to the other.)


title: Causality

text: Left to itself, a thing exhibits "natural motion", but can—according to Aristotelian metaphysics—exhibit "enforced motion" imparted by an efficient cause. The form of plants endows plants with the processes nutrition and reproduction, the form of animals adds locomotion, and the form of humankind adds reason atop these. A rock normally exhibits "natural motion"—explained by the rock's material cause of being composed of the element earth—but a living thing can lift the rock, an "enforced motion" diverting the rock from its natural place and natural motion. As a further kind of explanation, Aristotle identified the final cause, specifying a purpose or criterion of completion in light of which something should be understood.


title: Causality

text: Aristotle further discerned two modes of causation: proper (prior) causation and accidental (chance) causation. All causes, proper and accidental, can be spoken as potential or as actual, particular or generic. The same language refers to the effects of causes, so that generic effects are assigned to generic causes, particular effects to particular causes, and actual effects to operating causes.


title: Causality

text: Averting infinite regress, Aristotle inferred the first mover—an unmoved mover. The first mover's motion, too, must have been caused, but, being an unmoved mover, must have moved only toward a particular goal or desire.


title: Causality

text: While the plausibility of causality was accepted in Pyrrhonism, it was equally accepted that it was plausible that nothing was the cause of anything.


title: Causality

text: In line with Aristotelian cosmology, Thomas Aquinas posed a hierarchy prioritizing Aristotle's four causes: "final > efficient > material > formal". Aquinas sought to identify the first efficient cause—now simply "first cause"—as everyone would agree, said Aquinas, to call it "God". Later in the Middle Ages, many scholars conceded that the first cause was God, but explained that many earthly events occur within God's design or plan, and thereby scholars sought freedom to investigate the numerous "secondary causes".


title: Causality

text: For Aristotelian philosophy before Aquinas, the word cause had a broad meaning. It meant 'answer to a why question' or 'explanation', and Aristotelian scholars recognized four kinds of such answers. With the end of the Middle Ages, in many philosophical usages, the meaning of the word 'cause' narrowed. It often lost that broad meaning, and was restricted to just one of the four kinds. For authors such as Niccolò Machiavelli, in the field of political thinking, and Francis Bacon, concerning science more generally, Aristotle's moving cause was the focus of their interest. A widely used modern definition of causality in this newly narrowed sense was assumed by David Hume. He undertook an epistemological and metaphysical investigation of the notion of moving cause. He denied that we can ever perceive cause and effect, except by developing a habit or custom of mind where we come to associate two types of object or event, always contiguous and occurring one after the other. In Part III, section XV of his book "A Treatise of Human Nature", Hume expanded this to a list of eight ways of judging whether two things might be cause and effect. The first three:


title: Causality

text: And then additionally there are three connected criteria which come from our experience and which are "the source of most of our philosophical reasonings":


title: Causality

text: In 1949, physicist Max Born distinguished determination from causality. For him, determination meant that actual events are so linked by laws of nature that certainly reliable predictions and retrodictions can be made from sufficient present data about them. He describes two kinds of causation: nomic or generic causation and singular causation. Nomic causality means that cause and effect are linked by more or less certain or probabilistic general laws covering many possible or potential instances; this can be recognized as a probabilized version of Hume's criterion 3. An occasion of singular causation is a particular occurrence of a definite complex of events that are physically linked by antecedence and contiguity, which may be recognized as criteria 1 and 2.


title: Kendrick Lamar discography

text: American rapper Kendrick Lamar has released five studio albums, one compilation album, one extended play (EP), five mixtapes, 65 singles (including 44 as a featured artist), and three promotional singles. Lamar initially performed under the stage name K.Dot, releasing three mixtapes under that moniker: "Y.H.N.I.C. (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year)" (2004), "Training Day" (2005), and "C4" (2009). He gained major attention after the release of his fourth mixtape "Overly Dedicated", which was released in 2010. It was Lamar's first full-length project to be released under his birth name and fared well enough to enter the United States "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, where it peaked at number 72.


title: Kendrick Lamar discography

text: Lamar's debut studio album "Section.80", was released on July 2, 2011, and issued on independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). It peaked at number 113 on the US "Billboard" 200 chart. The album's lead single, "HiiiPoWeR", was released prior to the album through iTunes. In mid-2012, Lamar began promoting his second studio album and major label debut, "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City". The album's first single, "The Recipe", peaked at number 38 on the US "Billboard" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Swimming Pools (Drank)", the album's lead single, peaked at number 17 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and became his first top 20 hit on the chart. "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" was released in October 2012, through TDE, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album received universal critical acclaim and reached number two on the "Billboard" 200.


title: Kendrick Lamar discography

text: On March 16, 2015, Lamar released his third studio album, "To Pimp a Butterfly". The album was preceded by two singles, "I" and "The Blacker the Berry", which charted at numbers 39 and 66 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, respectively. "To Pimp a Butterfly" received universal critical acclaim upon release, much like its predecessor, and had global charting success, debuting at number one on the overall albums charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, as well as topping the US "Billboard" 200. On March 4, 2016, Lamar released "Untitled Unmastered", a compilation album containing previously unreleased demos that originated during the recording of "To Pimp a Butterfly". The compilation album gave Lamar his second chart-topping set in less than a year. On April 14, 2017, his fourth studio album, "Damn", was released and reached number one on the "Billboard" 200, and has since been certified 3× Platinum. The album spawned the singles "Humble", "Loyalty" and "Love", which all reached the top 15 of the US "Billboard" Hot 100, with "Humble" becoming his first number-one single in the United States as a lead artist. Lamar's fifth studio album "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" was released on May 13, 2022, as his final project under TDE.


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: Ashley Graham Ervin (born October 30, 1987) is an American plus-sized model and television presenter. After a lifetime of modeling, Graham had her debut on the cover of the "Sports Illustrated" Swimsuit Issue in 2016. A year later, she published her first book, "A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like", which contributes to her advocacy in the body positivity and inclusion movement.


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: When Graham was in middle school, she moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, with her family. While growing up, she was diagnosed with ADD and dyslexia. She has two younger sisters. She attended Scott Middle School from 1999 to 2002 and Lincoln Southwest High School from 2002 to 2005. She was identified in 2000 by the I & I agency while shopping at Oak View Mall in Omaha, Nebraska.


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: Graham started modeling at the age of 12. In 2001, she signed with Wilhelmina Models after attending a model convention. In 2003, she switched to Ford Models. During her early career, she appeared in "YM" magazine. In April 2007, she was profiled by Sally Singer of "Vogue" magazine. She appeared on the October 2009 issue of "Glamour" editorial "These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size", along with plus-size models Kate Dillon Levin, Amy Lemons, Lizzie Miller, Crystal Renn, Jennie Runk and Anansa Sims. In 2010, Graham appeared in a controversial Lane Bryant TV commercial. The commercial received over 800,000 views on YouTube and was covered by news outlets such as "The Huffington Post" and the "New York Post". On May 31, 2010, she appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" to address the controversy. She has also walked for such international designers as Prabal Gurung, Michael Kors, Love Mag, Dolce and Gabbana, H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, Rag and Bone, and Christian Siriano.


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: In December 2010, Graham appeared in an editorial for "Bust" magazine. She appeared in several Levi's campaigns, notably Curve ID SS 2011 with Sabina Karlsson, Ana Lisboa, Marquita Pring and McKenzie Raley, and Boyfriend Collection F/W 10 with Rachel Clark, Ana Lisboa, Anais Mali, Marquita Pring and Ashley Smith.<ref name="Levi's Boyfriend Collection F/W 10"></ref> Graham has appeared in several Marina Rinaldi campaigns: Spring/Summer 2012, Fall/Winter 2012 denim, and Fall/Winter 2012 sport. Other clients include Addition Elle, Bloomingdale's, Elomi lingerie, Evans, Hanes, Liz Claiborne Macy's, Nordstrom, Simply Be and Target. In December 2012, Graham was featured on two billboards in New York for Lane Bryant. At the end of that year, she was named the Full Figured Fashion Week's Model of the Year.


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: In 2013, Graham designed a lingerie line for Addition Elle, a Canadian plus-size clothing retailer. She also appeared on MTV's "Made", as a coach for an aspiring plus-size model. She appeared on the May 2014 issue for the international "Harper's Bazaar" pre-fall collection and beauty editorial. She was the cover model on the June 2014 issue of "Elle Quebec". In 2015, swimsuitsforall, a plus-size women's swimsuits retailer, featured Graham in an advertisement in "Sports Illustrated"s annual Swimsuit Issue. The ad was part of swimsuitsforall's #CurvesInBikinis campaign. Graham was one of the first plus-size models to appear in the "Swimsuit Issue". In 2016, she became the first plus-size model to appear on its cover"."


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: Graham served as a backstage host for Miss USA 2016, Miss Universe 2016, Miss USA 2017, Miss Universe 2017 and Miss Universe 2018. In addition, she was an official judge on "America's Next Top Model" on VH1.


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: In 2016, Graham appeared opposite Joe Jonas in DNCE's video for the song "Toothbrush". In 2017, she competed in an episode of Spike's "Lip Sync Battle" against "Superior Donuts" actor Jermaine Fowler. Graham won with performances of Shawn Mendes's "Treat You Better" and Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much".


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: In 2017, Graham released a book, "A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like". In this memoir, she provides insight into her experiences as a model and as an advocate for body positivity, and shares her prospects for the evolution of body image in years to come. That year, Graham was also the focus of a nine-episode series on the Go90 digital network, "The Ashley Graham Project."


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: Ahead of International Women's Day, in February 2022, Graham and Joanna Griffiths released "Big. Strong. Woman." at the Adweek Challenger Brands Summit, a film focused on combating female stereotypes and highlighting female strength.


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: Graham is a proponent of the body positivity and the Health at Every Size movements. In 2016, she became the first size 16 model to be featured on the cover of "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue". "Glamour" described Graham's cover as "bringing size acceptance into the mainstream". She appeared on the cover of "Vogue" in 2017, becoming the first plus-size model to appear in the magazine.


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: Graham gave a TED Talk advocating self-acceptance with regard to body image, which included her looking into a full-length mirror and having a friendly chat with her body parts making comments such as: "Back fat, I see you popping over my bra today. But that's all right. I'm gonna choose to love you."


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: Graham has been praised by women on Instagram for sharing photos showing her cellulite. In an interview with "Vogue", she said, "I definitely think that my body has changed many peoples' lives. I've used my body as a tool to talk about taboo subjects, such as cellulite or being insecure about lower belly fat—and also [how to] talk life into your body and have an affirmation kind of conversation with yourself. And I know the lives that have been changed: young girls and even women my age who have written me and said, 'I never loved the skin that I was in until I heard your journey'." Graham has said she does not prefer the term "plus-size": "I think that when you use the word 'plus-size' you're putting all these women into a category: 'You don't eat well.' 'You don't work out.' 'You couldn't care less about your body.' 'You're insecure.' 'You have no confidence.' And that is none of this [pointing at her body]"... The fashion industry may persist to label me as 'plus-size,' but I like to think of it as 'my size."


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: She met her husband, Justin Ervin, a videographer, at church in 2009; they married the next year. In August 2019, Graham and Ervin announced that they were expecting their first child.


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: In a 2017 interview with CBS News, Graham admitted that her interracial relationship with Ervin, who is black, shocked her family:


title: Ashley Graham (model)

text: On January 18, 2020, Graham gave birth to a son. In July 2021, she announced they were expecting a second child, which turned out to be twin sons. In January 2022, Graham gave birth to the twins at home.


title: It (miniseries)

text: It (also known as Stephen King's IT) is a 1990 ABC two-part psychological horror drama miniseries directed by Tommy Lee Wallace and adapted by Lawrence D. Cohen from Stephen King's 1986 novel of the same name. The story revolves around a predatory monster that can transform itself into its prey's worst fears to devour them, allowing it to exploit the phobias of its victims. It mostly takes the humanoid form of Pennywise, a darkly comedic clown. The protagonists are The Lucky Seven, or The Losers Club, a group of outcast kids who discover Pennywise and vow to kill him by any means necessary. The series takes place over two different time periods, the first when the Losers first confront Pennywise as children in 1960, and the second when they return as adults in 1990 to defeat him a second time after he resurfaces.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Cast members included Tim Curry (Pennywise), Richard Thomas, John Ritter, Harry Anderson, and others. Produced by Green/Epstein Productions, "It" was filmed over a period of three months in New Westminster, British Columbia in mid-1990 with a budget of $12 million, double the usual television budget. The miniseries was first broadcast during the November sweeps month. 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, pulling through with 30 million viewers for its two parts.


title: It (miniseries)

text: "It" was nominated for two Emmy Awards, one Eddie Award, one Youth in Film award, and a best miniseries recognition from the People's Choice Awards; it won two of the nominations, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for Richard Bellis' score and an Eddie Award for the miniseries' editing.


title: It (miniseries)

text: While divided critical perspectives towards "It" have continued in later years, the miniseries has become most known for Curry's version of Pennywise. In fact, his portrayal has been considered by several publications to be one of the scariest clown characters in film and television. "It" has also spawned an Indiegogo-funded documentary film about the miniseries' production, titled "Pennywise: The Story of It" (2020); and an alternate history sequel short named "Georgie", also by the producers of the documentary.


title: It (miniseries)

text: During a heavy rainstorm in Derry, Maine in the spring of 1960, George Denbrough plays in the streets with a paper sailboat made by his stuttering older brother, Bill. It goes down a storm drain, where Georgie encounters Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Pennywise entices Georgie to reach in to retrieve his boat, only to tear his arm off and leave him to bleed to death. A few months later, Bill and asthmatic Eddie Kaspbrak befriend the chubby new kid Ben Hanscom. 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.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Ben develops feelings for Beverly, and sends her an anonymous poem, but she has feelings for Bill. At school, by the creek and around town they are all bullied by Henry Bowers and his greaser gang. The children all have grotesque, frightening encounters with Pennywise. In July, the group is joined by Mike Hanlon, an African-American boy, as he is chased by Bowers' gang. The children, now dubbing themselves the "Losers Club", fend off Bowers gang with rocks. 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 rather an ancient creature that awakens roughly every thirty years to hunt and feed.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Realizing that It killed Georgie, Bill leads the Losers into Derry's sewers to kill the creature. Stan becomes separated from the group and is ambushed by Bowers and Belch Huggins. Belch is killed by It, and Henry is left traumatized, his hair shocked white. Stanley regroups with the Losers in a large sewer drainage chamber, which fills with fog as the seven join hands to form a circle, their united strength, but Stan is grabbed by It. The Losers take advantage of It's ability to access their imaginations and use it against It. 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. Wounded "It" flees down a drain, where the kids hear moaning, and conclude "It" is dead. The group exits the sewers, but vows to return should "It" ever return. Bowers, now insane or possessed from ITs deadlights confesses to the child killings and is institutionalized.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Thirty years later in May 1990, It kills a little girl in her backyard, signalling another awakening and feeding spree. Mike, the only one to stay in Derry, contacts his old friends to fulfill their oath after hearing reports of missing children. All of the Losers, who have gone on to have successful careers, return, except Stan, who cannot bear the thought of returning to Derry to fight It, who commits suicide. The other Losers reunite in Derry, later learning of Stan's suicide. Upon returning, they are all taunted and terrorized by Pennywise. Bowers, with It's help, escapes from the asylum to murder the Losers. Bill's = wife, Audra, travels to Derry but is captured by It, hypnotized by the monster's "Deadlights". Bowers attacks and stabs Mike, but is fatally stabbed with his own knife when Eddie & Ben rush in. Mike is hospitalized, where he gives Bill the two silver earrings he retrieved from the sewers ten years ago. The five remaining Losers return to the sewers to confront It, where Bill realizes that "It" has Audra.


title: It (miniseries)

text: They reach It's inner sanctum, see the catatonic Audra engulfed in spider webs and discover It's true form of a gigantic, otherworldly spider. Bill, Ben, and Richie are entranced by the Deadlights emanating from "Its" underside, while Beverly retrieves the silver earring she overshot. Eddie attempts to repeat the wound he inflicted on It as a child, but is grabbed and mortally wounded. Beverly frees her friends, but Eddie dies. The others follow the injured demon spider, finishing it by ripping out its heart and crushing the heart. They remove Eddie's body and the catatonic Audra from the sewers. 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. Bill is preparing to leave Derry, but pulls Audra out of her catatonia by riding her down a street on "Silver" his childhood Schwinn cruiser.


title: It (miniseries)

text: "It"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s main ensemble features actors not very well known in horror, such as John Ritter, Tim Reid, Harry Anderson, and Tim Curry. Thomas' only previous horror venture was "Tales from the Crypt"; and Anderson's experience in the genre included an episode in the series 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. This casting was unusual for a horror production at the time, but producer Jim Green reasoned that it was in order to increase eyeballs from more easily frightened casual viewers. The majority of the adult actors in the film, including Ritter, Dennis Christopher, Reid and Anderson, were hand-chosen by Wallace and Cohen for their roles. Emily Perkins and Marlon Taylor, who played the young Beverly Marsh and Mike Hanlon, were cast out of Vancouver, while Seth Green and Jonathan Brandis were cast out of Los Angeles for the parts of young Richie and Bill.


title: It (miniseries)

text: It is the titular shapeshifting antagonist of the miniseries whose primary form is a wisecracking clown named Pennywise, played by Tim Curry. Curry used Robin Williams-esque natural improvisation when playing Pennywise, giving the character a Bronx accent in order to sound like, as Curry put it, "an old-time Catskills comic." While the original novel showcased It taking on many other incarnations, the miniseries only features four of them (not counting the forms of Georgie, Stan, and Al Marsh): an elderly lady Beverly meets named Mrs. Kersh, portrayed by Florence Paterson; Ben's dead father Captain Hanscom, played by Steve Makaj; a werewolf Richie encounters after viewing "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (1957) played by an unknown actor (A 1991 "Fangoria" feature states an actor played the werewolf, but it did not specify who and the actor is not credited in the miniseries); and It's true spiderlike form, portrayed by Brent Baker.


title: It (miniseries)

text: According to writer Lawrence D. Cohen, he had written the script for the series without a specific actor in mind for the role of Pennywise. Malcolm McDowell, Roddy McDowall, and Alice Cooper were in consideration to play Pennywise, but director Tommy Lee Wallace wanted Curry for the role. King recalled that there was doubt from the crew about Curry playing Pennywise, perhaps due to the actor previously being known for comic roles in films like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975) and "Clue" (1985).


title: It (miniseries)

text: Wallace wasn't a fan of the other choices, particularly McDowell, as Wallace found him to have too much "sweetness" to play a part like Pennywise. Curry took the role for the clown's "subversive nature," being "both beguiling and murderous" and "a smile gone bad." He was originally planned to play all of It's forms, not just the clown; however, the crew thought it was more efficient to have different actors play the other forms so they did not have to take up so much time dealing with makeup changes.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Because of the amount of makeup Curry's character required, he had the earliest call time of all the actors. On each shooting day, it took at least three hours for him to take off his make-up and get out of his costume. Curry's performance unnerved the cast and crew so much they avoided him as much as possible while on set. While waiting between shots, Curry would be chain-smoking and showing his sharp teeth if one of the child actors got too close to him. As Perkins recalled, "He really tried to intimidate us, because he wanted the fear to be real in our performances." However, Wallace recalled having a pleasant time working with Curry: "Tim was always well-prepared, easy on set, patient and low-key."


title: It (miniseries)

text: In a 2015 interview with "Moviefone", Curry called the role of Pennywise "a wonderful part", giving his blessing to would-be successor Will Poulter, who ultimately dropped out. Bill Skarsgård replaced him, and while being interviewed at Fan Expo Canada, Curry gave his approval, saying that "I like [Bill] Skarsgård. I think he's very clever. It'll be interesting to see what sort of clown face he puts on. because it's not an obvious clown face at all.[..] So I'm fascinated to see it."


title: It (miniseries)

text: Given that the shooting entailed an adult cast with child counterparts, Wallace sought to have the adult actors meet with the children playing the younger versions of their characters: "We made a point of bringing the adult and children actors together for a couple of days, even though it was costly, since the adults and the kids have no scenes together." For Ritter and Crane, the two looked very different, which meant they had to make similar the young and adult versions of Ben through actions and facial expressions.


title: It (miniseries)

text: 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. Jarred Blancard played the young version of Henry; he hated having to call the character Mike Hanlon the "Nigger", often apologizing to the actor playing young Mike, Marlon Taylor, for repeatedly using the word during practice. The two actors remained friends after filming had wrapped. The number of the Bowers Gang are reduced from seven 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.


title: It (miniseries)

text: 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.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Chelan Simmons, who played Pennywise's first victim Laurie Ann Winterbarger, had her first non-commercial experience with "It"; she would later be known for appearing in several 21st-century budget horror films and a 2002 telefilm version of "Carrie". Due to her fear of clowns, she has admitted to never seeing the miniseries or reading the original novel. The girl's mother is portrayed by Merrilyn Gann. Two Gemini Award winners, Nicola Cavendish and Venus Terzo, appear as a desk clerk and Ben's woman, Lyndi, respectively. Terence Kelly, who portrays officer Nell, was nominated for a Gemini for another role as an officer in "Reg Serge".


title: It (miniseries)

text: Two actors later known from "The X-Files" appear in "It": William B. Davis as Mr. Gedreau, and Megan Leitch as a library aide Richie talks to while being taunted by Pennywise. Other well-known Canadian actors in the miniseries include Laura Harris as Loni; Garry Chalk, most known for voice acting, as Eddie's gym class coach; Jay Brazeau as a taxi driver; Tom Heaton as Mr. Keene; Paul Batten as his grandson; Donna Peerless as teacher Miss Douglas; and Kim Kondrashoff, Helena Yea, and Charles Siegel as Joey, Eddie's chauffeur, Rose, the waitress at the Chinese restaurant, and Nat, Richie's agent, respectively.


title: It (miniseries)

text: There was only one television version of a Stephen King story before "It", that being the 1979 adaptation of "'Salem's Lot" (1975), directed by Tobe Hooper. Although critically acclaimed, it did not change King's negative view on horror television as he still believed that the format was "too institutionally fainthearted and unimaginative to handle real horror" in 1983. This skepticism continued in the mid-1980s when he wrote and published "It" (1986), and he never thought a television version of the book would happen despite its success. His reason was that it was a censorship rule not to show children in jeopardy, a major theme in "It".


title: It (miniseries)

text: "It" was written over four years by King with inspirations from the story "Three Billy Goats Gruff" and legends about Bangor, Maine's sewer system. Despite garnering a polarized critical response for its huge number of pages and bizarre sexual sequences, "It" was the best-selling hardcover fiction book in the United States in 1986, according to "Publishers Weekly"; and a British Fantasy Award winner.


title: It (miniseries)

text: King's predictions about a TV version of the book not happening, while false, were also justified according to newspaper critic Matt Roush. At the end of the 1980s, a horror product of any kind was an unlikely gamble for a network. The television market was dominated by sitcoms, soap operas, and fictional presentations of real life events; there were series like "Freddy's Nightmares" (1988–90) and "" (1987–90), but they were often hampered by network censorship, commercial breaks, low budgets, and "cheesy execution."


title: It (miniseries)

text: Other factors increased the risk of a network doing a film or miniseries version of a King story in the late 1980s to 1990; theatrical King screen transfers were performing poorly at the box office, and big TV events like miniseries or films were becoming far less important to viewers due to a rise in VCR ownership by 20 percent from 1985 to 1990. This resulted in channels like ABC taking several cost-cutting measures, such as adding more regular series to its lineup.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Some critics also questioned the airing of a horror film like "It" on television, a format much easier for children to access than theaters due to less parental and government restrictions.


title: It (miniseries)

text: King described his expectations of the miniseries being "in the basement. Here was a book that sprawled over 1,000 pages, and they were going to cram it into four hours, with commercials."


title: It (miniseries)

text: Hollywood significantly increased their interest in screen adaptations of King's work after the box office success of "Pet Sematary" (1989), and several of went into development; around this time, ABC had acquired the rights to a television miniseries of "It" and green-lit it to be an eight-to-ten-hour miniseries. One reason, according to Lawrence D. Cohen, was that it was "the heyday of networks adapting lengthy novels for TV." ABC film chief Allen Sabinson explained that they chose to produce "It" as a previous film based on a King story about children, "Stand by Me" (1986), was a success. The producers were also focused on the story's drama aspects, likely due to most viewers leaning towards drama productions in 1990.


title: It (miniseries)

text: "It" was made at a time when the television landscape was making a slight change into unusual styles, as indicated by the popularity of shows like David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" (1990–91) and "Tales from the Crypt" (1989–96). "Twin Peaks" was constantly referenced in discussions between the cast and crew of "It" during shooting. As Tommy Lee Wallace recalled, "It brought everyone's attention to the fact that it doesn't have to be like and look like and act like everything else to succeed. You can break new ground – not with hard-core violence or nudity, necessarily – but just by being different and strange, which I certainly am trying to bring to "It"." At the same time, CBS was taking similar chances with the horror film "" (1990), which aired in the same month as "It" and also featured Olivia Hussey, who played Audra in "It".


title: It (miniseries)

text: George A. Romero had originally been signed on to direct the project, which at the time ABC had planned for an eight-to-ten-hour series that would run over four two-hour blocks. On June 1, 1989, ABC announced that the miniseries would be six hours and directed by Romero, with no cast planned. A July 1989 announcement published in the "Houston Chronicle" indicates that the miniseries was originally planned to be set in "small-town Massachusetts" instead of Derry.


title: It (miniseries)

text: In an interview published in January 1990, ABC's Dan Doran described "It" as a "long-range development project, and it's not even a firm, 100% commitment yet." He also revealed Romero's involvement to be "tentative." However, Romero described himself as being incredibly involved in the project: "I worked with the effects guys. I did [story] boards. I must have thousands of pages of scripts and notes." However, a scheduling conflict with his 1990 remake of "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) resulted in him having to leave the project just after ABC decreased the length of the miniseries to four hours. His exit initially upset him because it reminded him of his time being dropped from "Pet Sematary". However, he stated in 1993 that he appreciated his leave, feeling that the length decrease lessened the likely "impact" of the miniseries' final product. The producers were also worried about Romero making the miniseries too graphic for television.


title: It (miniseries)

text: The producers "lost their nerve" from how much work they could be faced doing an eight-to-ten hour miniseries. Thus, ABC condensed it to a three-part series, before shortly after making it a two-part miniseries once Tommy Lee Wallace was signed on to direct after reading a draft of the first part of Cohen's script.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Cohen, who had previously written the film adaptation of "Carrie" in 1976, was hired to write "It", receiving a manuscript of the novel that was sent to his New York apartment in 1986 before the book was published. Although King had multiple drafts of the script sent to him by Cohen, he had little to no involvement in the writing of the miniseries. Cohen's early drafts rejected the flashback format of the book, where the first night would show the Losers as kids and the second part as adults. He originally planned for the spider form to be hinted at in part one when Pennywise was hit by the rock, but the idea was scrapped. Cohen also initially wrote the second episode as, according to Wallace, "a very interior melodrama" that differed heavily from the novel and where Tom Rogan played a much bigger role in the plot.


title: It (miniseries)

text: In reading Cohen's draft, Wallace initially avoided reading the book to get an objective view of it: "I knew I was dealing with people who had been intimately involved with the book for years." After noticing many issues in the script, especially in the second part, Wallace gave Cohen an offer to rewrite his drafts; however, that would have required Cohen to take a three-week trip to the miniseries' Vancouver production location, which his schedule would not permit as he was involved in other projects. This led Wallace to have to re-write the script himself and use the book as reference, which turned out to fix all of the original drafts' issues. As Wallace explained, "One of the things I believe I contributed in my rewrite was just packing in as much of what was memorable about the book." He added the flashback structuring from the book into the script and made sure the screenplay for the second part "maintain[ed] some of the rhythm" of the first.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Given the length of the King novel, which runs 1,138 pages, a great deal of material was left out of Cohen's 215-page screenplay, 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. Cohen, while upset about the material that did not make it in the final cut, also opined, "the best moments from the book made the cut and the rest are casualties of war." Themes of friendship and loyalty were distorted in the miniseries in order to appeal to non-horror TV viewers.


title: It (miniseries)

text: O'Toole has admitted to disliking the removal of the Losers' orgy scene: "This was their greatest attachment to one another – she thought they were all going to die, and this was a gift she was giving to each one of them, and I thought it was the most beautiful, generous love-filled gift, and it tied them all together in such an amazing way." Cohen retrospectively admitted that he wished he was permitted to write an ending different from the novel's: "If I had to do it over again, my instinct would be to find a way to have the adults confront Pennywise in another way, in all his shapeshifting glory."


title: It (miniseries)

text: 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. He found the miniseries' version of Richie to have only two dimensions: "scumbag" and "sort of a kindhearted Buddy Hackett." However, Wallace and Cohen retained the centrality of Pennywise in the source novel; as noted by film scholar Tony Magistrale in "Hollywood's Stephen King", the made-for-television movie retains the "association between the adult world of Derry and "It" [which] is further established in the masterful choice of a carnival clown as a unifying symbol for the various creatures representing the monster."


title: It (miniseries)

text: "It" was shot over a three-month summer period in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Green set the budget at $12 million, double the usual television film, to give "It" a major motion picture feel. Filming locations in Vancouver included Stanley Park, Beaver Lake and Saint Thomas Aquinas High School Convent in North Vancouver. The Buntzen Lake Hydro Plant, in particular, was used as the miniseries' sewer plant.


title: It (miniseries)

text: 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. However, she still met Curry via read-throughs and while in her trailer after the shot: "while walking down the sidewalk Tim walked by in the full clown costume—make up and all. He turned to me and said "Hi!" in a very friendly voice, but it still scared me half to death!" Similarly, the scene where Patti Uris finds her husband dead in the tub (done on the first shooting day) involved Uris not being on set for shots of Caitlin Hicks' reaction. The Captain Hanscom sequence in the first part was shot at the Lost Lagoon, which involved Makaj on a platform just below the water surface to give the illusion of the character standing on water. The shots of the captain's corpse were done when Crane wasn't on set.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Filming "It" was not without difficult sequences. The scene where the blood-filled balloon explodes in Beverly's bathroom required multiple takes due to how difficult it was to get the timing of the explosion right. The theater scene took many retakes and much waiting, so Curry went on the stage and entertained the child extras with singalongs, all unaware he was playing a monster character in the miniseries. Shooting the last sewer scene was tough for the adult actors, as they had to deal with walking in an area filled with rust likely infected with tetanus. The final scene with Bill and Audra Denbrough took days to rehearse, a library scene with all the adult actors involved some slight injuries due to the number of objects randomly flying around the place, while the photo album scene where Pennywise comes to life was the hardest scene to shoot for Wallace.


title: It (miniseries)

text: In explaining why directing a screen version of a King story was difficult, Wallace summarized, "Stephen King is so good with language that he can make almost anything sound incredibly scary. Some of King's images translate to film. Some are simply ethereal, like smoke."


title: It (miniseries)

text: A lot of Wallace's directing was influenced by films he worked on with John Carpenter, such as "Halloween" (1978) and "The Fog" (1980). He made several technical and staging decisions just to make each scene scarier or weird. These included interesting camera tricks, such as the Chinese restaurant scene being shot with a handheld camera; and shots where It goes through pipes filmed as if they were from It's point of view, a decision inspired by Wallace's past experiences working with Carpenter.


title: It (miniseries)

text: The Chinese restaurant sequence was shot in only one take and involved the actors not being aware what was going to happen so that "our expressions were all real," explained Reid. As Wallace explained, "The fortune cookie scene is an example of how to get great scare-power out of fairly humble, low-budget special effects. A trick table, puppeteers underneath, a handful of creepy little cookie models, a group of characters taken by surprise. So much depended on the details."


title: It (miniseries)

text: When it came to the Ms. Kersh scene, Wallace place several incidental details, such as Mrs. Kersh's teeth being rotten like Pennywise's, to give the audience a clue something was up; the scene also ends with Beverly Marsh in the middle of the street, with intentionally no extras around to add to the creep factor. Wallace also chose to make the furniture in Stanley Uris' house odd to signify something being wrong with the character.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Gene Warren's effects company Fantasy II were in the middle of working on "Predator 2" (1990) when ABC assigned the company to work on "It" with a deadline of 12 weeks. The effects team of "It" included Warren, who handled the visual effects; Bart Mixon, who coordinated the makeup effects and Pennywise's animated deadlights; Jo-Anne Smith, who previously worked on Curry's make-up for his role in "Legend" (1985); Salty Ray; J.C. Matalon; and the Fantasy II effects team run by Warren's son, Gene Warren Jr., and including Jim McLoughlln, Aaron Sim, Brent Baker, Norman Cabrera, and Joey Orosco. Fantasy II previously worked on a feature also directed by Wallace named "Fright Night Part 2" (1988) and another King adaptation named "Pet Sematary" (1989).


title: It (miniseries)

text: The majority of the special effects were done practically without digital alteration, such as puppeteers being used to animate the fortune cookies in the Chinese restaurant scene. Some scenes were done with replacement animation, an animation technique similar to stop motion animation. Replacement animation was used for when Pennywise came out of the drain, killed Belch in the sewers, and did a somersault in the air. A lot of the effects Wallace planned to use while storyboarding did not make it into the final version for budget reasons, such as the roots writhing around Pennywise in his ghostly encounter with the adult Losers in the sewer. Lindsay Craig, an artist who made a living doing prop work in film and television, created some of the blood for "It" using food coloring, water, and methacyl.


title: It (miniseries)

text: While It's lair features many cocooned humans, Sally Ray and J.C. Matalon sculpted only six of them, four children and two adults, for close-up shots.


title: It (miniseries)

text: To work with the deadline, Mixon divided the design team of each It creature into four artists: "Each artist was given a considerable amount of freedom with his creations, with occasional input from Warren or myself to make sure we were adhering to Wallace's vision."


title: It (miniseries)

text: When designing Pennywise, Mixon focused on making him look as "friendly" as possible: "This creature is trying to lure children in, so he's not going to be a monster at first." He began drawing concepts for how Pennywise would look before Curry was cast, researching the looks of most other clowns in the process. Original storyboards for Pennywise featured exaggerated cheekbones, a sharp chin, and bulbous forehead.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Mixon began working on a head cast for the Pennywise character after Curry was cast in the role; he also designed three clay molds for testing. According to Mixon, he based the shape of Pennywise's head on Lon Chaney in "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925), "stylized into a clown." Three different versions of the clown's face were created, one of which resembled a hobo clown, another that was "a little meaner," and the final one seen in the series.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Mixon then worked with Curry on the makeup and tested two concepts: one with just a nose, headpiece, and a make-up pattern Curry suggested; and another one that was closer to the original designs. The former was chosen, although the other make-up choice is featured in the final cut when Pennywise is sprayed with battery acid. Instead of traditional clown make-up, PAX paint was used for makeup that made Pennywise look "almost like a living cartoon."


title: It (miniseries)

text: According to director Wallace, "Tim [Curry] objected strongly to all the rubber. He had recently been in several movies which covered him in prosthetics and I'm sure he felt all the glue and latex would just get in his way. He was right, of course. With those eyes, and that mouth, and his crazy, sardonic sense of humor, less turned out to be more in the makeup department." However, the bulbous forehead was kept to give the character "a supernatural aspect without getting in the way." Getting the clown faces right also depended on some of the actor's own efforts, to the point where he had to do a day of training of not only getting into the character but also practicing the faces. Small adjustments to Pennywise's face, such as on his mouth and the eyebrows ("the hardest thing to get right" according to Curry), were still being made in the first five days of shooting.


title: It (miniseries)

text: In the scenes when the clown became vicious, Curry wore yellow lenses and two sets of sharp teeth throughout shooting: a smaller set he could talk while wearing, and a less flexible but far bigger set for more horrifying shots. The teeth were designed by Jim McLoughlin. Wallace originally did not want Pennywise to switch into a "horror" look but rather maintain the "nice" clown look throughout the miniseries, but this idea was dropped.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Dan Platt sculpted a puppet replication of Pennywise specifically for the stop motion scenes, with painting done by Mixon and the hair by Jack Bricker. Rotoscoping was used for Pennywise's "dead light" effects in the first part of the miniseries.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Norman Cabrera sculpted the design of the werewolf. Because Wallace did not want it to look like a usual "Howling type of creature," Mixon instructed Cabrera to make "a slicker, '90s version" of the wolf from the 1950s film Richie viewed. 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." Jack Bricker created the wolf's hair, and Mimi Cabrera made stylistic additions. Aaron Sims painted three sets of false eyes for the wolf; a "beauty pair" for close-up shots, a "stunt pair" that had the pupils "drilled out," and a set of glowing eyes. Only the "stunt" and "beauty" pairs are seen in the final miniseries.


title: It (miniseries)

text: For the part when Mrs. Kersh is revealed to be Alvin Marsh's corpse, Florence Peterson was still playing the character. Cabrera was responsible for the Marsh part of Kersh's make-up, composed of two face pieces, one teeth piece, false fingernail pieces, one neck piece, two pieces on the back of the hands, and an "empty eyesocket" piece. Mixon handled a PAX paint layer of the makeup. 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."


title: It (miniseries)

text: The scene when the Losers find Stanley's decapitated head in the refrigerator was done via a split screen effect; it consists of one shot of Masur wearing a Jim-McLoughlin-designed "severed neck" with black areas filled in by another shot of the refrigerator without the actor. McLoughlin also created a dummy head of Stan used for wide shots.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Producing and shooting It's final spider form required a budget of $200,000 and 13 weeks of time. It began with Mixon coming up with the idea of a "soft and fleshy" spiderlike creature. Joey Orosco, with some help from Henry Mayo, 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. In addition to painting the entire creature, Orsco mold the torso, arms, and head; while the spider's legs and abdomen were sculpted by Sims. Sims also molded a stop-motion replica of the spider, with an armature built by Mike Joyce, used for nine split-screen, rear projection, and tabletop shots supervised by Warren.


title: It (miniseries)

text: As Wallace explained, the spider was far less "beefy and muscular" and more "lean and mean" then what was in the concept drawings; its face was also not suppose to be as visible as it was in the final cut, although he blames himself for letting that happen. As Mixon described the 500-pound, 250-foot radio-controlled spider, "They've had some other creatures on TV but I can't think of anything just this big or this neat." Its odd design and unusually large size caught the attention of Canadian customs officials when it reached the US-Canada border of White Rock during its relocation from Los Angeles to a sound stage at The Bridge Studios; the officials delayed the operation.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Brent Baker was inside the spider, previously going through three months of training in using it, where there was a video monitor showing him how the spider was moving: "It got a little stuffy, but they had a place where they could stick in a little hose if I wanted water or some fresh air." Baker got really uncomfortable when the spider had to do multiple shots of the roll-over movement, as he would have to lay on his side while the crew set up another shot. Dave Kindlon's mechanics of the spider required control by various operators for different body parts; the head was radio-controlled by three people, the legs were operated by six people, one person operated the arms, one handled the deadlights, and others handled the movement of the entire spider.


title: It (miniseries)

text: As Mixon described controlling the spider, "We used a certain amount of animatronics for the head, and the body had some of my crew members inside it. Once we got it into place, we couldn't move it around too much, because it was pretty unwieldy. For some reason, they shot it in super slow motion, so it's no wonder it looks like it's not moving! It was capable of more than what you saw onscreen."


title: It (miniseries)

text: The final spider figure disappointed both the cast and Wallace. On set, Thomas called the spider a "diva," Ritter mocked it as a "muppet from hell," and O'Toole recalled most of the cast calling it the "Alaskan king crab." King also disliked the spider, mocking it as "three Chevy headlights on the bottom of a wheelbarrow." The effects artists made touches after King revealed his disappointment during production.


title: It (miniseries)

text: As the producers were about to throw away the spider, Bart's father Tom rushed to Fantasy II to obtain it; as of January 1993, the spider resided in a Houston, Texas warehouse owned by Bart's parents Tom and Barbara.


title: It (miniseries)

text: "It" was composer Richard Bellis' first score since his career "came to a screeching halt for some unknown reason" in 1984. He was in the fourth year of owning a woodwork business when getting the call to score the miniseries. The score took five weeks to compose and produce. Bellis recorded four-days worth of orchestra parts performed by various ensembles that had 55 players at most, and the electronic instruments were tracked at Ray Colcord's home studio.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Bellis' use of motifs and ostinatos in "It" were inspired by the works of Bernard Herrmann. The music features motifs of not only each Loser and Pennywise but also themes of nostalgia and the difference between the past and the present. In presenting the story's varied tone, the score mixes together adventurous orchestra motifs (especially so for the music of the last showdown between It and the Losers), horror synthesizer pieces, circus music, big band jazz, creepy sound design touches, and trumpet-heavy music accompanying the setting of Derry.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Bellis took a long time figuring out the first interval of the title theme, since he considered the use of a tritone overused in horror. Then, one day, he spontaneously chose the interval to be a major seventh after he heard it on the hairdryer he was using. The scrapbook seen in the title sequence influenced how he composed the theme: "I do remember being struck by the fact that it was not like other scrapbooks, filled with happy memories. The pages were sparse and the sequence mostly in black & white." The producers and Wallace initially intended The Impressions' cover of "The Way You Do the Things You Do" to be the title song, but it is instead played in the sequence where the Losers build a dam in the final cut.


title: It (miniseries)

text: The choice of calliope, drums, and bells for Pennywise's circus theme was obvious to Bellis; however, how he would use the bright-toned circus instruments was challenging in composing the theme for an evil clown. As Bellis described his thinking process, "Does the music have to be evil too? Besides, calliope music is usually very busy— I use this instrument as a scoring instrument or will that just be distracting? Maybe I can use it in a register lower than an actual calliope is capable of playing and just with single notes. And what about a sort of "demented" carousel? Maybe I can create something that uses my major seventh interval?"


title: It (miniseries)

text: In the beginning of "It", Winterbarger sings "Itsy Bitsy Spider" while riding on a bike, which foreshadows the titular antagonist's spider form.


title: It (miniseries)

text: The first release of the score was in February 1996, but only as a 16-minute suite on the album "Richard Bellis: Film Music Volume 1". Then, a 2-CD release of the TV movie's complete score by Richard Bellis was released on November 15, 2011, by Intrada Records, and is volume 184 of the label's special collection. On October 31, 2016, Warner Brothers, as part of their Archive Collection Series, issued the score in a shorter, one-tracklist version on CD and Spotify. In 2017, Waxwork Records issued the entire score for the first time on vinyl. A six-minute suite of the score, along with a six-minute outtake recording of an orchestra session, can be heard on Bellis' website.


title: It (miniseries)

text: On October 18, 2016, guitarist Eric Calderone released his electric guitar cover of Bellis' circus theme for "It".


title: It (miniseries)

text: AllMovie suggested "It" pushed the television barriers not only with its amount of blood, but also with its themes of child endangerment.


title: It (miniseries)

text: As "It" was a television production, its content had to follow Broadcast Standards and Practices. This limited the amount of violence, gore, and blood displayed, and how it was presented. For instance, since blood could not come out of body orifices, blood instead had to come out of physical objects such as sinks and photo books. Mixon re-called that, when designing the skeleton Ben encountered, ABC did not want the skeleton to be wet and have muscles hanging off of it. However, the skeleton was supposed to be wet as it had just emerged from a river. To get around the problem, Mixon decided to replace the skeleton meat with seaweed. As Mixon explained, "They just didn't want any [wet] gore, although rot and decay was okay." The biggest broadcast rule the makers of "It" had to loophole around was not to show kids in jeopardy, which was a major issue as kids facing deadly situations was a prominent theme of the story. An example of this is Georgie's death; he could not have his arm shown to be ripped off, so it had to only be implied through dialogue.


title: It (miniseries)

text: The censorship "It" dealt with made it more of a psychological horror product, something different from most popular horror productions at the time. Most of this horror is executed through the titular villain and the scared expressions of the Loser Clubs actors. Philip Rosenthal wrote that in order to be scared of "It", "it is necessary to embrace the fantasy that such an evil entity could exist and cloud minds the way It does." The lack of graphic content "It" could display also resulted its story to be very character-orientated for its genre. Like the original novel, "It" deals with multiple themes related to childhood: children's safety issues, trauma adults unconsciously place on kids, the importance of friendship, and childhood fears that continue into adulthood. The Losers face problems of bullying, abusive parenting, racism, and lack of adult attention to the sudden increase of child deaths. They are connected as outsiders dealing with similar levels of traumatic situations, and they work together to overcome those traumatic feelings by defeating "It," a symbol of their inner fears.


title: It (miniseries)

text: "It" also features comic touches to its otherwise scary plot 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. Curry's performance of Pennywise is also cited as a reason for unintentional hilarity, as it combines horror, black comedy, and cheeriness. In addition to his odd methods of transportation, such as popping out of sinks, storm drains, and shower heads, Pennywise appears and acts like a regular circus clown, instead of a malevolent extraterrestrial being. However, this very appearance in combination with his evil acts is recognized as the major element of terror in the miniseries.


title: It (miniseries)

text: ABC originally did not want King seeing the footage of "It" until after it was broadcast; however, the author threatened the network that he would not do any promotional interviews if he did not see it first. King explained in a September 1990 "Fangoria" interview that he had seen the first hour of the miniseries, and that the rest was currently being edited. His reasoning for checking on the miniseries' progress was, "It's my damn book and I worked on it for three years."


title: It (miniseries)

text: "It" was initially planned to air on ABC in May 1990 before being moved to the "sweeps month" of November, specifically the nights of November 18 and November 20. 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.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Just before the broadcast, a variety of predictions were made by television writers about how big "It"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s ratings would be. Journalist Janos D. Froelich analyzed the final product of "It" as looking cheaper than ABC's previous sweeps month big events, which made her less faithful about it being successful. Mike Drew suggested that while the star power could increase the miniseries' chances of succeeding, its content was "probably too tamed-down by TV requirements" to gain its primary target horror demographic. However, Joan Hanauer suggested the program would be "a natural ratings grabber" for its "good clean horror fun," and Greg Paeth forecasted that it could bring in curious King fans.


title: It (miniseries)

text: "It" turned out to be the biggest success of 1990 for Capital Cities, owner of ABC, garnering nearly 30 million viewers over its two-night premiere. Part 1 was the fifth highest rated program of the week with an 18.5/29 rating/share, and being watched in 17.5 million households. Part 2 was the second highest rated program of the week with a 20.6/33 rating/share, and watched in 19.2 million households. During a time when recording television programs on tape with VCR was becoming a commonly-practiced activity in family homes, the second part of "It" was the most taped program of the month of November, with 1.96 million tape machines detected by A.C. Nielsen to be recording it. In a year where traditional television films like "Decoration Day" (1990) and "The Incident" (1990) garnered the most viewers, "It" was the only non-safe fare on 1990 to obtain the high ratings it received.


title: It (miniseries)

text: In France, the miniseries aired on M6 on October 16, 1993, under the title "Il est revenu", French for "He Came Back". When it aired on BBC One in the United Kingdom in 1994, part one garnered 6.6 million viewers; and the second part became the eleventh-most viewed program of the period of May 29 to August 14, 1994, by attracting 7.6 million watchers.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Television experts reported "rave" and not-so-fond reviews of "It" from television critics. Farrell Peter "The Oregonian" honored "It" as "the best horror show ever made for network television, and among the better miniseries of any genre offered this year," praising its multi-layered story and performances. Some critics called it one of the far better King films. "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"), 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." Matt Roush of "USA Today" categorized "It" as "the mini-series equivalent of those Saturday matinee shockers that merrily warped a generation before Freddy and Jason began stalking their more graphic turf." Both David Zurawik of "The Baltimore Sun" and Ron Miller of the "Press-Telegram" enjoyed "It" for working both as a straightforward scary miniseries and a very deep story, Zurawik highlighting its many "finely crafted" mythic and religious undertones.


title: It (miniseries)

text: Some critics highlighted its priority on character development over the typical horror traits of blood and gore, Richmond elaborating it was "all the more disturbing and believable by the fact that we are forced to care about these people as individuals." Many reviewers spotlighted some of the scare moments of the miniseries, often using the Chinese restaurant sequence as an example. A couple reviews particularly appreciated the miniseries' horrification of everyday objects and scenarios, such as shower heads and photo galleries. "Times Union" writer Steve Bornfeld recommended it for its freaky visuals and "effective cast," particularly Curry: "With his razor-sharp teeth and bloody balloons, Curry delicately balances clown-like cheer and pure evil, exploiting the freak show side of clowns that can terrify children." Julia Keller of "The Columbus Dispatch" applauded the "solid production values" and "crisp direction," where "each moment is crafted and distinct as, layer upon chilly layer, an edifice of terror is painstakingly created." Reviewers also described the special effects as "exceptionally effective," "jaw-dropping," and "rival[ing] anything you've seen on the big screen."


title: It (miniseries)

text: However, many writers also panned "It"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s long length and padding, "The Washington Times" writer Rick Martin criticizing its lack of scary moments over a four-hour running time. "The Miami Herald" critic Hal Boedeker wrote that "It" was padded with the leads dickering around with confronting It, as if it was "a monster movie without the heroes confronting "the thing;"" and "trite" and "tasteless" dialogue, such as slurs targeted toward the black Mike and the Jewish Stan. 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." Some reviewers also criticized its out-of-nowhere undeveloped subplots and unexplained concepts, such as the lack of explanation for why only the Loser Clubs and none of the other adults see It's incarnations. Martin noted one plot error in particular: "[Bill] still feels responsible for his kid brother's being snatched by Ronald McDeath, and though he wasn't there at the time manages a detailed flashback of his brother's last moments." Some reviewers felt the miniseries failed to capture King's horror style, 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." He also was an outlier in dismissing the character of Pennywise, writing that he "comes across as a berserk, somewhat laughable circus character."


title: It (miniseries)

text: The most praise came towards the series' first part, a common highlight being the performances of the child actors and its development of the Losers. Jonathan Storm described Crane as "awkward but adorable" and Perkins as having "a subtlety to the role that belies her years; her sidelong stare can be full of fear one second, contempt the next."


title: It (miniseries)

text: The part had the most "impact" of the miniseries because it focused on children, a very "vulnerable" demographic of people, analyzed "The San Diego Union" writer Robert P. Laurence. Ed Bark of "The Dallas Morning News" wrote that, "We yearn to recapture what they had, and we also wince at the indignities they endured as members of their self-proclaimed "Losers' Club.'" Tim Funk of "The Charlotte Observer" explained, "Watching them, we can't help but recall our own childhood hurts and fears. But we're also reminded what a soothing salve friendship was."


title: It (miniseries)

text: Keller wrote the Losers' bonding "never lurch into the sentimental, but are deeply, powerfully moving all the same," also finding the back-and-forth flashback technique to be the miniseries' "most effective" aspect. However, Bodeker was less favorable towards the story's presentation of juvenile endangerment, made only more "distasteful" by its "hack filmmaking." Mink also called the introduction to the adult losers in the first part "ridiculously trite" and Bodeker a "monotonous" setup.


title: It (miniseries)

text: The second part garnered more criticism, a recurring con being the adult actors. Laurence opined the adult actors were "more willing to accept the story on its own terms," thus making the second half less interesting. Storm explained that the adult characters' "foolish" and "spoiled" behavior made their problems look more "trivial" than their younger counterparts, and called their activities less "interesting" as well: "The adults just sit around and eat Chinese food or whine through strange attempts at romance."


title: It (miniseries)

text: 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." He also called the premise of adults keeping to a vow they held for thirty years to kill a monster "silly." Chapman called Christopher's performance of Eddie "embarrassing," while Tucker panned Thomas' performance for being more like his character for "The Waltons" than a horror novelist. Funk opined the miniseries' final half to be somewhat inferior for being "a bit silly at key points," and Tucker disfavored the second part's predictable plot.


title: It (miniseries)

text: The ending of the miniseries garnered the most disappointment with critics, even those most favorable toward the miniseries. Bark dismissed it as a "hokey, feel-good" resolution, Keller called it "trite," and Chapman described it as a "cop-out" as it ruined the "epic mind game" notion of It being in the characters' heads. It's spider form was particularly derided, called by Chapman a "cheap "Alien" imitation," described by Mann "as if it crawled out of a low-budget Japanese monster movie," and by the "Richmond Times-Dispatch" "more laughable than frightening."


title: It (miniseries)

text: "It" was ranked the tenth best television miniseries/film in 1990 by the "Orange County Register"; and "USA Today" honored Pennywise the best television clown of 1990, alongside Homey the Clown from "In Living Color". Bellis won an award for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a mini-series or a Special for his score for "It", the first time a composer won the award for a horror production. David Blangsted and Robert F. Shugrue was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Editing for a Single-Camera Miniseries or Special, losing to the Hallmark film "Sarah, Plain and Tall" (1991). Blangsted and Shugrue did, however, win an Eddie Award for Best Edited Television Work on a Miniseries. Crane was nominated for a Youth in Film award for "Best Young Actor Starring in a TV Movie, Pilot, or Special," but lost to Stephen Dorff in "Always Remember I Love You". "It" was nominated for a People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Mini-Series, being defeated by "The Civil War" (1990).