AS SEEN ON TV: PENNYWISE THE CLOWN

Today's Halloween entry for the "ASOTV" showcase is dedicated to Mary Nabozny and Ivy Hurley, two big fans of Stephen King, and to Mark Thompson, who LOVES clowns.......

PENNYWISE

AKA

BOB GRAY

AS SEEN IN:

"IT"

CREATED BY:

Stephen King

PORTRAYED BY:

Tim Curry

TV DIMENSION:

The Multiverse

Earth Prime-Time

[Derry, Maine]

From Wikipedia:

"It" (also referred to as "Stephen King's IT") is a 1990 miniseries based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. The story revolves around an inter-dimensional predatory life-form, which has the ability to transform itself into its prey's worst fears allowing it to exploit the phobias of its victims. It mostly takes the form of a sadistic, wisecracking clown called "Pennywise the Dancing Clown".

The main protagonists are "The Losers Club", or "The Lucky Seven", a group of social outcasts who discover Pennywise and vow to destroy him by any means necessary. The series takes place over two different time periods, the first when the Losers first discover Pennywise as children, and the second when they're called back as adults to defeat Pennywise, who has resurfaced.

It aired as a two-part television movie on November 18 and November 20, 1990 on ABC, and loosely follows the plot of the novel. The miniseries was filmed in New Westminster, British Columbia in late 1989. The film's all star cast includes Dennis Christopher, Annette O'Toole, John Ritter, Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Michael Cole, Richard Masur, and Tim Curry as the evil Pennywise. Argentinian actress Olivia Hussey appears as Audra, Bill Denbrough's wife.

From the Stephen King Wiki:

It (also known as '''Pennywise'' or '"Bob Gray") apparently originated in a void containing and surrounding the Universe, a place referred to in the novel as the "Macroverse" (a concept similar to the later established Todash Darkness of the "Dark Tower Novels"). Its real name (if, indeed, It has one) is unknown—although at several points in the novel, It claims its true name to be Robert Gray—and is christened It by the group of children who later confront it.

Throughout the book, It is generally referred to as male; however, late in the book, the protagonists come to believe that It may possibly be female (due to Its manifestation as a large female spider). Despite this, Its true form is never truly comprehended. Its final physical body is that of an enormous spider; this is, however, the closest the human mind can get to approximating its actual form. Its natural form exists in a realm beyond the physical, which It calls the "deadlights".

Bill Denbrough comes dangerously close to seeing the deadlights, but successfully defeats It before this happens. As such, the deadlights are never seen, and Its true form outside the physical realm is never revealed, only described as writhing, destroying orange lights. Coming face to face with the deadlights drives any living being instantly insane (a common H. P. Lovecraft device). The only known person to face the deadlights and survive is Audra Phillips.

Its natural enemy is "The Turtle", another ancient Macroverse dweller who, eons ago, created our Universe and possibly others. The Turtle shows up again in King's series "The Dark Tower". The book suggests that It, along with the Turtle, are themselves creations of a separate, omnipotent creator referred to as "the Other". The Turtle and It are eternal enemies (creation versus consumption). It may in fact be either a twinner of or the actual one of the six greater demon elementals mentioned by Mia in "Song of Susannah", as the Spider is not one of the Beam Guardians. It arrived in our world in a massive, cataclysmic event similar to an asteroid impact, in the place that would, in time, become Derry, Maine.

Through the novel "It", some events are described through Its point of view, through which It describes himself as the "superior" being, with the Turtle as someone "close to his superiority" and humans as mere "toys". It describes that it prefers to kill and devour children, not by nature, rather because children's fears are easier to interpret in a physical form and thus children are easier to fill with terror, which It says is akin to marinating the meat. It is continually surprised by the children's victories over It and near the end, it begins to question if It is not as superior as It had once thought. However, It never believes that the individual children are strong enough to defeat It, only through "the Other" working through them as a group.

BCnU!