Pennywise’s Encounter With Georgie In It Is Stephen King’s Scariest TV Moment
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<img width="1650" height="928" loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="Pennywise talks to Georgie through the storm drain in Stephen King's It" data-img-url="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/it-pennywise-tim-curry.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/it-pennywise-tim-curry.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/>
<figcaption style="display: none;">Pennywise talks to Georgie through the storm drain in Stephen King's It</figcaption>
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<p>Both the novel and the miniseries open the same way. During a heavy rainstorm in the spring of 1960, little Georgie Denbrough (Tony Dakota) plays in the growing rivers of water in the street with a paper boat he and his older brother Bill (Jonathan Beandis) built. The boat gets away from George, and he chases it to an empty road where it falls down a storm drain.</p>
<p>As he looks into the drain, two eyes stare back. Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Tim Curry) invites George to come down with him. When George refuses, he offers the paper boat instead. George reaches in, and the clown transforms into a sharp-toothed monster, bites his arm off, and George bleeds to death in the road.</p>
<h2 id="it-rsquo-s-movie-remake-makes-this-scene-less-scary">
It’s Movie Remake Makes This Scene Less Scary
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<img width="1650" height="928" loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) reaching into the sewer while Pennywise (Bill Skarsgörd) watches and smiles in It." data-img-url="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/it_vejd4s-1.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/it_vejd4s-1.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/>
Credit: MovieStillsDB</figure>
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<p>The movie remake follows similar beats in the lead-up to Georgie's death, but it ends up taking some of the air out of the scare. In the 2017 movie, <em>It</em>, Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) loses his boat and meets Pennywise, played by Bill Skarsgörd, who does a fantastic job, slowly ramping up the terror.</p>
<p>However, when it's time to bite off Georgie's arm, It transforms into a CGI monster with a piranha-like mouth full of teeth. It's jarring and takes you out of the scene. What makes the miniseries scene so frightening is that Pennywise feels like a human for most of the scene, giving the whole sequence an uncanny vibe, and uncomfortably reminding viewers of real-world dangers.</p>
<p>The 2017 version of the scene gets lost in the visual effects and overly bloody details to actually scare. Pennywise's arm coming out of the sewer in the film is a creepy touch, though.</p>
<h2 id="tim-curry-rsquo-s-performance-as-pennywise-was-his-greatest-on-television">
Tim Curry’s Performance As Pennywise Was His Greatest On Television
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<img width="1650" height="928" loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="Tim Curry as Pennywise smiling in It 1990 miniseries" data-img-url="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/tim-curry-as-pennywise-smiling-in-it-1990-miniseries.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/tim-curry-as-pennywise-smiling-in-it-1990-miniseries.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/>
<figcaption style="display: none;">Tim Curry as Pennywise smiling in It 1990 miniseries</figcaption>
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<p>Tim Curry's performance as Pennywise is fantastic in this scene, and is so in the rest of the film. The way he is almost near tears as he pleads with Georgie to join him is so perfectly off-putting, and when he flips the switch to anger, you know this is a special sort of horror villain.</p>
<p>Curry's performance in <em>It</em> is his best work on television, by far. While his voice work in <em>The Wild Thornberrys</em> as Nigel Thornberry and his one-episode guest appearances in a handful of series are excellent, it's <em><strong>It</em></strong></em> that he'll be remembered on TV for. As for his film roles, take your pick; there are too many good ones to list.</p>
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