Overview
- HBO says the two-part debut drew 5.7 million U.S. viewers in three days, with tracking services listing it as Max’s most-watched series after only two episodes and critics noting a strong early score on Rotten Tomatoes.
- A new preview for episode 3 highlights a Shawshank State Prison thread and expands Dick Hallorann’s role, signaling deeper ties to Stephen King’s wider universe without revealing plot turns.
- Episode 2 arrived early for Halloween, with the series now returning to its weekly Sunday 9 p.m. ET slot on HBO and Max through an eight-episode season set to conclude on December 14.
- Co-creator Barbara Muschietti says the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes halted filming for eight months, forcing season and climate changes, a revised finale approach, and workarounds for aging child actors and cast schedules.
- Coverage emphasizes dense Easter eggs and social themes in the 1962 setting, and Stephen King has publicly praised an early supermarket scare without detailing the sequence.