The Shining, on ABC
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Caution: spoilers!

This first aired over three nights in 1997, and I'm sure I saw it at the time. (I had probably seen the 1980 film based on the book by Stephen King about a year before this aired.) I guess the miniseries is supposed to be more faithful to the book than the movie is, but I wouldn't know, never having read the book. I'm watching the miniseries again in 2025 to write a review. It isn't iconic, as the film is, but it's still pretty good, if a bit plodding in its pacing sometimes. In fact, I think it's just as good as the movie, in its own way. I could even see how some people might think it's even better than the movie. (I believe King himself preferred the miniseries.)

Part One
It begins with Jack Torrance (Steven Weber) getting a tour of parts of the Overlook Hotel, guided by the custodian, Pete (Pat Hingle). Jack and his wife, Wendy (Rebecca De Mornay), along with their young son, Danny (aka "Doc"), will be moving into the Overlook to take care of it while it's closed for the winter. I must say, when Jack flat out asks (apropos of nothing) if the Overlook has ghosts, Pete says it doesn't. I'm not sure if he just didn't know the truth, but it seemed to me as if he was lying. And I'm not sure how I feel about that. Maybe Jack wouldn't have believed him if he'd said yes, but then again, he and Wendy know that Danny has precognition, so maybe it wouldn't be hard for them to believe in ghosts, as well. Anyway, Jack later talks to the Overlook's manager, Stuart Ullman (Elliott Gould), who isn't happy that Jack was hired for this job, because Jack is a recovering alcoholic with a history of violence. Jack insists he's better now, but we see flashbacks of how he had once hurt Danny. We also see that Danny has visions of a man called Tony, who warns him against going to the Overlook. But of course Danny has no choice in the matter.

Jack later brings his wife and son to the Overlook to start the job, and they meet the hotel's cook, Dick Hallorann (Melvin Van Peebles), as well as Pete. (Ullmann was gone, by then, as were all the other staff and guests.) Dick immediately senses Danny's psychic ability, which he calls the "shining". Dick has it too, but Danny's ability is stronger than it is in anyone he's ever met. He gives Danny some advice about how to deal with scary things he might see during his stay at the Overlook, and says to call him telepathically in an emergency. Dick will be in Florida for the winter, but he says he'll come if Danny calls. It's pretty far from the hotel, so it's hard to see how he could get there quickly enough to be of help in an emergency, but whatever. Anyway, he doesn't tell Danny's parents any of this. Pete and Dick then leave, and the Torrances settle into their home for the winter. (It's still fall at this point, though.)

Jack intends to spend much of his time writing a play, during their stay at the hotel. Meanwhile, disturbing things start happening, even if there's nothing blatantly supernatural, at first. But it's clear that Jack isn't quite as much better as he wants to believe he is. He accidentally hurts Danny, after the boy has a trance-like episode, and talks about Tony, which scares Jack. And Wendy is scared of Jack's anger, but it doesn't overcome her love for Jack, as yet.

Part Two
It begins with Jack at an A.A. meeting in the nearby town of Sidewinder, Colorado, while Wendy takes Danny to be examined by a doctor. Everything seems to be going well. But soon, Jack explores the basement of the Overlook, where he finds old papers about the history of the hotel. He hears voices, but can't find anyone, so apparently dismisses it. And one day, while outside in the winter, Jack notices the topiary animals moving closer to him. (Though they can only move when he isn't looking, which reminds me of Weeping Angels.) But he manages to escape them, and again brushes off his apparent hallucination. Meanwhile, Danny is drawn by some unknown force to Room 217, which Hallorann had warned him to avoid. At first, he decides not to go in, after Tony warns him not to. But when he's returning the key to Ullman's office, Jack catches him, and gets very angry. He doesn't believe that Danny hadn't gone in the room (none of them are supposed to go in any of the guest rooms). Later, Danny tells Wendy that Jack spends all his time in the basement, researching the history of the Overlook, about which he wants to write a book. Danny also says that Jack has given up on writing his play. He knows these things, because he can apparently sometimes see through his father's eyes. Wendy wants to leave the Overlook, but Jack convinces her to stay. She's also worried that Jack might not find her attractive anymore.

Another time, Jack hears his late father's voice coming from the CB radio in the office, and it tries to convince him to get rid of Wendy and Danny. In a rage, he destroys the CB, but later apparently doesn't remember doing it, and blames Danny. He goes looking for his son, who has finally gone into Room 217, unable to stop himself. Danny encounters the hideous ghost of a woman, who grabs him. Jack gets very angry again, and when Wendy and Jack find Danny, who has bruises on his neck, she blames Jack. But Danny eventually tells them about his supernatural experiences and fears. Still, Jack is unwilling to leave the hotel. Jack and Wendy get into a loud argument, which greatly upsets Danny. The next day, Jack goes out to the shed to examine the snowmobile Wendy wants them all to use to get to Sidewinder. On it, he finds an invitation addressed to him, and has a vision of one of the parties that had taken place in the Overlook, decades ago. He also finds a croquet mallet that shouldn't be there. (This isn't the first time he's found the mallet somewhere unexpected. And at the start of the miniseries, Danny had had a vision of a bloody mallet in Jack's car.) Later, Jack shows Wendy that the snowmobile had been badly damaged, so it couldn't be used. He again forgets having done it (and unlike the CB, we don't actually see him do it). He believes Danny used his psychic power to damage the snowmobile. But he agrees that if a ranger shows up to check in on them, Wendy and Danny should leave with them.

Then one day, Jack is down in the basement, while Danny is out playing in the snow. Wendy hears a noise and goes to investigate, and the hotel traps her in one of the rooms, as the topiaries stalk Danny. That's how part two concludes. I've left out a number of details, but I think I've provided quite enough of examples of how the hotel is messing with everyone, and driving Jack to madness. It's all definitely disturbing, to say the least.

Part Three
Wendy manages to break out of the room she was trapped in, and she and Jack rush outside to find Danny. When they get there, the topiaries have returned to where they're supposed to be. But later, Danny has scary visions that make him send a mental shout out to Dick, who comes as fast as he can. (It takes awhile, because he misses a flight and has to wait for the next one. Then he has to drive a snow tractor to the hotel, which is still miles away.) Later, an open bar appears with liquor in it, which shouldn't be there. Jack gets drunk, and has a conversation with a bartender, the ghost of Delbert Grady, who had been a former caretaker at the Overlook. He convinces Jack to try and kill Wendy and Danny, with a croquet mallet. He manages to hurt Wendy quite a bit, but she also hurts him. Eventually Dick arrives, but Jack knocks him out. Meanwhile, the boiler in the basement, which Jack is supposed to vent every day, but has forgotten on this day, starts to overload, threatening to explode. Jack tries to stop it, but then... Danny gets through to him with his shining, and he allows the boiler to destroy the hotel, while Wendy, Danny, and Dick escape.

I've left out a bunch of details, but that's basically how the story goes. There's another scene set ten years later, when Danny graduates high school, with his mother and Dick in the audience. Danny is also congratulated by the ghost of his father, which is the main thing I've always remembered from the first time I saw the miniseries, because it kind of reminded me of the end of Return of the Jedi. So there's a happier ending than the movie had. Anyway, I guess it was nice taking time to see Jack's descent into madness, instead of a more rushed descent in the movie. There were any number of differences between the movie and the miniseries, even if there were also a lot of similarities. I liked that Wendy was a bit more proactive in trying to protect Danny than I remember her being in the movie (but I could be wrong about that, I'd have to re-watch the movie to be sure). And I kind of liked Jack having issues with his own abusive father that played into his madness. Overall, I thought the miniseries was scary enough, even if it didn't have all the horror of the movie. And despite the generally happy ending, the very final scene ends on an ominous note. And... I'm not sure what else to say, I just really liked it. And I'm glad to have re-watched it, finally.