Curtain May Fall on 'Masterpiece Theater'

IMDb.com ^ | 7-9-04

[Paul Atreides]

Following the loss of ExxonMobil as its longtime corporate underwriter, PBS's flagship drama Masterpiece Theater is facing the possibility of cancellation, PBS chief Pat Mitchell told the Television Critics Association's summer press tour in Los Angeles Thursday. "It used to be that if the CEO of a company just loved Masterpiece Theater, they just wrote the check," Mitchell told the group. "There are very few companies that operate that way [now]," she said, noting that funds for philanthropic work are placed in the hands of advertising agencies to distribute. As for Masterpiece Theater, she said, "We've got to get an underwriter here, and we are determined to do it."

[Paul Atreides]

Awwwww.....can they not find one of those wonderful liberals, from either coast, to cough up some funds? Or, would that interfere with their plans for the gold-plated bidets to be installed in the 3000-square foot "bathroom/retreats?"

[Texas Eagle]

Nooooooo! I was going to start watching that show.....someday.

Oh, well. As Dandy Don Meredith used to sing on Monday Night Football. "Trrrn owt the lahhhhhhts, th' pardeees ohhhverrrr...."

[Petronski]

Maybe if PBS/NPR spent less time rhetorically p!ss!ng on the oil industry, ExxonMobil might stick around.

[Paul Atreides]

The only time that I ever watch, is when the Britcoms are playing.

[Guenevere]

#4...I agree with your sentiments....

..but years & years ago, Masterpiece Theater use to be one of my favorites....

...the Jewel in the Crown..series (about the British Raj)...
...Against the Wind...about the colonization of Australia....

..were excellent adventures.
Also ...Upstairs, Downstairs...

[Normal4me]

PBS still has programming? Every time I fly by the channel, they are hawking old furniture and begging for money.

[Petronski]

Two fabulously enjoyable MT presentations I remember are "Piece of Cake" and "A Very British Coup."

[skinkinthegrass]

The only time that I ever watch, is when the Britcoms are playing.

..like when, I, Claudius and The Duchess Of Duke Street were on...they were the best...when Patrick Steward had hair. :))

[The Raven]

Michael Moore !!!

[BunnySlippers]

Masterpiece Theater is nothing short of excellent. It is theatrical representations of classical literature. What could yu possibly have against that?

Yes, the rest of PBS is crap. But you dump on the truly good part of that station!

[bray]

And who said there was only Bad News anymore????

Pray for W and Our Amazing Soldiers

[NonValueAdded]

If the show is that good then why can't it find a home on another network? It is far better than most of the crap that is out there now. As Yogi Berra said, it is "deja vu all over again" each time a family oriented or religious movie is a box office smash but instead of translating that into a network programming offering, we get another "reality" show.

[JOE6PAK]

Awwww, let 'em keep pounding themselves into the ground.

The best thing about banging yourself in the head with a hammer is that it feels SO good when you stop!

[Paul Atreides]

I have nothing against theatrical representation of classical literature. I just tire of the "compassionate" people telling us how important PBS is, while they, with their hundreds of millions, want government to pay for it, through taxation.

[Casloy]

Hey, if they don't do it, who will?

oh, sorry, forgot about cable, dish TV, and Direct TV.

Nevermind

[SoCal Pubbie]

Why don't the producers approach Discovery, The History Channel, and the like and pitch it there? Then they can double the audience and make a boat load more money?

[BunnySlippers]

I agree with your choices. And anything by Galsworthy ... the Forstye Saga specifically. Over a dozen volumes but the first "A Man of Property" done twice on Masterpiece Theater".

[Paul Atreides]

I wouldn't mind PBS so much, if all they did was present classical and cultural programming. It's the liberal bias and freak show content that I hate.

It is a sad commentary on the state of American entertainment when the BBC, THE BBC!, can put out quality sitcoms and America cannot.

[Paul Atreides]

I would dearly love to own some of the British productions. The only thing stopping me is seeing that BBC logo at the top of the DVD.

[BunnySlippers]

Actually, they do. Some Masterpiece Theater productions show up on Bravo and the local channels. But, point being, is that the program is not only good but really good. Why slam a good thing! Get rid of all the other programming and leave the best part!

[Paul Atreides]

I like Keeping Up Appearences, As Time Goes By, Good Neighbors, and To the Manor Born.

[BunnySlippers]

I don't like the BBC any more than you do. They are truly evil ... but so is Fox in it's way. Fox is the architect of tabloid, reality TV. Not everything is black and white.

[mlmr]

Yoiu mean that masterpiece theatre cannot leave the plantation and find commercial funding?

[SoCal Pubbie]

My point is there is no need for PBS anymore.

[JOE6PAK]

All the time begging for a "dollar-a-day" from the schlub listening to "Car Talk" once a week.

Cool show but a bunch of Lefties!

[Paul Atreides]

I hate Fox. In fact, I don't watch hardly any television, anymore. Unless, there is an old movie showing. I don't remember the last time I watched primeslime television.

[BunnySlippers]

It is a sad commentary on the state of American entertainment when the BBC, THE BBC!, can put out quality sitcoms and America cannot.

Well, isn't this the whole gripe, fer cripes sake! The USA can make good programming ... and we do with the Sopranos and others on cable. But commercial TV is run by the money it generates.

Don't tell me you don't know that if Americans preferred quality sitcoms to the World Wrestling Foundation then we would be doing great stuff. But it doesn't sell. We're a capitalist country.

Now if the Dims have their way, we'll change that. :)

[BunnySlippers]

I haven't watched the networks for years. I cycle through Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, HGTV and the Food Channel.

[Paul Atreides]

I like Fox News. I also like a couple of building shows on HGTV. I just hate this "reality" crap that is present in so much programming.

[BunnySlippers]

...the Jewel in the Crown..series (about the British Raj)...

This, BTW, is an incredible trilogy ... not just the first book "Jewel in the Crown". So it's worth reading. It covered several generations and is one of my favorites of all time.

[skinkinthegrass]

I would dearly love to own some of the British productions.

..too bad...DVD, DVR & VCR are 30 years too late....I have a Dell 8300 w/120 GB HD and no way to capture it. :(

[SoCal Pubbie]

The "need" for an outlet for the type of programming that PBS provides has been met by the cable stations I listed before. I am not the first here to point out that PBS is obsolete.

[sheik yerbouty]

I Ccclaudius was great!

[AlbionGirl]

Was or could there ever be a better portrayal of Soames? It's beyond MT, and Rebecca Eaton to produce junk. I will miss it if it's gone for good. I don't have cable, and really don't want it, because I don't watch enough TV to get my money's worth, so all I watch is PBS.

The Bucket Woman, Mr. Humphries-I never tire of them. Great writing, great acting, unbeatable!

[csvset]

I, Claudius

Sian Phillips' Livia... A portrayal of absolute evil.

Perhaps Hillary chose as her role model.

[BossLady]

I like the Britcoms but I also really got into MTs 'The Forsyte Saga I & II' which were great and then they did 'Daniel Deronda'. It beats watching network programming or some crappy cable show ;)

I remember MT did 'Henry VIII' and 'HR Elizabeth', in the early 80's I believe, and both were excellent!

[BunnySlippers]

I remember watching snippets of the first Forstye Saga on PBS. Then my brother bought the series of books which I read (in the 60s). OK, Greer Garson played Irene Soames on the screen but it was pure Hollywood.

I agree, the last Forstye Saga was the best. I can't remember the actors name who played Soames ... he was wonderful and gave me insight into how jealous, petty and possessive he was which I hadn't picked as much before.

I am trying to collect the books ... they are getting hard to find.

[js1138]

Also ...Upstairs, Downstairs...

"Danger, UXB", and "I, Claudius".

[BunnySlippers]

My point is there is no need for PBS anymore.

I'll grant you that. But the article isn't about PBS going away ... it is staying. Masterpiece Theater is going ... no matter who broadcasts it.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Following the loss of ExxonMobil as its longtime corporate underwriter, PBS's flagship drama Masterpiece Theater is facing the possibility of cancellation

You know, all it would take to save Masterpiece Theater from cancellation would be a few...........commercials!

(he he he)

[goodnesswins]

I got a stupid email yesterday from a lefty friend begging people to sign a petition to save NPR, PBS and the NEA.....I'm not sure were friends anymore....(I WAS NICE in my response....just honest.)

[AlbionGirl]

The beauty about Soames, in the books or adapted as it was for MT, is that Soames is generally a sympathetic character. In fact, when Forsythe retired the character through death, the Brits said they felt like they knew him and were grieved.

Those qualities that made him dislikable are softened especially in the last book of the Triology, and are always juxtaposed against the hypocricy of Irene and Julian's(I think that was his name, he's Soames first cousin) cheating hearts.

There's a wonderful scene between Soames and Julian concerning their children. They've fallen in love w/each other not knowing the ugly background from which they all emerged, and Julian is begging Soames to interfere and help split them up, and Soames just sniffs that superior sniff and says to him, 'I'm not pleased about this either, but at least I don't have to play the hypocrite', as Julian was always waxing feverishly about the sin that is inherent in any fettering of true love. It was just a perfect cinematic moment.

[AlbionGirl]

I do think there's a place for PBS, and I don't mind State funding of it. A lot of people got grants for college via the State, PBS is as legitimate a State expenditure as that, if you ask me. I have supported it in the past, and will resume doing so if they are in the dire straits that is being reported.

One thing though, they better come clean about their expenditures, just like in education if rid the place of worthless administrators you have a good chance of bringing a solution to bear.

I like PBS, and I always have, it is without a doubt, superior television.

[My Favorite Headache]

Because they want people to pay 275.00 for a Fleetwood Mac concert DVD and CD that you can buy at the local store without interruption for 35.00 total.

[buccaneer81]

Every once in a while, they brought a gem over from the UK. Danger UXB, about a bomb disposal unit in the London blitz was absolutely fantastic.

[Ciexyz]

They did "Great Expectations" several years ago with Charlotte Rampling and Ioan Gruffudd (Hornblower), and the remake of "Upstairs, Downstairs" -- I'd hate to see Masterpiece Theater die.

[buccaneer81]

Danger UXB rocked!

[Ciexyz]

Poldark I and II, which you can still borrow from your interlibrary service. Some library somewhere in your city probably has it.

[ILuvW]

"like when I, Claudius and The Duchess Of Duke Street were on...they were the best".

Those 2 were my all time favorites too (I have those on tape). Other MT classics were Brideshead Revisited, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Elizabeth R, Lillie, Shoulder to Shoulder, Anna Karinina, Madame Bovery, A Town Called Alice and so many others. I hate to sound like an old F$@t, but they don't make quality programming like that anymore....it's sad.

[skinkinthegrass]

I Ccclaudius was great!

:))...An Robert Graves' Masterpiece...His (as head honcho) address before the Senate was GREAT!