Masterpiece: America's 50-Year-Old Love Affair with British Television Drama
Masterpiece: America's 50-Year-Old Love Affair with British Television Drama by Nancy West
Published by: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers
Publication Date: November 24th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 264 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy
"Fifty years, 450-plus programs, 2,250-plus episodes, and 250 awards: these are Masterpiece's achievements by the numbers, and they are a record to be proud of. Out of the thousands of TV shows produced in America since the 1950s, roughly thirty have reached the fifty-year mark. Most of these are soap operas, sports, or news programs. No other primetime dramatic series comes close to Masterpiece's longevity nor has won as man Emmy, Peabody, or Golden Globe awards. On a less tangible level, few programs have cultivated as loyal a viewer following." In 1961 when Minow gave his infamous "Vast Wasteland" speech television was undergoing a sea change. Gone were the anthology series and high art television produced in New York City, Kraft Television Theatre, CBS Playhouse, Goodyear Theatre, and Playhouse 90, and in were the lowbrow comedies produced in LA. In fact Gilligan's Island openly mocked Minow with their eponymous boat. But when The Forsyte Saga aired in 1969 on NET, the forerunner to PBS, the way back to quality anthology television and out of the "Vaste Wasteland" was apparent. Everyone was talking about the Forsytes and three months after its finale it was on Stan Calderwood's mind when he was in London. Stan would go on to be the first president of WGBH and he cold called the BBC. He needed content for the newly formed PBS and the BBC had it. A deal was quickly struck and on January 10th, 1971 Masterpiece Theatre launched with The First Churchills. A show not without its flaws, too many wigs and maybe a little too racy, but their audience was hooked. By the time the first season finished in 1972 they knew they had something special. Even Minow approved. The show, while initially more focused on literary adaptations, knew that if they maintained the same thematic relevance of tradition, nostalgia, and conventionality, they would maintain their audience because these are all things that Americans crave that their own country is unable to provide, especially in the sphere of television. Masterpiece Theatre was aspirational television. Just by being a viewer you were being educated and thought of as bettering yourself. Checking out history books from the library to compliment your viewing wasn't unheard of in the many letters they received from viewers over the years. While this occasionally has led to the show being viewed as having a superiority complex that only caters to white upper and middle class viewers the fact that after all this time it is still around, still competing, speaks to its success. In fact, while America is called a country without traditions, it certainly has created one on Sunday nights around the television.
If you're a fan of beautifully made books this will be an offense to you. What I thought would be a coffee table sized tome with copious pictures is a small volume that looks like it was made by a nearly defunct university press. The paper meets the "minimum requirements" for "Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials" and that is patently obvious. The font is minuscule and appears to have had no typesetting. The photographs are laughable and misidentified. As another reviewer pointed out, why is the the British DVD cover for Sherlock even in here instead of a picture from a press kit? In other words, if you were looking for a book whose very presence was worthy of a show named Masterpiece, this is not it. If you're a fan of Masterpiece though, this book might give you a little more of an historical framework with regard to the political climate when the show was formed and the fact that it lacks diversity. But that is all. It reads like a textbook, which isn't surprising as Nancy West is a professor at the University of Missouri. Though it doesn't read as a very good textbook. It reminded me too heavily of the introduction to television and film books I read in my undergrad comm arts classes. Except that this book has constant niggling errors. I mean, come on, when Wolf Hall aired it wasn't the only Tudor show to air in almost twenty-five years! Just a decade earlier Henry VIII starring Ray Winstone aired as did The Virgin Queen starring Tom Hardy. And yes, I know I shouldn't be saying that Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester, is the star of a show about Queen Elizabeth, but come on, it's Tom Hardy! And I'm sorry, but misidentify Brian Blessed in a photograph is actually a crime in my world. One would think creating a framework for this book wouldn't be hard, Nancy West could have even used The Best of Masterpiece Theatre from the thirty-fifth anniversary as a starting point, but no, instead she's all over the place. She's discussing personality traits of Worricker, a series literally no one watched, and doesn't really talk about shows from the seventies or eighties, focusing more on her favorite actors. Which is where this book gets weird. As you trudge through the morass of text the author's personality comes out more and more and she's a bit of an odd duck. She starts lusting after the vicars on Grantchester and any attractive man she feels needs a qualifier. I get that Andrew Davies and Pride and Prejudice paved the way for this, but in a scholarly approach to the history of the show, maybe talk about it in some sort of discourse, don't just drool. But the main problem of this book is that she hates America. She hates everything about this country from its supposed lack of culture and tradition and its need to psychoanalyze itself to its television. What did Thomas Magnum ever do to you!?! You know some of the biggest names from Masterpiece appeared on Magnum, P.I.? Ian McShane? Jenny Agutter? Francesca Annis? Julian Glover? Peter Davison? Any of these ringing a bell? Nope? Actually, not surprising. None of them are hot vicars. And yes, I think she's a fan of Fleabag. But if you want to read a book by a fan of this show, might I suggest Rebecca Eaton's autobiography? You'll get more insight than you'll ever find here.
During my childhood it seemed that Derek Jacobi was omnipresent. Or perhaps I just watched The Secret of NIMH more times than I can count. But whenever his name was mentioned everyone would always add the caveat about what I great actor he is. At the time I didn't understand why the caveat was needed. And then I watched I, Claudius and I understood. The thing is you can never really grasp what an amazing actor Derek Jacobi is until you've seen him as Claudius. In 2007 for Masterpiece's thirty-fifth anniversary they conducted a poll to codify The Best of Masterpiece. I might have really gone in hard on the voting for the 2002 adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, which means that I, Claudius placed third behind that adaptation. I now take full responsibility for this happening, because I, Claudius deserved the highest spot it could get. Because there was no way it could upset Upstairs, Downstairs from the top spot. And I agree, Upstairs, Downstairs is the definitive show connected to Masterpiece, but I don't think it's the best show, especially in those early seasons of Masterpiece. In those early seasons I honestly don't know of a show with a more perfect cast than I, Claudius. The cast is what raises this above the typical Roman fare. And let me tell you, I know my Roman fare. I watch a lot of miniseries about Rome. I'm not thinking about Rome all the time, but if there's a miniseries or series about Rome I will devour it. Obviously there's Rome, but I have a soft spot for Britannia and Domina. In fact I know it's been two years, but I'm still not over Domina's cancellation. But these shows are nothing to I, Claudius. NOTHING! These are perhaps the best twelve episodes of any series ever. The cast alone is stacked! Brian Blessed as Augustus, Siân Phillips in her award winning turn as Livia, John Hurt as Caligula! Once you see their performances of these characters no one else could ever do them in your eyes. Caligula is unhinged yet at the same time sympathetic. He's out of control, he has a freakin' horse as a senator, and yet, during this spiral of debauchery there is such pathos that John Hurt brings to the role. Malcolm McDowell didn't stand a chance of usurping John Hurt when he took on the role three years later in the eponymous film. Did HE do a modern dance drag show? Well!?! As for Siân Phillips? Oh, she's so deliciously devious but her trying to find a loophole to eternal suffering on her deathbed for all the harm she has done, and let me tell you, if there was a death and it looked like poison, it was, and Livia was behind it, was television at it's best. Also, apparently getting deified is the loophole she was looking for. Thankfully she had a devoted grandson to carry out her final wishes. It was Claudius if you were wondering. And Claudius, that poor ruler sandwiched between Caligula and Nero. But Derek Jacobi brings this man out of the shadows of history, shows that this man with a limp and a stammer had insight beyond his years. The way he shepherds the story, being the focal point, yet also an outsider, makes this a show you just can't turn away from. There's a reason Kenneth Branagh cast Jacobi in Dead Again. That stammer, that will, it's unforgettable and interestingly an important twist to that film. Plus, oddly enough this show is currently escapist, because Rome really makes current politics and ever the fantastical politics seen in shows like Game of Thrones look tame by comparison. Now if only they'd release this on Blu-ray for it's upcoming fiftieth anniversary life would be worth celebrating. But I'd avoid the figs at the celebration if I were you. If you know, you know.
