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.
The Princess Bride is my favorite film of all time. Yes, there are other contenders; Clue, Vertigo, L.A. Confidential, but when it comes down to it, there really is no choice, it's The Princess Bride. It has been since the moment I first watched it during the summer of 1988 heatwave while I hide from the sun in my bedroom with all the shades drawn and watched movies all day. Therefore when something is recommended to fans of The Princess Bride as being "like" it I am wary. I mean, first, how can you match perfection? Second, I do not think you mean what you think you mean. But I will forgive everyone who labeled My Lady Jane as like The Princess Bride for the simple fact that for the first time ever I agree. And not just because they totally recreate the scene when Fezzik catches Princess Buttercup when she jumps out the window. Because honestly that didn't quite work, but it was a clever idea. The two are obviously greatly different, one dealing with the real history of Lady Jane Grey warped and the other being more Ruritanian romance than anything else, but the same vein of humor and heart runs through both. I first heard of My Lady Jane because it was part of a YA subscription box I got. Here's the thing about me and subscription boxes... We're not the best match. I like to curate my reading for long periods of time in advance so just having a random book show up is cool, but I can guarantee you it will be years before I read it. So it wasn't on my radar. In fact, like many people bemoaned when it was unjustly cancelled, they had no idea that My Lady Jane had become a series. I thankfully was not in the dark because I follow Rob Brydon on social media. In fact before I looked into who else starred in this show I knew I was going to watch it because Rob Brydon is in it. It's Rob Brydon in Tudor England, how could I not? He has a codpiece. And there are many codpiece jokes. So if that alone doesn't sell you, I'm sorry I don't think we can be friends. Throw in Anna Chancellor, Jim Broadbent, Dominic Cooper, Kevin Eldon, Edward Bluemel, and the plummy tones of Oliver Chris and I was watching it the night it dropped and paying the extra to watch it ad free. And the first episode was a totally ride, but also eye-opening. While I knew this was an alternative history, I totally didn't know it was also a fantasy, so I was quite shocked when people turned into animals. Yeah, that guy totally turned into a bear in a bar. It's chaotic and classic! But you know what? It worked. Everything about this worked. I mean, it's hard for me to explain things I love. I can detail everything that a show gets wrong, but when a show it right it just sings. I can point to Noel Fielding's horrible show, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, and say that My Lady Jane is actually the show he wanted to make but failed miserably. The jokes were flat, the delivery bad, and it didn't ground itself. Back to My Lady Jane... I usually hate anachronistic music in shows to the point where I'm yelling at the television, and yet, I want the soundtrack for this show. The song choice and humor, damn. Several times I laughed out loud when I realized what was about to play because it fed into my memories and complemented what was happening in the story. "Nights in White Satin" was beyond genius! Then there's the chemistry. Emily Bader and Edward Bluemel should always star together. You were rooting for this princess and her steed, because of course her husband turns into a horse and he married her for her brain. I mean, there's just so many funny moments that turn everything on their head. And yet, somehow it all works, the warped history, everything, it works. But the cherry on the top of the cake is Oliver Chris as the narrator. His unctuouse voice smarmily and knowingly narrating the show gives it that extra connection to The Princess Bride. It's us viewers and how we're reacting as we're watching, commenting on cliffhangers and gasp-worthy moments. We all are Oliver Chris, and he is us, and why am I not getting a second season? I mean, come on. Do have have to get the ghost of Peter Falk to wander into the Amazon offices and subtly mumble, that he had one more thing he had to do, get a second season of My Lady Jane made? Oh, and stop anyone from ever rebooting The Princess Bride. So I guess that's two more things...
