In This Section
TV Guide Spotlight
Also on TVGuide.com
|
« TVGuide.com's Strike Recovery Guide
PBS' Masterpiece Theatre Educates and Titillates!
JJ Feild and Felicity Jones in Northanger Abbey courtesy ITV Plc for Masterpiece
The when: Sunday, Jan. 13, through Sunday, April 6, airing at 9 pm/ET; check local listings.
Why watch?: For the first time in U.S. television history, Masterpiece Theatre is airing back-to-back adaptations of all six of Jane Austen's gloriously adaptable-to-the-screen novels, plus a new biopic entitled Miss Austen Regrets. To the uninitiated, Austen's books may seem like so much 19th-century chick lit, but don't be fooled: These deliciously spicy stories have more than their share of sniping satire and smoking sexual tension. Austen's characters are no shrinking period-piece violets — you'll meet some seriously sassy lasses with some very sharp tongues. (And heck, as an accidental side effect, afterwards you can impress your friends with your newfound knowledge of 19th-century inheritance law and dating practices.) Of course, that's not to say there's no bodice-ripping at all — indeed, on Feb. 10, the fan favorite of all Pride and Prejudice adaptations will air the first of its three parts. That's right, the one with the famous Colin Firth-in-a-river-in-a-wet-shirt scene. Ain't it great how Masterpiece Theatre can simultaneously educate and titillate? It's almost wrong to air it on a Sunday.
Who's who: Wait, is this still PBS? In each of these Austen installments you'll find famous faces already seen on network and cable TV, like Buffy's Anthony Head, Meadowlands' Felicity Jones and David Morrissey, and Doctor Who's Billie Piper, not to mention big-screen names like Greta Scacchi, Kate Beckinsale, Samantha Morton and the above-mentioned Colin Firth as the unforgettable Mr Darcy. Old-guard Masterpiece fans will also recognize Rupert Penry-Jones, J.J. Feild and Mark Strong.
What's next: Four of these six installments are brand-new versions, never before aired in the U.S. The even better news is that they were all adapted by master of Masterpiece Andrew Davies, the writer behind 2005's award-winning Bleak House. The first, which premiered last week but is airing throughout the month (check your local listings) was Persuasion. Next up (this Sunday) is Northanger Abbey, followed on Jan. 27 by Mansfield Park, on Feb. 3 by Miss Austen Regrets and, from Feb. 10 through 24, Pride and Prejudice. Kate Beckinsale's turn as Emma airs March 23, and the series closes out with a new Sense and Sensibility on March 30 and April 6.
Say what?!: This marks a watershed year for MT as the series looks to expand its audience by splitting its season into three parts, Masterpiece Classic in the spring, Masterpiece Mystery! in the summer and Masterpiece Contemporary in the fall. Each section will have its own host (Bleak House's Gillian Anderson hosts Classic) and will sport a new theme song and a new look-and-feel (goodbye to the beloved library look of old).
What do you say? After 37 years on the air, Masterpiece Theatre is the longest-running prime-time drama in television history. Does it live up to its historic hype, or should the powers-of-public-television put this book horse down? Should MT continue to re-adapt old classics in new, modernized ways, or should it turn its literary eye to newer, more contemporary masterpieces? Masterpiece maestros, speak out! — Michelle Heller (who also writes about Masterpiece in her Heller Hath No Fury blog)
More Strike Survival guidance:
• Why USA's Quirky Monk Will Lighten Your Mood
• What Emily in Marketing Is Watching
• Movies-on-TV: Ken Fox's Picks for the Week of Jan. 14
• Knight Rider, Grammys and More Specials to Watch For
• Your Guide to January Premieres
|
TVGuide Links:
|
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2008 1:22 PM
|
|
A good preview of this odd new season...Masterpiece (they've dropped the "Theatre" from the title for this season) is the longest-running weekly drama anthology, having beat Death Valley Days a few years back in terms of new production...but The Hallmark Hall of Fame has been chugging along, albeit at irregular intervals, since January 1952...from the nitpick file! More importantly, the Masterpiece Mystery third is indicative of the fact that PBS is folding the Mystery! series into Masterpiece (WGBH, the presenting station, and PBS have been treating Mystery! as Masterpiece Theatre's summer replacement series for several years)...so Gillian Anderson will be one of three hosts...if they lose the Edward Gorey opening, however, they will pay! (at least to the extent of numerous complaints, I'm sure).
|
|
Jan 18, 2008 1:55 PM
|
|
Also from the nitpick file: Alas, the rushed (93 min!?) new adaptation of Persuasion wasn't written by Andrew Davies ('twas Simon Burke). Still made me cry, though (in the best way).
|
|
Jan 18, 2008 2:46 PM
|
|
Isn't Gillian Anderson the new host of Masterpiece Theatre? It would be worth tuning in just to see her for a few minutes at a time (although "Pride and Prejudice" is my all-time favorite novel, and the TV adaptation with Colin Firth is little short of perfect).
|
|
Jan 19, 2008 10:38 AM
|
I did not like the new version of Persuasion - they cut too much and "told instead of showed". I prefer the version with Ciarin Hinds as the Captain much better.
I'm hoping they started with their weakest film. I'll watch all of the series, though I've already seen Emma with Beckinsale and P&P with Colin Firth.
MT should try airing the BBC's ShakespeaRe-Told series - they were very good modern retellings with familar faces.
|
|
Jan 19, 2008 11:43 AM
|
Three of the adaptations--Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Northanger Abbey--were done originally for ITV, which I think accounts for the tight pace of Persuasion. I don't think ITV gave it the kind of time that a BBC adaptation usually takes. Not to say I didn't like it. Sally Hawkins's interpretation of Anne was compelling. But, I did feel like it was a bit rushed.
The new Sense and Sensibility was adapted by Andrew Davies for the BBC. It's gotten good reviews in England.
|
|
Jan 19, 2008 12:58 PM
|
|
MT can try something new or keep things old, it doesn't matter to me - as long as the acting, directing and adapting is still top notch, i will contiune to tune it. forsyte saga was the best.
|
|
Jan 19, 2008 10:32 PM
|
|
I agree with other reviewers. This version of Persuasion was much to short. You barely get to know the characters before the story is over. I fear this will be a common theme with all the new Masterpiece adaptations. They should have each been two parts and each part 90 minutes long. I though the cast was fair if anything a little forgetable. However I will still be a devoted viewer. Aynthing Austen and I will tune in!
|
|
Jan 19, 2008 10:57 PM
|
|
I'm a big fan of the 6hour long epic versions, but I did love these adaptaions of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.
|
|
Jan 22, 2008 8:37 PM
|
|
|
