This book is published by Scarecrow Press. It details the origins of the drama series which has become a pillar of the PBS schedule.
Here is a London Times article about MASTERPIECE THEATRE AND THE POLITICS OF QUALITY.
The catalog description:
Masterpiece Theatre, the popular British-made series that enjoyed a long and successful run on public television, is regarded by many as the standard against which all "quality" programs should be measured. In this study, Laurence Jarvik provides insight into the many forces that shaped the series: its sponsor ( Mobil Corporation ), its American broadcast affiliate (television station WGBH in Boston), the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), its host (Alistair Cooke), and the Nixon Administration.
In the process of providing us with detailed "inside" information about this particular television series, Jarvik sheds light on the many political and social issues involved in public television and in broadcast media in general. How much influence do American government and business have over the media in this and other countries? How does this affect the content and quality of the programs that we see? Meticulously researched and brimming with references to related resources on the politics of media.
Author's comment:
This is the real behind-the-scenes story of how Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! were born -- and continue to provide quality programs on PBS (made possible by a grant from Mobil Corporation...). There's plenty of intrigue and the backstage saga is as interesting as anything on Upstairs, Downstairs or I, Claudius, involving everyone from Richard Nixon to Diana Rigg and Alistair Cooke. You will not find this information anywhere else. The book makes a good companion to keep by the TV while watching the programs, and includes a full index, footnotes, and bibliography. It makes an excellent addition to any local, school, or university library collection. Pefect for fans of British drama, too!
Author photo by Bill Petros for the Northwest Current (Washington, DC).
"A fascinating narrative and analysis of Masterpiece Theatre's birth. Jarvik's book exposes the commercial and political motives of all the interested players and makes it no longer possible to think of the series only as a pleasant weekly visit to Edwardian England."
-- George Griffith, Chadron State College
NEW Article
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 1999, The New York Times Arts and Leisure Section
TELEVISION 'Masterpiece Theater': An Oasis of Literate TV or Snobbish Escapism?
By DAVID FINKLE
The very words "Masterpiece Theater" have increasingly been used as a pejorative by those who think of the show, on the air since 1971, as simply escapism for Anglophiliacs...[more]
EARLIER ARTICLE
THE LOVE THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME
by Laurence Jarvik
MASTERPIECE THEATRE is "boring."
I love it.
But in certain American circles it is a love that dare not speak its name...[more]
Table of Contents
Preface: Russell Baker and Masterpiece Theatre
While Russell Baker is no Alistair Cooke, he plays an important role in setting the tone for the series. You can find his New York Times columns by clicking here.
1. Introduction
Masterpiece Theatre is the longest running prime-time anthology drama series in the history of American Television. It has won more Emmy awards than any other program. It has influenced network television by inspiring the mini-series, and been mined by cable companies for programming. Yet the series is far more complicated than it appears on the surface. Although it seems to be British, it is a purely American phenomenon, more closely tied to the sponsor-supplied fare of the 1950's than to anything found across the Atlantic. A close look reveals the interplay of politicial, financial, diplomatic, cultural, and personal forces in the development of this series during the crucible of the Nixon years and bears the imprint of that time. You can find out more about the period at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California.
2. WGBH and Masterpiece Theatre
WGBH president Stanford Calderwood originated Masterpiece Theatre with a trip to England in 1970. Shortly after setting up the series and laying the groundwork for Mystery! and Nova he was forced to leave his job. Today he heads Trinity Investments in Boston where he manages over $8 billion for his clients. You can find him right now and thank him for his bright idea by clicking here. Calderwood's legacy remains in the voice of his hire -- original line producer Christopher Sarson, who still gives the on-air credit to Mobil (he left the program because of his opposition to inclusion of Upstairs, Downstairs ).
3. Alistair Cooke and Masterpiece Theatre
Perhaps no one can be said to embody the essence of Masterpiece Theatre more that Alfred Alistair Cooke, the urbane and unflappable host who presided over the program from its inception until the end of the 1992 television season. Earlier, he had served as master of ceremonies for Omnibus, the cultural program which came to define uplift for the 1950's (the anthology program ran Sunday afternoons from 1952-1960 on all three networks garnering ratings as high as 17 million, far more than Masterpiece Theatre enjoys today). Cooke became an American citizen in 1941, and still broadcasts his weekly BBC report "Letter from America" which you can hear (and read) on the World Wide Web. He turned 90 in 1999.
4. PBS and Masterpiece Theatre
The series is clearly the "jewel in the crown" of the PBS schedule. Masterpiece Theatre sets a benchmark for quality drama and is an anchor for the weekly schedule. Yet, it is a program which has endured misunderstanding and hassles from the network bureaucracy in Washington. You can go to the PBS website by clicking here.
5. British Television and Masterpiece Theatre
Of course, British Drama is and was the franchise for Masterpiece Theatre, and the series has presented a view of England which has changed over the years -- from one of stately homes to one of council flats and violent gangs. Yet in an important sense the escapist role of the program has remained the same. It is a weekly visit to England (or bi-weekly, if one also watches Mystery!), a televisual form of tourism in which one can forget the mundane hassles of everyday life and luxuriate in worlds either long-ago, or far-away, or both. Masterpiece Theatre has indeed presented Masterpieces of British television including Upstairs, Downstairs, The Jewel in the Crown, I, Claudius, Flame Trees of Thika, and House of Cards. It endures as a televisual club -- with a membership open to all viewers -- spreading the gospel of the English way of life. To reach British television companies on the Web, a good set of links designed for expatriates is at HomeAndAway.com.
6. Mobil Masterpiece Theatre
Perhaps no one had more influence on the development of Masterpiece Theatre than Mobil public relations executive Herb Schmertz and his team of show business veterans, which included Xerox advisor Frank Marshall and press agents Frank and Arlene Goodman. You can get a copy of his memoirs Goodbye to the Low Profile from Amazon.com.
7. Masterpiece Theatre and the Nixon Administration
President Nixon was a man who left a lasting imprint on PBS. The Watergate Hearings were broadcast day and night on the publicly supported network. But equally important, Nixon's success in driving the Ford Foundation out of PBS programming (Watergate was their last Hurrah) left the field open for commercial sponsors of quality drama. Among them was the Mobil Corporation, and in Masterpiece Theatre they replaced confrontational agitprop from Ford (Day of Absence, about a world in which black workers had vanished) with period costume drama from England. Indeed Masterpiece Theatre went into the Sunday night slot PBS had given Public Broadcasting Laboratory, the Ford Foundation project devised by Fred Friendly, literally replacing Ford with Mobil. In its Churchillian tone, and its reflection of a 1950's style high-class anthology program with echoes of Omnibus (paradoxically sponsored before Ford embraced the 60's)though the choice of Alistair Cooke, Masterpiece Theatre is a reminder of the taste and sensibility of Richard Nixon, who idolized Winston Churchill. It remains a televisual legacy of his presidency to this day. You can reach the Nixon library to find out more about the former President by clicking above. Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Laurence A. Jarvik wrote PBS: Behind the Screen (Prima, 1997) and edited Public Broadcasting and the Public Trust (Second Thoughts Books, 1995) and The National Endowments: A Critical Symposium (Second Thoughts Books, 1995). He received his Ph.D. and Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television from UCLA's School of Film and TV and taught at UCLA and California State University, Los Angeles. He produced and directed the feature documentary film WHO SHALL LIVE AND WHO SHALL DIE (distributed by Kino International) which was broadcast on PBS stations and shown in international festivals. He has testified before Congress about PBS and cultural policy, and appeared on C-Span's Washington Journal, CNN Crossfire, ABC Nightline, and the CBS Evening News, among other programs. His articles have appeared in scholarly and popular publications including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, American Film, Montage, and American Cinematographer.
GO TO TEXT ONLY VERSION OF THIS WEB PAGE (loads much faster!)
Buy MASTERPIECE THEATRE AND THE POLITICS OF QUALITY
Today (by clicking right here to get to Amazon.com)!
Click here to read an excerpt detailing the origins of MYSTERY! from the dissertation upon which Masterpiece Theatre and the Politics of Quality is based (it is a little drier and more academic than the revised and updated Scarecrow Press version)
Links to related sites on the Web
Civilization Magazine article mentioning MASTERPIECE THEATRE AND THE POLITICS OF QUALITY
Scarecrow Press
Read a complete listing of past Masterpiece Theatre episodes on the official Mobil Masterpiece Theatre Web site
You can buy a CD of different program themes from Delos by clicking here
Buy books by Alistair Cooke by clicking here.
Visit the Diana Rigg fan site by clicking here (links to other Rigg sites).
Visit the Susan Hampshire Web page by clicking here
Click here to visit the Upstairs, Downstairs Web Site
Visit a web site devoted to Jeremy Brett, MYSTERY! star of Sherlock Holmes and husband of WGBH producer Joan Wilson
Brett met Wilson while she was filming "fillers" about British Music Halls.
You can visit an interesting sight devoted to Wilton's Music Hall by clicking here.
More on Sherlock Holmes at this comprehensive international Web site
Visit an Inspector Morse website by clicking here
Visit another Inspector Morse page here
Click here to visit the Helen Mirren Appreciation Society
Click here for the I,Claudius page
Read Hugh Laurie's account of how "Wodehouse saved my life"
And a link to a P.G. Wodehouse page right here
Click here for the Jane Austen mailing list, AUSTEN-L
Other Nineteenth Century E-mail Lists:
Bronte sisters
Subscribe to [email protected]
Dickens studies
Subscribe to [email protected]
Sherlock Holmes list
Subscribe to [email protected]
Herman Melville
Subscribe to [email protected] Contact: John Bryant
Romantics List
Subscribe to [email protected]
Anthony Trollope forum
Subscribe to [email protected]
Click here to go to the WILKIE COLLINS list website
And if you like Henry James, try this site dedicated to his works
Click here for the English Speaking Union's web page
Click here for Russell Baker's autobiography GROWING UP and his other books at Amazon.com
Click here to read Russell Baker's New York Times columns
Click here to read Russell Baker's article about Murray Kempton in the New York Review of Books
EVENTS
As seen in the Washington Post Book World Literary Calendar!
Visit the Literary Calendar web site
I spoke about Masterpiece Theatre at January 19th, 1999 at the Martin Luther King, Jr. branch of the DC Public Library. The event was a great success, the audience lively and informed, about 30 people of all ages, races, and creeds, and I sold TWO books!
I spoke again about Masterpiece Theatre at the Williams Club on April 28th, 1999 in New York City. A good time was had by all, with delicious tidbits to nibble on and an open bar followed by an interesting discussion of favorite episodes. Another success, where I sold THREE books!
Visit the DC Public Library Web Site
PBS: BEHIND THE SCREEN (paper)
Buy the PBS: BEHIND THE SCREEN
Today!
Read an interview with Laurence Jarvik at Amazon.com
Other books relating to Masterpiece Theatre
Under construction!
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