Don't mess with a 'Masterpiece'

For my entire television-viewing life, Sunday night has meant one thing: “Masterpiece Theatre.”

One of my earliest TV memories was being allowed to stay up to watch “The Six Wives of Henry VIII.” It was very racy for an 8-year-old, what with all the beheadings and bare breasts. But my father was a history teacher and it was “Masterpiece Theatre,” a showcase of series so literary and well performed that it seemed at times an antithesis to television itself.  It was a show even the worst intellectual snobs could discuss openly without 10 tiresome minutes of disclaimers.

Opening with those triumphal horns and the educated elegance of Alistair Cooke, “Masterpiece Theatre” is, amazingly enough, the longest-running drama on American television, which does not mean it was comfort food. Series including "Elizabeth I," "Upstairs, Downstairs," and "I, Claudius" often featured sexually sophisticated and violent storylines that would never have made it onto network television under any other guise. “I, Claudius” still makes “The Sopranos” look like something produced by the Disney Channel.

Over the years, changes occurred as changes will — Cooke gave way to Russell Baker, then a revolving cast of hosts. The music changed and the name — “Theater’ was dropped several years ago in favor of the streamlined “Masterpiece” — “Mystery” was separated from “Classic.” But still the shows were top drawer — “Jeeves and Wooster,” “Prime Suspect,” “The Forsyte Saga,” “Bleak House.” Amid the chaos of the DVR/Hulu generation, “Masterpiece” remained destination TV. There it was, the only show of its kind, immovably and dependably on Sunday night, the last lighthouse amid the shifting waves of the digital age.

No more. At least not in Los Angeles, KCET has decided to uproot “Masterpiece” and move it to Thursday nights, where it will go up against a strong network lineup including “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS and “Bones” on Fox. "Masterpiece" will also provide a lead-in for the newly imported “Doc Martin,” a long-running British show about a country doctor that will face off against “CSI,” (CBS), “Nikita” (CW), “Grey’s Anatomy" (ABC), "The Office" (NBC) and "Fringe" (Fox).

Good luck to you, “Doc Martin.”

In place of “Masterpiece” on Sunday, Sam Rubin will host “KCET Presents,” a series showcasing old movies, beginning with “Annie Hall.”

Now I’m a fan of old movies, including “Annie Hall,” but it does appear that they are readily available in many other places, including TCM, AMC,  FMC, HBO, Showtime, On Demand and, of course, Netflix. “Masterpiece,” on the other hand, can be found only on PBS member stations, and KCET now seems to be tossing around "Masterpiece" as if it were some new reality series.

In the grand scheme of things, I suppose it doesn’t matter all that much.  Appointment television is on the wane, and those viewers who still maintain a Sunday evening ritual that includes “Masterpiece” — Oct. 3 begins the new "Wallander" series with Kenneth Branagh (except at KCET, where it's scheduled for Oct. 7) — can certainly continue to do so with the aid of a DVR.

Still, it remains a troubling decision, if only symbolically — if "Masterpiece" were a building, it would be protected by the National Registry, and by replacing it with old movies, KCET seems to be playing fast and loose with its relationship with PBS. Television is a medium that relies as much on habit as innovation and creates by its nature a stronger bond of intimacy that other art forms.

And yet the turnover rate of living shows is incredibly high — a show that lasts 10 years is a landmark. “Masterpiece” turns 40 next year. That it was able to endure with its sophistication and highbrow expectations still fully intact makes it an icon unto itself, the final connection perhaps (and with apologies to BBC America) between the Old World and the New, between the Colonies and the Crown.

No movie, no matter how splendid, can hope to compete with that.

— Mary McNamara

Photo: Alistair Cooke. Credit: PBS.

Comments

[Joe D]

Excellent commentary, Mary, and just a day after the Tourament of Roses Parade became The Rose Parade Presented by Honda. At least KCET isn't renaming the series Masterpiece Presented by Kia. And people wonder why Los Angeles doesn't get respect for its history like other East Coast cities even if it a beloved television show or New Year's Day parade.

[Rachele]

KCET makes plain its disdain for its audience. By showing the same show repeatedly - sometimes for a whole evening - it tells us it doesn't care whether we watch or not. The only times (non-rock)concerts, operas or quality dramatic performances are scheduled, it seems, is during pledge drives - which are then interrupted ad nauseam by insipid "hosts" reading the same drivel repeatedly. Unfortunately, I rarely find anything on KCET that I haven't already seen.

[Big Dude]

Some of the best shows i have ever seen..miss it a lot.

[Alistair Cooked]

And KTLA's Sam Rubin? Really? He's their movie expert?

[tomclassen]

Good for you Mary;

I too , have long looked forward to the Sunday evenings when I knew there would be good, quality television. I would be remiss if I did not applaud the MASTERPIECE ensemble in creating value=added television.

I will continue to watch MASTERPIECE even though the scheduling will cause an upheaval in my Sunday schedule.
I guess Thursday will become the new Sunday for MASTERPIECE.

[Anonymous]

Excellent post, Mary. Everything you said, I could have said less eloquently, with only one change -- my mother was the history teacher.

I am so disappointed, angry, frustrated. I was upset already when PBS did "the merge" but this is a travesty. And I do not use that word lightly. I cannot believe I'm reacting this way, but there it is.

KCET is thumbing its nose at the loyal Masterpiece audience. I don't know why I'm surprised. They do the same thing every time they do a promo of "look at all the cool things we show" that is filled with clips of opera and ballet, neither of which they play before 2 AM.

[D. Stewart]

I also remember watching The Six Wives of Henry VIII as a child - and the magnificent I, Claudius, which forever changed the way I looked at television drama. KCET has done a fine job of alienating viewers over the years and I agree with everything previous posters have said about management's indifference and the horrible pledge drive programming. They just don't care, which is why I won't be giving them any more money.

[Richard B.]

There is an unpleasantness to KCET, rooted in its finances, that has long bothered me. Before the advent of the DVR, in fact, I had abandoned it completely, because I found the prolonged pledge breaks too much to take, and, as another poster has pointed out, whenever anything of interest is shown on KCET it is invariably during a pledge drive. Thankfully, with a DVR, I can forward through the pledge breaks. Given this distasteful state of KCET affairs, the fact that it is juggling about with "Masterpiece," one of its few saving graces, is unsettling. I have long thought that PBS would be much better served if it gave in and started to run commercials. The History Channel, Discovery, A&E, and many other cable networks long ago made PBS superfluous, in my mind, anyway. In fairness, I do hope that the rescheduling of "Masterpiece" might bring KCET the results it is hoping for, but I doubt that it will.

[Laurene Dominic]

Thank you Mary for expressing the opinion of so many so well. KCET has been going downhill for several years now and this is just their latest programming gaffe. I no longer support the station.

KCET's inability to connect with its audience is underscored everytime I visit San Francisco, which I do quite often. The KQED/KTEH partnership is extraordinary. KQED produces great, Bay Area programming - such as their restaurant review show, "Check Please, Bay Area" - along with PBS shows like Masterpiece Theater, which are run according to PBS' schedule. KTEH offers other top tier programming from PBS along with great arts programming and a wonderful selection of British imports. Two other PBS stations fill in the blanks with additional wonderful programming. My family supports these stations not because the feel obliged to do so but because they support their great programming decisions.

KCET - PLEASE REALIZE THE ERRORS OF YOUR WAYS AND HIRE A PROGRAM DIRECTOR FROM THE BAY AREA!!!!

[ralph l. seifer]

After KCET dumped Lou Rukeyser and Wall St. Week, the fine tuning of its programming geniuses was evident to all of us in Los Angeles. Moving Masterpiece off the Sunday evening calendar will guarantee its early demise. Ralph L. Seifer, Long Beach.

[Gilda]

KCET Fail.

How sad.

[John]

HOW SAD

It is a real tragedy when the stewards of a great cultural legacy have virtually no understanding of what it is that's under their care and thus are blithely unaware of how shabbily they are treating it. "Masterpiece's" productions -- more often than not, the highest-quality material available on television -- are now being made the victim of this sort of ham-handed abuse because sadly, the people running PBS are parvenus; callow minds who see themselves basically as studio executives-in-training, rather than purveyors of works of quality and expression that deal in human values; emotion, loyalty, truth, honor, tenacity, romance and inevitably, how a human beings muster their resources in the inevitable encounter with the inexorable forces of time, age, decay and the struggle to hang on to existence; values that characterize most "Masterpiece" productions.

Since the earliest times, human beings have been enriched by listening to story telling. In our age -- books aside -- very few enterprises have conveyed better story telling than "Masterpiece." And its exalted position on Sunday evening; a time that gave its audience the opportunity to end one week and begin another feeling uplifted and connected is now cavalierly being tossed the way of all things, but without respect for or even knowledge of what wonderful qualities is represents.

Les Moonves, move over. You've got company at KCET.

[Len]

Thank you for your commentary Mary. You have expressed many of the same sentiments that I have about losing what has long been a Sunday night tradition for my family. In a time when there are so many nights with an absolute dearth of quality television programing – despite having so many channels to choose from – Masterpiece Sundays have always been the nights so many of us could rely on.

I do dislike being suspicious, but somehow I get the sense that this decision by KCET is an indication that they may have already made the decision to break from the PBS system. I can see little other reason why, after so many decades of success, that they would move a hallmark program into a more competitive mid-week market.

It would be a different story if the Sunday time slot was to be filled with a totally new and unique program, but this is not the case. While I love classic movies, which constitute the majority of the non-PBS programing we watch, for these we turn to TCM – which offers them uncut and commercial free 24 hours a day.

As I fear that Masterpiece may be on the way to disappearing from KCET in the near future, my hope is that one of the other Southern California PBS affiliates that carries the series will pick up the ball being dropped by KCET, return Masterpiece to the Sunday night programing.

[Clare]

I too have looked forward to Masterpiece on Sunday nights for years. It is so disappointing that it is moving to Thursday. Thanks for writing this piece Mary.

[Grandpa]

Is nothing sacred? "Masterpiece" isn't a sitcom looking for the right time slot to draw the 18-45 crowd, for God's sake. Stop jerking it(and viewers like us)around, KCET!

[Grandpa]

You may choose to bypass KCET entirely and watch "Masterpiece" online the day (and weeks) after it airs elswhere on Sunday nights. Go to the "Masterpiece" website for the link.

[Griff]

THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII was initially presented on U.S. television on CBS on Sunday nights during the Summer of 1971. It subsequently aired on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre.

[James B.]

KCET should take some advise from KCRW. Pledge drives aside (I'm certain it is more expensive to run KCET than KCRW), the independent radio station in engaged with its listeners and there is a sense of common purpose. KCET seems detached. A movie night featuring movies I can order on NetFlix? - this is a perfect example of borderline disdain for its viewers. Who is running this place? They seem to have little affection for public television.

[Big Jim Slade]

Simple enough. I'll record the show on Thursday and watch it on Sunday.

The simpleton program director at KCET that instituted the change will no doubt be fired sometime in the next two years and then it will return to its proper slot on Sunday.

See "Larry Elder" if you're confused at KCET.

[Patricia]

I'm hooked on "Boardwalk Empire" on HBO right now and that's on Sunday and so I'm happy that Masterpiece is moving to Thursday. I cannot stand network TV and I have no intention whatsoever of watching "Big Bang Theory" or "Bones." It'll be nice to have a good British mystery to watch on Thursday nights.