Masterpiece (TV series)

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 67.236.182.55 (talk) at 13:09, 15 November 2014 (→Funding). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 13:09, 15 November 2014 by 67.236.182.55 (talk) (→Funding)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) "Masterpiece Theatre" redirects here. For the album by En Vogue, see Masterpiece Theatre (En Vogue album). For the album by Marianas Trench, see Masterpiece Theatre (Marianas Trench album). 1971 American TV series or program

Masterpiece

Genre	Anthology
Presented by	Alistair Cooke (1971–1992) Russell Baker (1992–2004) Gillian Anderson (Masterpiece Classic, 2008) Alan Cumming (Masterpiece Mystery) Matthew Goode (Masterpiece Contemporary, 2008) Laura Linney (Masterpiece Classic, 2009) David Tennant (Masterpiece Contemporary, 2009)
Theme music composer	Jean-Joseph Mouret
Opening theme	Sinfonies de Fanfares: Rondeau
Country of origin	United States
Original release
Network	PBS
Release	January 10, 1971 (1971-01-10) – present

Masterpiece (formerly known as Masterpiece Theatre) is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions. Many of these are produced by the BBC, but the line-up has also included programs shown on the commercial services ITV and Channel 4.

Overview

Masterpiece is best known for presenting adaptations of novels and biographies, but it also shows original television dramas. The first title to air was The First Churchills, starring Susan Hampshire as Sarah Churchill. Other programs presented on the series include The Six Wives of Henry VIII; Elizabeth R; I, Claudius; Upstairs, Downstairs; The Duchess of Duke Street; The Citadel; The Jewel in the Crown; Reckless, House of Cards; Traffik; and Jeeves and Wooster. More recent popular titles include Prime Suspect; The Forsyte Saga; Sherlock; and Downton Abbey.

The theme music played during the opening credits is the Fanfare-Rondeau from “Symphonies and Fanfares for the King’s Supper” by French composer Jean-Joseph Mouret. The theme was performed by Collegium Musicum de Paris. Roland Douatte was the conductor. It was recorded in 1954 by Vogue Records in Paris, France, and was later remastered in stereo and re-released by Nonesuch records in the 1960s.

During the first seasons in the 1970s, the theme music accompanied varying closeup shots of a waving British flag, which panned out into a still image of a British flag on a staff serving as the P in "Masterpiece." In the late 1970s the opening video switched to views of antique books and other literary artifacts.

In 1980, Masterpiece gained a sister series, Mystery!, featuring a mix of contemporary and classic British detective and crime series, such as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, and Touching Evil. In 2000, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the show, it presented Masterpiece: The American Collection, nine works by American writers, including Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, starring Paul Newman.

Awards and nominations

One of television’s most honored series, the various shows aired on Masterpiece have garnered numerous Emmys, Peabodys.

In 2013, TV Guide ranked it #3 in its list of the 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time and #16 in its list of the 60 Greatest Shows of All Time.

History

The success of the broadcast of the 1967 version of The Forsyte Saga on NET (the precursor of PBS) led Stanford Calderwood, then serving as president of WGBH, to investigate whether the BBC would sell programs to the station. Suggestions for the series format came from, among others, Frank Gillard in England and Christopher Sarson in the US. In looking for an underwriter for the series, Calderwood eventually met with Herb Schmertz of Mobil Corporation. Schmertz was able to gain funding for the show and he and several other men, including Frank Marshall, met in London and made a selection of programs to be broadcast.

Decision on the format of the show were finalized and the series premiered on Jan. 10, 1971, with the first episode of The First Churchills. The series was hosted by British/American broadcaster/journalist Alistair Cooke until 1992; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Russell Baker hosted from 1992 to 2004. From 2004 to 2008, it was broadcast without a host.

The original series producer was Sarson. He was succeeded in 1973 by Joan Wilson. The current series producer, Rebecca Eaton, took over in 1985 after Wilson’s death from cancer.

Format change

In 2008, the word “Theatre” was dropped, and the show, officially known as Masterpiece, was split into three different sections. Masterpiece Classic was initially hosted by Gillian Anderson; the following year, Laura Linney stepped into the role of host. Masterpiece Mystery! is hosted by Alan Cumming. Masterpiece Contemporary was initially hosted by Matthew Goode; he was replaced by David Tennant in 2009.

All three versions received their own opening sequences and theme music with a common signature based upon the Rondeau by Mouret. In the opening to the “Classic” strand of shows, the word “Theatre” appears for a brief moment, apparently in order to maintain WGBH's trademark registration on the former name (in 2011, the show’s 40th anniversary, the opening was altered to show “Classic” briefly before showing “40 years”). The theme music was composed by Man Made Music, Inc; the opening sequences were designed by Kyle Cooper of Prologue.

Funding

From its 1971 premiere, the series was underwritten by Mobil (which later became ExxonMobil). After 25 years of support, the series added the funder’s name to its title. ExxonMobil ended its sponsorship in 2004, and the series remained without a corporate sponsor until 2011, when Franklin Templeton Investments signed as a sponsor. The show is currently funded by Viking River Cruises, Ralph Lauren Corporation, DIRECTV. 2005-2007. the Masterpiece Trust, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. The Pew Charitable Trusts. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Ford Foundation. Carnegie Corporation of New York. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. and by contributions to various PBS stations from, as PBS puts it, “Viewers Like You”.

The Best of Masterpiece Theatre

In March 2007, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the show, PBS aired an entertainment special produced and directed by Darcy Corcoran. The Best of Masterpiece was hosted by Derek Jacobi and featured interviews with Helen Mirren, Hugh Laurie, Damian Lewis, Robson Green, Ian Richardson, Gillian Anderson, Charles Dance, Alex Kingston, Anthony Andrews and Jean Marsh. The countdown special was based on more than 20,000 survey responses posted to the Masterpiece and PBS affiliate web sites, the top 12 series were:

Upstairs, Downstairs
The Forsyte Saga (2002 adaptation)
I, Claudius
Bleak House (2006 adaptation)
Prime Suspect parts 4–7
The Jewel in the Crown
Poldark
House of Cards
Reckless
The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders
Wives & Daughters
Jeeves and Wooster

At the end of the program Anthony Andrews thanked the audience for voting the 1981 serial Brideshead Revisited as the seventh favorite series. He then pointed out that it had not aired as a part of Masterpiece Theatre. Rather, it had aired as a part of the PBS series entitled Great Performances.

Parodies

A series of film, theatre, and television show parodies were shown on Sesame Street as "Monsterpiece Theater", hosted by Alistair Cookie (an alter ego of Cookie Monster) in reference to Alistair Cooke. The theme music for Monsterpiece Theater (composed by Sam Pottle) was similar to the theme composed by Mouret.
On the 1976 Captain and Tennille TV variety show, a weekly parody sketch spoof of “Masterpiece” was featured called "Masterjoke Theatre" with a different celebrity guest each week playing the host Allistar Banister who before each part of the "Masterpiece" story put on a Groucho Marx-style glasses with mustache disguise.
On Saturday Night Live, Dan Aykroyd, playing the high-bred but low-brow Leonard Pinth-Garnell, hosted "Bad Theatre", in which horrible, pseudo-intellectual skits were presented.
Disney Channel had a show titled "Mousterpiece Theater" hosted by George Plimpton featuring classic Disney cartoons.
During the first two seasons of the NBC comedy Mama's Family, Harvey Korman appeared at the beginning of each episode as Alistair Quince, who would soberly introduce the program in the style of Masterpiece Theatre.
On In Living Color during Season 5 a sketch called "Parody of Masterpiece" aired in which Jamie Foxx and David Alan Grier recited the lyrics of popular gangster rap songs of the early 1990s by artist such as Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. Cast member Marc Wilmore was the host imitating James Earl Jones
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Storyteller" opened with the character of Andrew Wells introducing the episode in the style of Masterpiece Theatre.
In the film Heartburn (1986), Rachel (played by Meryl Streep), at two points in the story, is watching a Masterpiece Theatre style program, wherein she imagines that the Alistair Cooke-esque host (played by John Wood) is narrating the story of her own life.
Tracey Ullman's television special Tracey Ullman: A Class Act (1992) starts out with the famous opening fanfare from the series and a set made up to look like Masterpiece's with Tracey Ullman "standing in for Alistair Cooke."
The sitcom My Name Is Earl had an alternative reality themed episode called "Bad Karma" in which Jason Lee (Earl) introduces the episode in a set made to look like that of Masterpiece Theatre. While there Lee shows the viewers that he really is on a set and not in a real room.
The South Park episode Pip is based on Great Expectations. The episode is hosted by Malcolm McDowell a la Alistair Cooke.

References

Peabody Award Winning BBC Programs
Roush, Matt (February 25, 2013). "Showstoppers: The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time". TV Guide. pp. 16-17.
Fretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt. "The Greatest Shows on Earth". TV Guide Magazine. 61 (3194–3195): 16–19. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
"Wild Film History - Frank Gillard". Retrieved 2009-08-26.
"How should public TV follow up the Forsyte Saga success?". Retrieved 2011-03-11.
Masterpiece Theatre | Series | Hosts + Producers
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/series/newlook.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/classic/host.html
Tony Award-winning Actor Alan Cumming To Host PBS's Masterpiece Mystery! 2008
Jensen, Elizabeth (2007-12-10). "'Masterpiece Theater,' Now in 3 Flavors: Classic, Mystery, Contemporary". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
"Tennant signs as Masterpiece host". news.bbc.co.uk. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
WGBH Educational Foundation (2009-08-18). "Combined Declaration of Use in Commerce & Application for Renewal of Registration of a Mark under Sections 8 & 9". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 2013-01-09.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/about-masterpiece/masterpiece-trust/

External links

Official web site, including a List of all programs.
ExxonMobil will stop underwriting Masterpiece, a 2002 article in Current
Masterpiece Theatre at IMDb
Podcast Interview of Masterpiece Executive Editor, Rebecca Eaton talking with Bookbuffet.com's Paula Shackleton (Jan, 2009)

v t e PBS
Documentaries	Independent Lens (episodes) (since August 9, 1999) PBS Short Film Festival (since 2012) POV (episodes) (since July 5, 1988)
Drama	Masterpiece (since January 10, 1971)
Music and fine arts	American Masters (since June 22, 1986) Art:21 (since 2001) Austin City Limits (since January 3, 1976) Bluegrass Underground (since 2011) Craft in America (since 2007) Great Performances (episodes) (since November 4, 1972) Next at the Kennedy Center (since 2023)
History	American Experience (episodes) (since October 4, 1988) Antiques Roadshow (since January 9, 1997) Finding Your Roots (since March 25, 2012) Secrets of the Dead (since May 15, 2000)
News and public affairs	Amanpour & Company (since September 10, 2018) BBC World News America (since June 3, 2019 from American Public Television) Firing Line (episodes) (April 4, 1966 – December 26, 1999; since June 22, 2018) Frontline (episodes) (since January 17, 1983) PBS News Hour (since October 20, 1975) To the Contrary (since April 3, 1992) Washington Week (since February 23, 1967)
Personalities	Samantha Brown Ken Burns Ric Burns Michael Gerson Amy Holmes Bill Moyers Hari Sreenivasan Judy Woodruff
How-to and special interest	MotorWeek (since October 15, 1981) This Old House (episodes) (since January 1, 1979)
Science and nature	Nature (episodes) (since October 10, 1982) Nova (episodes) (since March 3, 1974)
Networks	Create PBS PBS America (UK) PBS Digital Studios PBS Kids PBS YOU World Channel
Major stations	Boston WGBH WGBX Chicago WTTW Dallas KERA Houston KUHT Los Angeles KCET KLCS KOCE Maryland MPT Miami–Ft. Lauderdale–West Palm Beach WLRN WPBT WXEL New Jersey NJ PBS New York WLIW WNET Philadelphia–Wilmington–Lehigh Valley WHYY WLVT Pittsburgh WQED San Francisco/Watsonville/San Jose KQED KQEH KQET Tampa–St. Petersburg WEDQ WEDU Washington, D.C. WETA WHUT
Former	BBC OS (January 1, 2020 – March 30, 2023) A Chef's Life (September 7, 2013 – October 22, 2018) Need to Know (May 7, 2010 – June 28, 2013) We'll Meet Again with Ann Curry (January 23, 2018 – January 8, 2019)
Related	Public broadcasting in the United States Corporation for Public Broadcasting America's Public Television Stations List of PBS member stations List of programs broadcast by PBS PBS Distribution PBS Satellite Service
Defunct network Distributed by American Public Television (APT)

v t e GBH
Television stations	WFXZ-CD WGBH-TV WGBX-TV WGBY-TV
Radio stations	WCAI WCRB WGBH WNAN WZAI
Media accessibility\| efforts	Media Access Group (closed captioning and audio description) Descriptive Video Service
Television productions	American Experience Antiques Roadshow Arthur Ask This Old House Basic Black Between the Lions Cook's Country Curious George Decoding COVID-19 Design Squad Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman Food Trip with Todd English French in Action Frontline Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie Greater Boston High School Quiz Show Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One Martha Speaks Masterpiece Molly of Denali Nova Nova ScienceNow Peep and the Big Wide World Pinkalicious & Peterrific Postcards from Buster Religious America Rough Cut with Fine Woodworking Simply Ming The New Yankee Workshop The Victory Garden This Old House Time Warp Trio Work It Out Wombats! Zoom 1972–1978 1999–2005
Radio productions	Innovation Hub The World
Distributions	PBS Distribution Public Radio International
WFXZ-CD maintains a channel sharing agreement with WGBH-TV. Merged into Public Radio Exchange

Categories:

Misplaced Pages