Inspector Lewis is the former working-class foil to the erudite Detective Inspector Morse. The show’s reputation is as a definitively old-school TV establishment, the one at the opposite end of the spectrum from “pop culture,” the rare series that anti-television types are willing to admit to watching. Together with his cool, cerebral partner Hathaway, Lewis tackles murder and mayhem in the seemingly-perfect academic haven of Oxford. It’s quietly in league with the other influential institutions of the medium — “60 Minutes” (53 years), “Monday Night Football” (50), “Saturday Night Live” (46) — as the first of its kind, a pioneer of sorts, and an endurance runner. One of the most popular drama series in TV history -- Bringing you the best in classic adaptations, mysteries filled with eclectic characters, and provocative contemporary works. It’s hard to imagine “Bridgerton,” or “The Crown,” two current period hits on Netflix, without “Masterpiece” as a precedent, just as it’s hard to name many news magazines that weren’t somehow shaped by “60 Minutes.”. “Masterpiece” continues its 50th anniversary with a nod to old favorites. Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking and Raymond James with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust, created to help ensure the series’ future. Whether you made your way here to watch your regular programming, or you're looking for something new, we've got you covered. LinkedIn. PBS has had a long-standing relationship with Amazon for distribution of Masterpiece titles, The Collection is the first Masterpiece co-production with Amazon Studios and Lookout Point. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert. PBS Hawai‘i is a top-rated 4 out of 4 star non-profit. Already familiar with the late Levy’s work because “Masterpiece” had aired an adaptation of her “Small Island” novel in 2010, Simpson said she found “The Long Song” to be “powerful and moving.”. View the broadcast schedule, watch full episodes, clips and more from the acclaimed drama series. “Masterpiece" streams on PBS.org and the PBS Video app to an audience that skews younger than its broadcast viewership, with nearly 40 per cent under the age of 55, according to PBS. Yes, PBS has given us many treasures … Masterpiece Turns 50! ". And yet, “Downton Abbey.” The Julian Fellowes series, which premiered here in 2011, became the highest-rated “Masterpiece,” and the most-nominated non-US series in Emmy history. But she said it makes the most of its relationships with producers such as Colin Callender, whose “All Creatures Great and Small” reboot kicks off the new “Masterpiece” season Sunday. Jane Austen completed 11 chapters of her final novel, Sanditon, before her death in July, 1817.The fragmented novel was published eight years later, and many people have tried to … All rights reserved. The official site for MASTERPIECE on PBS. Pandemic uncertainty brought it to “Masterpiece,” when taping on some of its U.K. shows paused last March and Simpson sought available programs as a safeguard. Lynn Elber can be reached at lelber@ap.org and is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lynnelber. PBS Hawai‘i earned the 2020 Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar. Copyright © 2021 by WTOP. “Masterpiece” is doing its own work, Simpson said. For every unexpected treat (“Any Human Heart” in 2011), there is, say, an unnecessary remake of a Jane Austen or Charles Dickens novel or a thriller such as “Flesh and Blood,” which ended on a cliffhanger with no sign of a second season in sight. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. Based on Andrea Levy’s historical novel of the same name, a finalist for the prestigious Booker literary prize, it tells of a young Black woman’s life in the final years of slavery in Jamaica and its aftermath. The Unseen Alistair Cooke presents a revealing portrait of the longtime Masterpiece Theatre host, one of the most celebrated broadcasters of the 20th century. Tamara Lawrance, who stars as the main character, said every generation believes “things are changing, things are different,” but sees a welcome energy in the British creative community that is building on the past. Watch Masterpiece videos on demand. That would seem daunting when it comes to ethnic diversity, given that the series’ period dramas traditionally skew white, but she said it can and is being done. Series that seem as though they absolutely belong on “Masterpiece” — I’m thinking of “War & Peace” in 2016, which was on A&E, Lifetime, and History, or “Parade’s End” of 2013 and “Gentleman Jack” of 2019, both of which were on HBO. While PBS may be viewed primarily as a traditional broadcaster, its programs (and educational initiatives) are available online. Air Date: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 7:00 PM Facebook. She joined the series nearly 14 years ago and became its executive producer in 2019, only the fourth since “Masterpiece” debuted Jan. 10, 1971, with the miniseries “The First Churchills.”, “We are investing earlier and we’re co-producing earlier on projects, so we’re in a position to be able to put development money into scripts,” Simpson said. Yes, only one. While PBS may be viewed primarily as a traditional broadcaster, its programs (and educational initiatives) are available online. David Oyelowo, the English-born Black actor who starred as the obsessed police inspector Javert, felt comfortable taking the role after he looked into 19th-century French history and found that there were Black police officers, Simpson recounted. “Masterpiece” streams on PBS.org and the PBS Video app to an audience that skews younger than its broadcast viewership, with nearly 40 percent under the age of 55, according to PBS. Fellowes’s follow-ups to “Downton,” for example, have not ended up on “Masterpiece.” “Belgravia” is on Epix, “The English Game” is on Netflix, “Doctor Thorne” is on Amazon, and the forthcoming “Gilded Age” will be on HBO. While celebrating five decades of award-winning television, Masterpiece unveils its slate of the next unforgettable dramas … This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. PBS’s “Masterpiece” will be 50 years old Sunday, and that’s a most excellent thing. The show had been devised and produced by WGBH, the Boston PBS channel, after the 1967 BBC adaptation of John Galsworthy’s “Forsyte Saga” novels had met with unexpected success when the series aired on public television in the States in 1970. “Masterpiece” streams on PBS.org and the PBS Video app to an audience that skews younger than its broadcast viewership, with nearly 40 percent under the age of 55, according to PBS. When “Masterpiece” was under executive producer Rebecca Eaton in the mid-1980s, she “used to be able to sit back” and mull her choice of U.K.-produced shows, Simpson said. You've just tried to add this show to My List. Twitter. December 29, 2020 Alyssa Beno Leave a Comment. The showcase also is responding to the growing call for inclusivity in Hollywood screen projects, Simpson said. Worse yet, they thought it sounded too high-brow for Americans. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. “I’ve had some terrific, serious conversations in which it’s clear to me that our U.K. producers are as committed as we are” to adding diversity across the board, including in writing, directing and acting, Simpson said. budget, Army is working on Frankenbots with living tissue to better robot capabilities, Census Bureau director to resign amid criticism over data, Biden proposes $9B for Tech Modernization Fund, New House bill would block Schedule F, and anything else like it. But in 1985, there was suddenly “somebody else in the game” besides PBS and the A&E channel, said Eaton, now executive producer at large for “Masterpiece.”. PBS' 'Masterpiece' revels in the old and the new TV Roundup: PBS' 'Masterpiece,' ‘Dickinson,' 'American Gods,' 'Circus' By Gary Graff ggraff@medianewsgroup.com; @GraffonMusic on Twitter Alas, the shoulders of giants do sometimes get trampled upon. Certainly “Masterpiece” has focused on the less terminally gruesome shows of the genre, with the likes of Agatha Christie’s “Poirot” and “Miss Marple,” but some of its mystery imports, notably Helen Mirren’s “Prime Suspect” and Kenneth Branagh’s “Wallander,” have been sufficiently grim. “’Masterpiece’ is important to the PBS system. Inspector Lewis. 784.3k Followers, 299 Following, 4,075 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from PBS (@pbs) Only one has survived for that long, week in and week out, there for literate American audiences regardless of the trends of the moment, one foot in global history and literature and the other in the much-badgered medium of television, featuring enough waist-strangling corsets to put Weight Watchers out of business? LOS ANGELES (AP) — As PBS’ “Masterpiece” marks its 50th anniversary Sunday, the drama and mystery showcase could rest on…. If “Masterpiece” had seemed to some like an antique, the “Downton” phenomenon quickly shut them down. “HBO pounced on doing ‘Elizabeth I’ with Helen Mirren, which was a very rude shock because we considered rather comfortably that we owned Elizabeth I,” she said. LOS ANGELES (AP) — As PBS’ “Masterpiece” marks its 50th anniversary Sunday, the drama and mystery showcase could rest on its reputation built with acclaimed programs including “I, Claudius” and “Elizabeth R” and polished anew by surprising pop-culture hits “Sherlock” and “Downton Abbey.”. "Masterpiece" streams on PBS.org and the PBS Video app to an audience that skews younger than its broadcast viewership, with nearly 40 per cent under the age of 55, according to PBS. This Last year, we discussed why you can’t watch PBS live offerings on streaming services. Like most anthology series, the “Masterpiece” output is uneven. Stream full episodes online. “Masterpiece” had aired “Elizabeth R,” the 1972 miniseries with Glenda Jackson as the monarch, a perceived stake that HBO blithely ignored. The same can be said for Cumberbatch’s hugely popular “Sherlock” series that premiered in 2010. MASTERPIECE, PBS' highest-rated ongoing series, is celebrating its 50th anniversary! Still, the overall average is good enough to keep me watching and hoping. The show has been on the receiving end of countless parodies over the years, from “Sesame Street” (see: “Monsterpiece Theatre”) to “Saturday Night Live” and “In Living Color.” Parodies of “Downton Abbey” — the “Sesame Street” one is called “Upside Downton Abbey” — practically form a genre of their own. “I have probably 15 projects sitting in my inbox, and I’m going to have to make a decision quickly on one of those because there is so much competition for those projects.”. “The Long Song,” a three-part drama debuting Jan. 31 on “Masterpiece,” exemplifies what is hiding in plain sight. Callender said the call for change is being heeded, even with “All Creatures Great and Small,” which is based on semiautobiographical books by a veterinarian practicing in a rural English community in the late 1930s. Our viewers expect us to keep finding the best” in TV, Simpson said, even as competition from commercial platforms increases. Celebrate With These New Programs Airing in January. This month marks the 50th anniversary of Masterpiece, the iconic PBS drama series that sparked America’s infatuation with British television.. It has to be hard for the “Masterpiece” team, now that their competition includes many more, and far wealthier, TV outlets than I can name here. AD But it must fight behemoths such as Netflix and Amazon, these days, to acquire the best. PBS’s “Masterpiece” will be 50 years old Sunday, and that’s a most excellent thing. On Jan. 10, 1971, the anthology series premiered with “The First Churchills,” a 12-episode drama about Winston Churchill’s 17th-century ancestors. While PBS may be viewed primarily as a traditional broadcaster, its programs (and educational initiatives) are available online. On air and online, MASTERPIECE delivers a signature brand of sophisticated drama that delights and captivates large and loyal audiences. 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