Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 7, 1995 TAG: 9510100115
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
If it ever was.
TV's haven of English literacy is presenting more contemporary works, airing programs on a speeded-up schedule and carrying a dual passport with American-accented projects.
``If people cling to the belief that this is their parents' television rather than their own, they'd be surprised to actually watch,'' says Rebecca Eaton, the series' executive producer for a decade.
``Masterpiece Theatre'' launches its new season Sunday with Edith Wharton's ``The Buccaneers,'' the first adaptation of an American novel since Henry James' ``The Golden Bowl'' aired during the 1972-73 season.
For years, sounding even a few bars of ``Masterpiece Theatre's'' durable theme music was enough to set the hearts of would-be Britishers and costume-drama fans aflutter.
``Upstairs, Downstairs,'' they might murmur, invoking the glory of series gone by. ``Elizabeth R,'' ``Poldark,'' ``The Jewel in the Crown,'' ``Jeeves and Wooster'' - British-created series recounted with loving sighs.
Others, however, would recoil like high schoolers reminded their book reports on ``Wuthering Heights'' were due.
That kind of attitude ignores the lively storytelling and sharp writing and acting that has always been the core of ``Masterpiece Theatre,'' says Eaton.
``What `Masterpiece Theatre' has become over the years is the only reliable place on either television or in movies, I would argue, where viewers can find a first-rate adaptation of literature with some regularity,'' Eaton says.
Created and presented by Boston public TV station WGBH, ``Masterpiece Theatre'' is the longest-running primetime dramatic series on television.
But acknowledging the changing medium, audience tastes and the value of home-grown culture, ``Masterpiece Theatre'' has been evolving.
More contemporary, hard-edged series are airing, including the incomparable police drama ``Prime Suspect,'' starring Helen Mirren, which this season moves over from PBS' ``Mystery!''
There are also headline-ready political dramas such as ``Final Cut,'' the third and final series about ruthless British politician Francis Urquhart, and ``The Politician's Wife,'' about a sex scandal. Both air next year.
``We used to draw the line at World War II, even at 20th-century drama,'' Eaton says. That restriction has been abandoned and half of the series are contemporary in setting.
Scheduling also has changed, Eaton says. While audiences once were willing to devote successive Sundays to programs such as the 55-episode ``Upstairs, Downstairs,'' they now want quick, self-contained shots.
So ``Prime Suspect'' will be presented as three two-hour movies - the first airing Oct. 22, the others showing in February and April.
And the 51/2 hours of ``The Buccaneers'' will air in a miniseries-like cluster Sunday through Tuesday. Each chapter shows at 9 p.m. (on WBRA-Channel 15).
Maggie Wadey wrote the screenplay from Wharton's final, unfinished novel about young American heiresses seeking husbands and social cachet among England's titled-but-broke upper class.
Carla Gugino, Alison Elliott, Mira Sorvino and Rya Kihlstedt star as the ``buccaneers'' of the title, the invading Americans. Michael Kitchen, Elizabeth Ashley, Conchata Ferrell, Cherie Lunghi and Jenny Agutter are part of the large cast.
``The Buccaneers,'' a BBC co-production, is an appropriate standard-bearer for this milestone season, Eaton says.
``We brought it to the BBC, we initiated it here, and I'm quite proud to see an American book made by the BBC,'' she says.
``It's a perfect television story in that it has a wide sweep of a story taking place in two countries. The production turned out to be the BBC at its best, with lavish production values, costumes, settings.
``It's set in the grand cottages of Newport [in Rhode Island] and then in England in one stately home after another.''
Providing a further American touch: host Russell Baker, returning for his second year as successor to Britain's Alistair Cooke, who ended his 23-year tenure in 1994.
One element hasn't changed in the series' history: the financial support of Mobil Oil Company, its sole sponsor for the entire run.
``They're the longest and strongest of public television's underwriters by far,'' Eaton says, with commitments adding up to $200 million in 25 years for acquisitions and co-productions.
Despite the security such a relationship seems to bring, Eaton resists the idea that congressional efforts to cut PBS funding would leave ``Masterpiece Theatre'' unaffected.
Cutbacks could reduce PBS's reach and the quality of its programming, which could make PBS ``less appealing'' for Mobil to support, Eaton argues.
by CNB