Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Knox, Simone

Titel

Masterpiece Theatre and British Drama Imports on US Television: Discourses of Tension

Ist Teil von

• Critical studies in television, 2012-03, Vol.7 (1), p.29-48

Ort / Verlag

London, England: SAGE Publications

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Bearing in mind that subsidy budgets for public broadcasting were further reduced during the 1990s and Mobil stopped its sponsorship in 2004, Masterpiece Theatre has become increasingly dependent on financial support through pledge drives. [...]it is interesting to consider that any radical changes to its brand identity and significant upsets of its core audience could have a rather detrimental effect for the continued existence of the anthology series. The credits thus displayed a self- referential, enclosed space, both inwards- and backwards-oriented. [...]partly because the desirable difference of the British dramas meant that these programmes' irregular episode lengths did not fit into the grid pattern of the US schedule, Masterpiece Theatre further made use of an on-screen host until 2004. [...]there is nothing on the commercial or cable channels that can compare to PBS programming.56 This contrasts with US press commentaries of Masterpiece Theatre, which have been more ambivalent, praising individual productions, but showing a suspicion of the remit of Masterpiece Theatre (and PBS) in line with Miller's already mentioned discussion of the Nixon context, and even questioning the quality status of the anthology series. Since British imports go through such a rigorous screening and purchasing process, survival for American consumption tends to be reserved for the better specimens.