All Thing PBS

dardar1126

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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/news/masterpiece-must-knows-summer-2015/

News: 5 MASTERPIECE Must Knows, Summer 2015
Want to be the first to know what's ahead for your favorite MASTERPIECE programs? Rebecca Eaton, MASTERPIECE Executive Producer, recently spoke to the Television Critics Association in Los Angeles, and offered some don't-miss tidbits about returning and new series. We've collected it all into our Top 5 MASTERPIECE "Must Knows" for Summer, 2015!
 

tamuno

Active Member
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243
Yeah Poldark was a flop for me. So much anticipation, not so satisfactory. Crimson Fields is discontinued ( too bad) and no new Sherlock. Some new series are coming up though.
 

danceronice

Corgi Wrangler
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6,947
Re: Poldark - Lacking a certain something is exactly it, but what certain something? I can't quite put my finger on it.

Pacing? I've seen livestock auctions run more sedately. My biggest problem is everything goes at a breakneck speed, scenes are short, there's not much establishing of situations, and things are problems and resolved so rapidly there's no time to get invested.
 

Cachoo

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10,715
The shows I have been watching this summer on my PBS are Urban Conversion & A Chef's Life.

http://urbanconversion.com/season-1/

http://www.achefslifeseries.com/

(Tom Thumb - :yikes:)

Vivian Howard lives ‘A Chef’s Life,’ her attempt to show the real North Carolina :

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...e1d0b8-4a51-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html

I love "A Chef's Life" and I love that Vivian doesn't try and sugarcoat her experience. I think I would get very frustrated keeping good help in such a small town. And I think her husband has tamped down some of his dreams for "their" dream. And the food looks fabulous. Just a little tidbit I keep noticing: Her twins are adorable but it always seems like the girl is fussy while the boy seems so happy. I loved when he asked if the woman with an umbrella was Mary Poppins.
 

vesperholly

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12,826
Pacing? I've seen livestock auctions run more sedately. My biggest problem is everything goes at a breakneck speed, scenes are short, there's not much establishing of situations, and things are problems and resolved so rapidly there's no time to get invested.

Agreed. I really wasn't clear on the worker and the lady he married, who tried to seduce the doctor and all that stuff (really disliked that actress, too). Especially because I thought they were poorly established as characters. It would've helped if they were clearer about naming people as well. I didn't know until it was mentioned here that the older woman servant was named Zacky. I think Ross called her by name once, and I only caught it because I watched the rerun after having read it here.
 

emason

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4,652
Zacky Martin is one of the miners; his daughter married the luckless Jim Carter. Ross' older female servant, if that's whom you mean, is Prudie. Danceronice nailed it about the breakneck speed; everything is over before it starts and nothing has time to really develop. It's all so superficial.
 

Sasha'sSpins

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***SPOILERS AHEAD***

I LOVE the new version of Poldark. The actors imo are all well cast. Aidan Turner is HOT which doesn't hurt but he's a fine actor and Robin Ellis has voiced his approval of Turner's performance. Eleanor Tomlinson seems rather tall for a Demelza (coming from such an impoverished class with the malnourishment often associated with it you'd think she'd be rather small like Angharad Rees was). Still, I think she's done an awesome job so far. Elizabeth is basically a trophy wife - sadly that seemed the role she was made to play even in the original. And she wanted the comforts of the class she was brought up in - can you imagine her making meat pies and helping out in the fields like Demelza does? She would have been miserable imo. I think Heida Reed does a great job as Elizabeth. They do show Elizabeth briefly in the fields looking pretty as she's gathering something into her basket - and her husband Francis showing he's no match for Ross when it comes to looking sexy swinging a scythe. But that is as close to 'hard labor' as either she or Francis seem to get after their fortunes take a turn for the worse.

It took some getting used to watching a slender, fairhaired George Warleggan in action - played by Jack Farthing. I think he's cute in a young Hugh Grant sort of way. Ralph Bates was darkly handsome as George Warleggan in the original Poldark, bullnecked and sturdy - I don't remember this but I have read that his portrayal was considered rather sexy - but I really like Farthing's understated portrayal of the devious George, so jealous of the Poldarks with their old family name and connections he can only hope to achieve through marriage AND laying out a LOT of money - unlike Ross for whom doors open easily due to his ancient family name. I love how Francis threw a zinger at him during a card game early on - when he said that in America they had more liberal views about class - George added 'all men created equal' then one of the other men insisted that there must be distinction between the classes - and here the born-into gentry Francis looked straight at George and said 'especially when it's so dearly bought'. George's glance up at him - barely containing his anger - was priceless! The Warleggans are what Mammy in "Gone With the Wind" would have called mules in horse harness! To paraphrase from GWTW 'they can slick themselves up like race horses and give themselves airs, but they're still nothing more than mules in horse harness' LOL!! George was obviously brought up for a gentleman and was sent to school along with his betters - no doubt he was teased relentlessly by the sons of aristocrats and the gentry for being nothing more than a blacksmith's grandson (and son of a blacksmith actually). His uncle Cary Warleggan and his cousin both still have their working class accents - they sound like pirates frankly! And they are both old enough to remember the lower class background they were born into - especially Cary Warleggan - something George strives to forget about. His father made the Warleggan fortune and it enabled George and his relatives to at least buy the trappings of wealth if not the titles or connections of the gentry class they now belong to. This is why he hates the Poldarks even if their fortunes are on the downswing. Doors open to them easily where as the Warleggans still can only hope to buy their way in. In the season Finale you can already see George trying to work his way towards Elizabeth (rather awkwardly imo). He may be in love with her or the idea of her - he wants her as a trophy wife perhaps (except for the annoying fact that she has a husband already - Francis). I don't see Elizabeth having an affair with him although she might if Francis keeps treating her like crap and neglecting her for the prostitute Margaret. She did say to Ross after all during the card game at the Warleggan Ball 'absentee husbands make for wandering wives'. This seemed to give Francis pause (as well as Ross) LOL! On the other hand, George may try to coerce her into an affair by dangling her husband's debts over her head.

As Poldark is the hero I am sure he will somehow get out of the charge of wrecking (htf can they blame him for wrecking a ship??), murder, etc. He's a Poldark and the Warleggans are - not. He'll get out of that charge no doubt.

I've never read the books (going to remedy that soon) and I only have vague memories of the original Poldark as I was a child when it aired in the '70s. ***SPOILER ALERT-READ NO FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WAN'T TO KNOW WHAT MAY BE COMING UP IN THE NEW POLDARK SERIES!!*** I remember snatches of scenes here and there from the original Poldark- an angry Demelza (at Ross) - I think she discovers he had been with Elizabeth. I remember George Warleggan and Elizabeth pressuring Morwenna to marry the disgusting pervert Reverend Osborne Whitworth who nightly raped the hapless Morwenna after they married. I remember he began an affair with her teenaged sister - and that sister threatening to tell on the Reverend by revealing that he had a mole in a certain place on his body. I remember I was thrilled when that creep was killed - and poor damaged Morwenna finally getting together with Drake Carne. And I remember Elizabeth swearing to George that she had only ever given her body to her first husband Francis and to him - George! I also remember that I wasn't happy about the ending. :( But I remember most of all that I LOVED Poldark and couldn't wait for it to air each week! :)
 
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Sasha'sSpins

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Zacky Martin is one of the miners; his daughter married the luckless Jim Carter. Ross' older female servant, if that's whom you mean, is Prudie. Danceronice nailed it about the breakneck speed; everything is over before it starts and nothing has time to really develop. It's all so superficial.

Is Zacky Martin the guy that stood up in one of the auctions and pretended to be the 'agent' for Carnmore Copper Company? I loved that scene! It was so in your face to the Warleggan agent who was pissed because 'Carnmore' had won most of the bids that day!
 

dardar1126

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Twitter:
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Artistic Skaters

Drawing Figures
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8,150
There is a terrific documentary about Walt Disney showing on American Experience this month. It's 4 hours long, shown as Part I & II in two hour segments. I am not really a Disneyland or Disney World type of person, but found the story of his early years in the business fascinating. They did a good job showing many of the good & bad sides of Disney - the innovator, the creative spirit, the storyteller, the damaged child, & the anti-union anti-Communist activities. He was no quitter as demonstrated by his many comebacks during the early years; & he certainly maintained high quality standards no matter how disagreeable I found his implementation of some of them.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/walt-disney/

His son-in-law remembered a review by the NY Times about one of his shows. He said he was hesitant to discuss it with Walt because the critic thought his subject matter was so corny. But then he realized Walt thought this was right on target because Walt self admittedly loved the corny stuff. Now there's a lesson for Nancy "this is the corniest thing I've ever done" Kerrigan. :lol:
 
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A.H.Black

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3,188
I caught part one but didn't see part two. I'm assuming I can catch it online or it will be rerun.
 

Artemis@BC

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6,886
Two new dramas starting on PBS tonight -- at least on the Seattle affiliate, before and after Indian Summers.

At 8:00 is Home Fires -- "This six-part series, starring Samantha Bond and Francesca Annis, follows a group of women living in a small rural village during World War II whose lives are changed when they’re separated from their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers."

At 10:00 is The Widower, about a convicted murderer trying to start his life anew. "Malcolm is a widower who is trying to rebuild his life with the help of his second wife, Felicity. Yet things are not quite what they seem. Felicity begins to suffer from unexplained blackouts—and doubts about her husband. This three-part drama is based on the true story of convicted murderer Malcolm Webster."
 

tamuno

Active Member
Messages
243
eiiiiiiiii!! what happened to Sherlock hair???? It made look electric combined with his unusual odd looks. Now he just looks odd.
 

Artemis@BC

Well-Known Member
Messages
6,886
what happened to Sherlock hair???? It made look electric combined with his unusual odd looks. Now he just looks odd.

No doubt because of the period setting.

About which I am completely confused, but I also have complete faith in Moffat & Gatiss to make it make sense.
 

Allskate

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12,781
No doubt because of the period setting.

About which I am completely confused, but I also have complete faith in Moffat & Gatiss to make it make sense.

I'm totally confused about the period setting, too. Are they time traveling? Weird.
 

Artistic Skaters

Drawing Figures
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8,150
Live From Lincoln Center is featuring music by Danny Elfman from Tim Burton films. I haven't seen this one yet.

Oh my, they just showed PeeWee Herman. I hope they thought about where to seat him during the performance. We wouldn't want another scandal. :lol:
 
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