Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind the Scenes at Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! on PBS (Book Review)

Author: Rebecca Eaton, with Patricia Mulcahy
Year: 2013
Genre: Television/Memoir
Reading Level: Adult

Summary: Part memoir, part behind-the-scenes look at the origins, development and history of Masterpiece Theatre, as told by longtime executive producer Rebecca Eaton.  Includes insights from such Masterpiece alums as Daniel Radcliffe, Gillian Anderson, Julian Fellowes and Kenneth Branagh. 

Red Flags: Some occasional language

My Rating: B
As a history of Masterpiece, I think this succeeds quite well.  Obviously Rebecca Eaton knows what she's talking about and she explains the business side of things clearly.  She's conversational, praises various successes and owns up to mistakes as well.  I do think it is rather silly that Downton Abbey gets the last three chapters.  I know that it's a BIG deal and I'm sure they wanted to entice readers with plenty of Downton talk, but if your book is about Masterpiece as a whole, let's be a little bit more balanced, okay?  She hardly even wrote anything in one of those chapters because it was all quotes from Downton people.  But anyway, I learned a lot about Masterpiece so in that way I can't complain.

As a memoir, I think this works only about halfway, mostly because she stops talking about her personal life for the second half of the book.  She did a fine job of interweaving the two branches up to that point so I'm not sure why she dropped it halfway.  In the first half she talks about the conflict of working and missing her daughter's childhood--did this extend to her teenage years?  What are her thoughts about it now that her daughter is grown?  She throws out at the very end that she's getting divorced--what were the origins of that decision?  It's not that I want to pry or be nosy (though I am nosy), but the autobiographical aspect felt incomplete.  Maybe she became a workaholic and consequently had no personal life?  

Memorable quotes:
"Watching mysteries on television provides a feeling that says all's right with the world; now at least one of life's unanswered questions is settled: that's who did it.
"Phyllis [P.D. James] says: 'The mystery is an affirmation of a moral law that murder is wrong but men are responsible for their own deeds; and however difficult the problem, there is a solution.  All this, I think, is rather comforting in an age of pessimism and anxiety.'"--p. 72

"...a good idea is only the beginning of a very long haul..."--p. 177

"'With drama, all the time, you're trying to think of tension.  I always say that one of the hardest things to dramatize is happiness.  That's why, in the old days, Hollywood films ended with the marriage and the kiss--because the drama was over.'"--Julian Fellowes, p. 238

"'I don't have time for writer's block; I just have to get on, because I've made so many commitments.  Sometimes you write stuff, and it doesn't seem any good, and you chuck it out; but you have to keep churning it out.  If you want to be a writer for your living, and you're not just working on your book in the attic, you have to be grown up about it and not wait until you're in the mood.  You can't afford that.  Usually, if you go for a walk, you can come back with an idea of where you go next.'"--Julian Fellowes, p. 253

Lots of Important Things

I started rereading The Prestige again last night. It is good. I think it's cool how the movie kept the same kind of story but tweaked it into something different. I also read a truly abysmal Star Wars novel last week and it was so wretched that it's put me off the genre. I was also unfortunate enough to read another by the same author and it wasn't very good either. So, clearly, the man needs to go back to writing fanfix. If he does this, he should not use the word 'genuflect' so often just because most people probably do not know what that means.

I was thinking about writing a fanfiction the other day. I was thinking of this as an alternative to coloring arts, since I can't do that now, but then I remembered that I typically write things on my computer. It's been so long since I've had to share computer space that thinking about it makes me paranoid or something. I am thinking this is probably an irrational reaction on my part.

I watched the Best of Masterpiece Theater today and was kind of surprised at the top 12. I guess I expected more recent ones to come up, but probably just because I haven't seen any earlier than 1980 and any before 1995 are pretty rare. I was glad to see Bleak House come in so highly. And Guppy won for best scene stealer! Woo hoo for Guppy! I already have plans to, whenever I should get it, name my next laptop Mr. Guppy. It has a nice ring to it. I keep thinking I should name my mouse too, because it seems like it would like one. It may be jealous of the iPadlet having a name (Harvey).

The point is that I have still not seen Blade Runner but I remain thoroughly intrigued.