Chaperone pbs masterpiece8/27/2023 ![]() Scheduled on "60 Minutes" (7 p.m., CBS) "Sanditon," an adaptation of a fragment of a Jane Austen novel, debuts on "Masterpiece" in January. As a longtime fan, I can't wait for "Masterpiece" to return to form. Recent "Masterpiece" fare "The Durrells" and "Poldark" both seem decidedly second-rate and rather more pretty than interesting. The "Victoria" series was insipid in its own ways, but it had the added disadvantages of being compared to Netflix's lavishly produced "The Crown," a series made for a reported cost of $130 million per season. and American-British co-productions, it now has to compete with HBO and every deep-pocketed streaming outlet out there. But it continues a sad losing streak for the "Masterpiece" franchise. "The Chaperone" is not the first mediocre costume drama to land with a thud. Shirley MacLaine's "Downton" character was always more brassy than believable. While some may love seeing McGovern return to "Downton" period clothes, it may remind others that Julian Fellowes' American dialogue was often the weakest part of that series. In the early going, much of that is screamed over strumming banjos. Its young heroine is a spunky striver, and McGovern's Norma, like most of the adult characters, has to chew through paragraphs of stilted dialogue filled with historical explication. "The Chaperone" is exactly none of those things. After nearly a century, she seems remarkably contemporary, audaciously modern and the very definition of cool. Not to mention an escape from her suffocating marriage.Īnyone who has ever seen Louise Brooks on screen in such films as "Pandora's Box" knows that she remains the most stylish and effortlessly erotic of all silent stars. Enter Norma (McGovern), a neighbor who sees a trip to the city as the perfect tonic for her wanderlust. A dance student accepted at an elite New York academy, she finds her mother will only let her go to the big city if she's accompanied by a responsible adult. Set right after World War I, "The Chaperone" follows the teenage Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) before she became the iconic silent-film star. That PBS showcase offers a glance at "The Chaperone," a film released earlier this year, starring Elizabeth McGovern and written by her "Downton Abbey" collaborator Julian Fellowes. Or classy "Masterpiece" (9 p.m., Sunday, PBS, TV-14, check local listings) adaptations. Who hasn't read of some ghastly news and wondered if a Lifetime movie wasn't already in the works? Other characters and subjects are too unique and even sacred for cheap dramatization.
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