BLACKMAILING MASTERPIECE THEATRE (PART TWO) ... AND THE WHTT NETWORK. GUESS WHAT THAT STANDS FOR.

　
　

     To write succinctly about real-life relationships -- whether between people or between institutions -- is difficult, to say the least. There are too many subtleties and gradations, too many nuances to be considered; not to mention feelings that can be bruised and countless memories subject to dispute
     So what am I doing here .. placing myself nakedly in harm’s way?
     Well, I’m reconstructing how the strange relationship between Mobil and public broadcasting managed to survive; and how Masterpiece Theatre thrived despite public television’s paranoia and resentment toward its most prominent underwriter. It wasn’t easy and it involved some really low blows (a few of which were thrown by me).
     In early 1970 it was my hope that the launch of Masterpiece Theatre would go smoothly because PBS, the network, and WGBH, the originating station, were both new to national networking; and Mobil, the underwriter, was totally new to public television. It seemed an agreeable and comfortable match.
     I was kidding myself!


     I’d recommended that Mobil commit a large advertising and promotion budget to the series, knowing it would be essential for success. Mobil, meaning my boss Herb Schmertz, agreed. ( A portion of that budget, I should add, would go to my company.) Then Schmertz got a call either from an executive at WGBH or from Hartford Gunn, the new president of PBS. He, the caller, stated that since PBS was the national broadcaster, PBS should control advertising and promotion. Translation: give us the money. We’ll spend it more wisely.
     I balked big time at that, but agreed to fly to Boyne Mountain, Michigan, for a national meeting of public television ad/promotion managers; and for an introduction to the new PBS director of those activities, a woman named Larsen (I think) who was hired from somewhere in the federal bureaucracy. I tried to keep an open mind, but to say the people there were cool toward me would be an understatement. Studiously polite, yes. After all, I represented big (albeit oily) bucks. But friendly and eager to cooperate? Not a chance.
     And Ms. Larsen? Wow!
     She was pleasant enough .. but over dinner on my second night, she told me she considered herself uniquely qualified for her job. She said --and I swear this is true -- that she could bring total objectivity to the task because she had never owned a television set!!!
     Holy shit, I said to myself, I gotta’ get out of here.
     In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised. When the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was established in 1967 as an ‘overseer’ of the public system’s growth and health, its first appointed president was John Macy, whose prior job was head of the Civil Service Commission. Shortly thereafter, my good friend Lewis Freedman, the brilliant producer of Hollywood Television Theatre, told me he’d had a dream about Macy. In the dream, Macy was asked what the difference was between running the civil service and running CPB.
     He thought for a moment and said: ‘Well, really ..not much.’.
     At that instant, Lewis said, the dream became a nightmare.

     It’s not exactly hot news, of course, that the non-profit world and the corporate world have never sung in perfect harmony. Many non-profits tend to consider themselves on a higher (but lower paying) plane of integrity; working as they do for the public good. Mere commerce is, well, mere commerce. Back then, in fact, I often came away from meetings with public television representatives with the impression they considered themselves always and inevitably on the side of the angels. That’s why I began to think of PBS (privately,) as the ‘WHTT Network’; the initials stand for We’re Holier Than Thou.
     Hartford Gunn didn’t contradict my impression, Plucked out of WGBH Boston to become the first president of PBS, he decided to headquarter the new network in Washington, D.C., right down the street from CPB. He consulted with me before making the decision and I begged him to put its headquarters in New York or Los Angeles where he could draw on an established talent pool. Barring that, I told him, Des Moines, Iowa, or French Lick, Indiana, would be wonderful. No-one would ever want to visit, and he could do whatever he chose. He chose Washington where the available talent pool was Ms .Larsen and others like her and where the network would be subject to the same political pressures as its supposed protector, CPB.
     So much for my opinion.


     Nonetheless, after a few more ‘skirmishes’ about broadcast times, credits for Mobil and promotional tactics, Masterpiece Theatre debuted in January of 1971 under the very competent WGBH producer, Christopher Sarson. Our first offering was a pot boiler called ‘The First Churchills’ starring John Neville and Susan Hampshire (who also starred in ‘The Forsyte Saga’ and always looked as if she had a head cold.) Mobil controlled the advertising and promotion which --fortified by superb graphics from the designer Ivan Chermayeff -- was strong and tasteful; and the host, Alastair Cooke, was able to camouflage the program’s flaws with astute and urbane commentary.
     To be honest, our strategy was to start with our weakest drama so as to learn some lessons about our promotional approach and then to follow it with the big guns: Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Hardy and James.
     But surprise! Surprise! The critics liked ’The First Churchills’ and so did the audience which was tiny by commercial standards but sizeable by public broadcasting standards. So we were off .. and if not running, then at least shuffling along hand in hand. Sort of.

     For the next two years, Schmertz, Sarson and I (and from time to time others representing public broadcasting) traveled to London to screen and to search for future Masterpiece Theatre properties. The BBC was delighted to see us because we were establishing a new American market for their productions..
     But I suspect Sarson was always uncomfortable with Mobil having a ‘say’ in the program choices. And if so, he was partially correct . The air belonged to public television and Mobil had no right to meddle with its legitimate prerogatives.
    On the other hand, Sarson understood that no-one wants to hear in the morning that he or she missed a good program the night before. Mobil controlled the advertising and promotion, and thus public awareness of what was coming up. So it was perfectly reasonable for Schmertz and I to screen future programs (Even the ones that were rejected, like ‘War and Peace‘ with Anthony Hopkins? Nobody ever asked that question.) We could also constructively advise and consult, if not consent, on content and scheduling. That, I believe, was the unspoken understanding to which all parties agreed. And miraculously, all parties usually agreed on which material would fit best into Masterpiece Theatre!!
     That is, until ‘Upstairs/Downstairs’ (U/D) came along..


     Here’s what happened:
     The CEO of Mobil, Raleigh Warner, had a friend who saw it while vacationing in England. He later called Mr.Warner who called Herb Schmertz who called me.
     So the next time we were in London with Chris Sarson, we tracked it down at London Weekend Television (a commercial broadcaster!) and screened the first few episodes of a potential 65 or 70.
     Schmertz liked it;
     Sarson didn’t.
     I loved it. I thought it was brilliantly produced and performed, and perfectly attuned to the values and ambiance of its era. I wanted it on Masterpiece Theatre, period. Double period..!
     A week later Michael Rice, the new general manager of WGBH (Calderwood was long gone) told Mobil it wasn’t suitable for Masterpiece Theatre and to forget it.
     So suddenly both Sarson, the producer, and his station management were against broadcasting it. And then, somehow, PBS got into the act and concurred. And finally, CPB, which should have been minding its own business, joined the active opposition. At the same time, I was passionately arguing in its favor; but to no appreciable effect.. ‘Upstairs/Downstairs‘, I was told time and again, was
                                     … too British
                                     … too narrow.
                                     … too superficial
                                     … too much like a soap opera
                                     … too obscure
                                     … too maudlin.
                                     .. . too slow … and so on.

     Suddenly I had an insight (about time, no?): this argument might not be about Upstairs/Downstairs’ at all! With the forces of public broadcasting acting as if Mobil were plotting to overthrow the United States government, maybe that’s exactly what they’d come to believe. After all, if Mobil got “Upstairs/Downstairs’ on the air, it would look as if it were calling the shots. It would be as if an oil company, God forbid, had taken over de facto control of the public air. PBS’ independence would be destroyed and its virginal integrity violated..

   
     Shit! I thought. I just want it on Masterpiece Theatre.

   
      But if suspicion and paranoia were really what it was all about, I reflected, so be it! There’s only one way to deal with it.. Let’s test out how deep it goes. Let’s see whether money talks and integrity walks.
     The next time we were in London, I arranged a luncheon with all the naysayers. I didn’t invite Schmertz because I wanted him to be able to veto my strategy if it back-fired. The lunch was properly polite until I started lobbying for U/D for the umpteenth time.
     One of my guests quickly stopped me: Why aren’t you hearing us? ‘Upstairs/Downstairs’ is a dead issue. I mean, really dead.
     Okay, I said, how about this? How about we broadcast a few episodes to see if people like it? If they don’t, end of story. But let’s just test it, for Chrissake!
     I think it was the CPB guy who then said: Whaddaya’ mean ‘we‘? What's 'we'? And where’d you get the brass to think your programming judgment is better than ours?
     And there it was. The voice of the WHTT Network, with all its smug superiority. We’re Holier Than Thou! We, not you, are on the side of the angels.
     And there was I .. totally fed up and ready to unleash the attack dogs.
     I replied as quietly as I could: Well if we’re really at the end of our rope on this subject, then let me tell you one thing. If you refuse to broadcast ‘Upstairs/Downstairs’, I will kill Masterpiece Theatre.
     The statement was so bold it silenced the table.
     Finally, someone said: Don’t be silly. You don’t have the right to do that!
     Don’t I? Well I named Masterpiece Theatre, I told them. And after it was on the air for a year, I copyrighted it because you guys didn’t have the foresight to do it. I own it .. understand? And since the music, the graphics, the set and even Alastair have become totally identified with it …guess what?
     Again the table went mute until someone said:: That’s blackmail.
     Maybe so, I thought, but it’s not really blackmail until you pay it.

     A month or so later, after WGBH had reconsidered its position,, PBS made one final attempt to kill the series. It said we were paying too much for it. So I ‘persuaded’ London Weekend to cut the price, promising that Mobil would make up the difference in a future deal. Which it did. No-one in public broadcasting ever knew.
     When, at last, it went on the air in 1973, ‘Upstairs/Downstairs’ became a Sunday night phenomenon all across the United States. It brought a new and broader audience to public broadcasting and won an EMMY as Best Dramatic Series four years in a row; something no drama had ever achieved.. (Under pressure from the three commercial networks, the nominating rules were then changed so it could never win another.)
     And so now, I must offer a dual confession.
      I was bluffing all along. I couldn’t possibly have killed Masterpiece Theatre. I’d invested far too much of myself into bringing it to life.
     And I lied! I never copyrighted the name; and apparently no-one ever checked. To my knowledge, it has never been copyrighted. And Mobil, thank God, didn’t overthrow the government. But it did put a splendid and deserving series on the air.
     So I offer no apologies and live with only a few (mild) regrets.

　
　
　
                                                 AFTER DINNER MINTS


Stan Calderwood, who had been head of marketing for Polaroid, lasted only six months at WGBH. His successor, Michael Rice (the only person who ever called to congratulate me on the success of U/D) didn’t last much longer.

Herb Schmertz was offered early retirement shortly after a new CEO took over at Mobil. Wisely, he took it. I think he was far too smart and certainly too flamboyant for his new superiors.

Chris Sarson resigned shortly after the U/D battle. Rumor had it he left because of it; but I doubt that. He had other irons in the fire and went on to create and produce a fine children’s program at WGBH called ‘Zoom!’ It ran for six good years.

Oddly, John Macy and Hartford Gunn, champions of bureaucracy, both died in the same year: 1986.

I remained a consultant to Mobil after Schmertz retired, but the company’s culture was changing and its commitment to worthwhile projects was sliding toward the conventional rather than the innovative. So I quit. Years later, after it merged with Exxon, it stopped underwriting public television entirely.


WGBH replaced Chris Sarson with Joan Wilson, a wonderful woman who always considered Schmertz and I collaborators rather than adversaries. She was supported by the steady and wise WGBH president, Henry Becton. When Joan died prematurely in 1985, her responsibilities were given to Rebecca Eaton in whose capable hands they still reside. Before Rebecca agreed to take the job, I advised her to keep it for five years and then move on. That was twenty-six years ago.
      So much for my opinion.

     A final irony? The BBC is producing a re-make of ‘Upstairs/Downstairs’ and PBS is scheduling it on ‘Masterpiece’ without debate. What a surprise!

     Please spread this blog around to anyone who might like or dislike it. The link is http://keywestwind.blogspot.com. Thanks to all.