Why 'First TV Drama'?

BECAUSE if it would be produced and aired on PBS, it would be PBS's First New American Weekly Dramatic Television Series. Ever.

Let's take a look at each word.

FIRST: There had never been a weekly New American Drama before. All others were either repeat broadcasts (I'll Fly Away) or they were not American (Mystery!). Mine would be the first.

NEW: While there was an American Drama on PBS before, 1993's I'll Fly Away was not new. PBS only produced a two-hour finale which was new, which was a TV movie, not a series. The series itself had previously aired on NBC, where it was canceled earlier that year. 39 of the 41 hours of I'll Fly Away aired on PBS were repeats. Only just 2 of the 41 hours was new.

AMERICAN: Most dramatic programs PBS airs are British, including Ballykissangel, Mystery!, Upstairs, Downstairs, Masterpiece Theatre, Teletubbies, etc. In some rare occasions, PBS had also aired dramatic programs from Australia.

WEEKLY: Any New American Drama PBS has aired were always one-shot deals, usually as specials. Programs like Ballykissangel are weekly, but as stated above, they are not American. PBS had recently begun a series of programs called "PBS Hollywood Television". These are merely one-shot stage-plays that air just a few times a year, every several months or so, and are more like TV Movies.

DRAMATIC: PBS had attempted on several occasions to do a comedy series, being cheaper to produce than a drama would have. One example is PBS's The Steven Banks Show. PBS has stated numerous times that they want to produce their own Dramas, which lead them to "PBS Hollywood Television", but again, these are one-shot productions.

TELEVISION SERIES: My shows are weekly series, meaning we will be producing them continuously instead of just one-shot deals and one-time productions.

Upstairs, Downstairs was a british series that followed two sections of a household, the upstairs rich elite, and the downstairs hired help. PBS actually skipped airing the first batch of episodes which were produced in black & white, and begun with the second season of colored episodes. The first season premiere was refilmed again in color for PBS, causing two different versions to exist.

I'll Fly Away was canceled from NBC after just two seasons, ending the series with 39 hours. PBS attempted to bring it back as a weekly series to continue it, but for reasons that don't affect my shows, they couldn't and decided to just produce a finale and air the repeats. As stations often reminded viewers from Pledge Drives, I'll Fly Away was "too good" for Network and belonged at PBS. And although it was a good show, PBS stations themselves seemed to have a problem getting into the show, as many of them couldn't say anything about the show during Pledge Drives beyond the cue-card words "Sam Waterston", "Regina Taylor", "Quality", and "No car chases". This is similiar to many station Pledge hosts constantly reminding the "Doctor Who" viewers of the "cheesy monsters", because they either didn't watch it or couldn't see anything else in it. The production crew of the two hour finale wore shirts with the series logo and the words "Television had their chance". Sam Waterston won an Emmy for the finale on PBS, but apparently not for the NBC episodes. After PBS was done with the series, it then repeated for a short time on PAX. I wonder who got the profit from PAX airing the PBS funded finale.