John Coates R.I.P.

John Coates, one of the founders of British animation house TVC London and the producer of the classic animated feature Yellow Submarine and the Yuletide special The Snowman, died 16 September 2012. The cause was cancer.

John Coates had been an officer in the British Army and served during World War II. Following World War II Mr. Coates was a film distributor in Asia. After returning to England he served as Assistant Controller of Programmes at Associated-Rediffusion (the first ITV company launched). It was in 1957 that legendary animator George Dunning founded TV Cartoons Ltd. (later renamed TVC London) following the closure of UPA's London office, which Mr. Dunning had managed. At that time John Coates was bored in his job and George Dunning was in need of someone to look after the business side of TVC. A meeting between the two was set up by a mutual friend and the two men entered into a partnership that would last until Mr. Dunning's death in 1979.

TVC had been founded to provide animation for commercial advertisements on ITV, the United Kingdom's first commercial broadcasting organisation launched in 1955.  TVC London would prove to very successful in the production of commercials. From its foundation in 1957 until the company closed its doors in 1997, TVC produced around 1500 commercials. Although commercials would be TVC London's bread and butter, the company would expand beyond them. George Dunning would find time to create his own, more personal animated shorts, including "The Flying Man," "The Apple (1959winner of the 1963 BAFTA award for Best Animated Film)," "The Flying Man," and "The Ever Changing Motor Car."

TVC London was also contracted to produced The Beatles animated series (which ran on ABC from 1965 to 1969) and Cool McCool (which ran on NBC from 1966 to 1969) for King Features Syndicate (John Coates would serve as a producer on the latter show). The Beatles cartoon would prove wildly successful and it would be from the series that TVC London and George Dunning's most lasting achievement would emerge. With the success of The Beatles cartoon Al Brodax of King Features Syndicate approached the band's manager Brian Epstein about doing a Beatles feature length animated film. It was TVC London who was tasked with actually producing Yellow Submarine, with John Coates acting as "Production Supervisor (what would now be called "Producer") and George Dunning serving as the film's director. Yellow Submarine would prove to be a revolutionary film. It was the first animated feature film to ever use rock music in its soundtrack and the first British produced animated feature film in literally years. It was also a sharp departure from the more traditional, realistic animation style of the Disney features, using a variety of styles throughout the film and sometimes even a variety of styles in a single sequence. Although Yellow Submarine is often descried as both psychedelia and pop art, it also used op art, Xeroxed photographs, rotoscoping, and many other animation and artistic styles and techniques. Not only did Yellow Submarine break animated feature films away from the realist style of Disney, but it also proved that an independently produced animated film could be a success.

The Beatles, Cool McCool, and Yellow Submarine would not be TVC London's only projects in the Sixties. TVC London would make also make an attempt at its own animated television series in 1965 with the pilot Charley. While it won the Children’s Gold Award at the Venice Film Festival, Charley would never become a TV series. Pitched to the BBC and the various ITV companies, TVC London found itself unable to sell Charley as the companies either wanted creative and financial control of the project or simply did not have the money to back it.  Following Yellow Submarine George Dunning would direct the shorts "Hands, Knees and Bumps a Daisy (1969)" and "Damon the Mower (1972)." George Dunning was planning a feature length animated film based on William Shakespeare's The Tempest when he died in 1979. The project was never finished.

Following George Dunning's death, John Coates took control of TVC London. While TVC London would continue to produce animated commercials, it expanded even more into the world of entertainment. John Coates would produced the "Soft Landing" sequence of the animated feature film Heavy Metal (1981). More importantly, he had optioned the 1978 children's book The Snowman. With the creation of new public broadcaster Channel 4 in 1982, a broadcaster that would rely heavily on independent British production companies, Mr. Coates moved forward with production of The Snowman. The Snowman would become a yearly Christmas special on British television and in the United States would be nominated for 1982 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

Under the leadership of John Coates TVC would produce such animated specials as  The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe; Grandpa; Father Christmas; Famous Fred; The Bear; The Animal Train; and Ivor the Invincible. With TVC London, John Coates would also produce the feature length films When the Wind Blows (1986), The Wind in the Willows (1995), and The Willows in Winter (1996), as well as the animated TV series The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends (based on Beatrix Potter's books).  Mr. Coates would go onto produce the animated TV special The Tale of Jack Frost. At the time of his death he was working on The Snowman and the Snowdog, a sequel to The Snowman scheduled to air on Channel 4 over the holidays of 2012.

Among producers of British animation John Coates was a legend.  He produced the ground breaking animated film Yellow Submarine, as well as the animated series Cool McCool.  Following George Dunning's death he would produce several classic works of animation, from The Snowman to The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends. As a producer he was gifted with an eye for what would make great animation, adapting the works of Raymond Briggs, Beatrix Potter, and Kenneth Grahame. Very few British animated producers could boast of the career that John Coates had, and it is doubtful that many in the future will be able to either.

Friday Night Death Slots

While it doesn't happen every American television season, it happens often enough to be notable. One of the broadcast networks  will schedule a programme meant to appeal to the coveted 18 to 34 year old demographic on a Friday night. Given that many people from 18 to 34 years of age go out on Friday night or engage in other activities that do not involve watching broadcast network television, it should be no surprise that the programme usually suffers a swift death. Fox, in particular, has become famous for scheduling youth oriented shows on Friday night, to the point that it has become something of a joke. Regardless, the other networks were scheduling youth oriented programmes, which were generally cancelled in less than a season, long before Fox was ever founded. Indeed, Friday night would become so notorious as a bad time for scheduling television shows that the phrase "Friday night death slot" would come about.

It is difficult to say when the phrase "Friday night death slot" came into common usage. The phrase "death slot," used of any time slot that guaranteed certain cancellation for a television show, was in use at least as early as the Sixties. A 17 July 1966 Hartford Courant article dealing with The Andy Williams Show moving to Sunday night at 10:00 EST (opposite the high rated ABC Sunday Night Movie) bore the headline, "Williams' Show Going To 'Sudden Death' Slot." The phrase "death slot" would appear infrequently in the Seventies, but became increasingly common as the Eighties progressed. It was most often used of a time slot where a show would be  placed opposite a high rated programme, guaranteeing its swift cancellation, although it was also used of time slots that were generally considered a poor fit for a show. It should be no surprise then that the phrase "Friday night death slot" was used at least as early as the mid-Eighties. The earliest article I found that used the complete phrase was from a 19 October 1985 Lexington Herald-Leader article about Spenser: For Hire being moved to a new time slot. The article read, "Spenser: For Hire, the above-par detective series starring Robert Urich, is being moved out of the Friday-night death slot opposite Miami Vice and Falcon Crest." It is unclear whether the writer meant that Spenser: For Hire was in a death slot because it was opposite two high rated shows or because it was on Friday or, perhaps, a little bit of both. Regardless, the phrase "Friday night death slot" would start appearing frequently in print by the early Naughts. Given that I seem to recall using the phrase "Friday night death slot" as early as the late Eighties and early Nineties, I am inclined to think it was in common use in conversation by the Eighties and simply did not become common in print until the Naughts.

Of course, while the phrase "Friday night death slot" might not have been coined until the Eighties, the idea that Friday night was a bad time for any sort of television programming that might appeal to younger people had been around for decades. For the 1965-1966 season NBC decided to move The Man From U.N.C.L.E., at that point a veritable phenomenon, from 8 PM EST Monday to 10 PM EST Friday. The move proved to be an unpopular one with viewers, who wrote NBC to complain about the show's new time slot. Many viewers complained that the show was on too late in the evening. Teenagers, college students, and housewives all complained that Friday night was when they generally went out.  At the State University of New York 138 students even signed a petition to get NBC to move The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to a Monday night time slot. Despite protests from viewers, NBC kept The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in the time slot, where the show did indeed perform well. That having been said, by that point The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was an outright fad and probably would have done well in any time slot. One has to wonder how well it would have done in the Nielsen ratings had NBC scheduled it at a better time.

NBC would also play a role in another early example of the idea that any time on Friday night was a "death slot" for television shows that appealed to young people. Initially for the 1968-1969 season NBC had planned to move Star Trek to Monday night at 8:30 EST.  In March 1968, however, NBC changed its mind, deciding to give the time slot to the hit series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Instead Star Trek would be scheduled at 10:00 PM EST Friday.  In a Toledo Blade article, "Star Trek Lives Despite Taboos," from 15 August 1968, the show's creator Gene Roddenberry complained of the new time slot, "If the network wants to kill us, it couldn't have made a better move." Gene Roddenberry had tried persuading NBC to move Star Trek to a better time to no avail. Unhappy with the show's new time slot, Mr. Roddenberry resigned as the show's producer, although he remained as its executive producer.

Gene Roddenberry was hardly alone in his thought that 10 PM Friday was a death slot for Star Trek, a show that appealed primarily to young people. Like Man From U.N.C.L.E. fans before them, Star Trek fans appear to have been unhappy that their favourite show was being scheduled at 10:00 EST Friday night. In the June 1968 issue of the Star Trek fanzine The Hailing Signal, the following complaint was made: "Now, not only does it have to compete with traditional Friday night social functions, but also a network movie. No show can survive the divided audience which will result." What was obvious to Star Trek fans at the time, that Star Trek could not possibly survive in a late, Friday night time slot, was also obvious to some in the mainstream media. In an Associated Press article from 25 August 1968, television-radio writer Cynthia Lowry described the show's new Friday night time slot as, "...hardly an ideal position for good ratings." She went on to say, "Friday and Saturday nights are not considered the best viewing evenings--the younger crowd is out on dates and the young to middle aged couples are bowling, playing bridge, or having an evening out. Star Trek, like ABC's Judd for the Defence and CBS' Mannix, may therefore suffer from undeserved inattention." Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek fans, and Cynthia Lowry all proved to be right. Never a particularly high rated series, Star Trek suffered the worst ratings of its entire run in the 10:00 EST Friday night time slot. NBC cancelled the show in February 1969.

Given the reaction both Man From U.N.C.L.E. fans and Star Trek fans had to their respective shows being moved to a late Friday night time slot, not to mention the reaction of Gene Roddenberry and others to Star Trek being moved to that time slot, it is quite apparent that by the Sixties Friday night was regarded as a very poor time to schedule any show that appealed to young people.That Friday night was a bad night for any sort of youth oriented programming was not only borne out by the final season of Star Trek, but by the sheer number of other youth oriented shows that, having debuted on Friday night, lasted only one or two seasons at best, often much less. In the Sixties Jonny Quest, The Addams Family, Honey West, Camp Runamuck, The Green Hornet, and The Guns of Will Sonnett were pretty much doomed by being scheduled on Friday night. In the Seventies Ghost Story, The Girl with Something Extra, Planet of the Apes, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and Logan's Run all met an early demise on Friday nights. The Eighties would see such shows as Darkroom, Jennifer Slept Here, Manimal, V, The Twilight Zone, Misfits of Science, Max Headroom, and Beauty and the Beast all suffer for being scheduled on Friday night.

ABC, CBS, and NBC would occasionally schedule youth oriented programming on Friday nights in the Nineties, but for the most part they appear to have been happy to schedule shows that would appeal to older people (Brooklyn Bridge, Diagnosis: Murder, Burke's Law) or children (Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch). Fox proved to be the exception among the networks, continuing to schedule shows that appealed to young people on Friday nights to the point that the network became famous for its "Friday night death slots." Only a few of the youth oriented shows Fox scheduled on Friday nights in the Nineties would last much beyond one season. Those that did not included The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., M.A.N.T.I.S., Strange Luck, The Visitor, and Harsh Realm. The X-Files would manage to survive its first three seasons on Friday night, clinging to life until it was moved to Sunday where it finally became a hit. Despite the fact that the other networks had given up on the practice for the most part and the fact that so many of its shows have failed on that night, Fox has continued to schedule youth oriented programming on Friday nights to this day. Dark Angel, Firefly, John Doe, Wonderfalls, Dollhouse, and The Good Guys all suffered for Fox's practice of scheduling youth oriented programming on Friday nights. What is more Fox apparently hasn't changed this practice this season--Fringe is once more on Friday night. While the term "Friday night death slot" appears to pre-date the founding of Fox, it seems likely that the network's scheduling practices may have hastened the term growing in use in the Naughts.

Never mind that over the decades the youth oriented shows the networks scheduled on Friday night generally died swift deaths, one would think that common sense would have dictated that the networks would schedule no shows that appealed to the 18-34 year old demographic on that evening. As everyone from Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Star Trek fans to Associated Press writer Cynthia Lowry pointed out as early as the Sixties, Friday night is when many young people go out. It the night when teenagers and college students go out on dates or to parties, when young couples go to dinner or the movies, and so on. Given this fact, then, one does not have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out that not a terribly large amount of people between the ages of 18 to 34 will be home on a Friday night to watch any television shows with them in mind.

The question, then, is why did the networks persist in scheduling youth oriented shows on Friday night for literally decades? According to The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Book by Jon Heitland, NBC chose to move The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to 10:00 EST Friday night because studies had demonstrated that more of the 18 to 34 year old audience were available at that time than any other week night. It would seem quite possible, then, that the studies that influenced NBC's decision to move The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to Friday night may have influenced NBC and the other networks over the years in their choices to programme youth oriented shows on Friday night. Of course, while the studies may have been correct in that more people aged 18 to 34 may be free on Friday nights (that is, they do not have to go to school, college, or work) than any other night of the week, this does not mean that they are necessarily going to stay home and watch television. It would then appear that the networks apparently suffered from a bit of hubris in assuming that the average teenager or twentysomething would forgo going out on Friday night to stay home and watch some television show! Indeed, in the book Television Criticism, while discussing the cancellation of youth oriented show Joan of Arcadia (which had been in a Friday night death slot on CBS), author Victoria O'Donnell notes that the median age of the Friday night television audience is 53.9 years old, hardly the 18 to 34 year old demographic NBC apparently thought was home in 1965!

Of course, while the casualty rate of television shows on Friday night would be so high that the phrase "Friday night death slot" would come into existence, that does not mean that there have not been hit shows on that particular night. The Flintstones, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., The Wild Wild West, Sanford and Son, Chico and the Man, The Rockford Files,The Dukes of Hazzard, and Dallas all aired on Friday night. Here it must be pointed that only a few of these shows appealed primarily to young people and those that did must be considered special cases. As an animated cartoon The Flintstones and, as what was essentially the live action equivalent of a cartoon, The Dukes of Hazzard both had large audiences of children in addition to any adults who might have been watching. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. had gone from the sleeper hit of the 1964-1965 season to an outright fad, so that it would have probably pulled in huge ratings on any night of the week. The Wild Wild West was not only a spy show and a sci-fi show (both genres that traditionally appeal to young people), but a Western as well, a genre that has traditionally appealed to an older crowed. Both Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man were sitcoms that had appeal that cut across several age ranges, while The Rockford Files and  Dallas appealed primarily to a slightly older crowd.

Programmes that appealed to the 18 to 34 audience that actually survived on Friday night, let alone became hits, have historically been rather rare on American television. 77 Sunset Strip debuted on Friday and proved to be a hit there, but given it was a detective show it might have appealed to older people as well as the younger crowd.  Room 222 spent much of its run on Friday night, but it had spent its first two years on Wednesday night where it developed a loyal audience. And while it appealed to young people, as a comedy drama set in a school it may have appealed to older people as well. Miami Vice was also another exception to the rule. With its MTV style editing and use of popular music, Miami Vice was obviously meant to appeal to young people. That having been said, Miami Vice was also a police drama, so that it might well have appealed to older people as well. While Friday night would produce hit shows over the years, then, it would appear that most of them were not of the sort that would appeal primarily to the 18 to 34  year old demographic or at least not only to that demographic. 

While the networks would persist in scheduling youth oriented television shows on Friday nights for decades and while the phrase "Friday night death slot" would increasingly gain currency in the Naughts, with the exception of Fox it appears that the networks had given up on scheduling shows that appeal to the 18 to 34 year old demographic on Friday nights starting in the Naughts. From the Naughts into the Teens NBC has scheduled a mixture of a Friday night edition of Dateline: NBC, game shows (1 Vs. 100, Minute to Win It), reality shows (Who Do You Think You Are), and dramas (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Third Watch, Las Vegas). Crusoe and Grimm would appear to be the exceptions in the past many years with regards to NBC's Friday night programming. Both were youth oriented programmes. Of course, Crusoe died a quick death, while Grimm actually became successful on Friday night.  ABC has made due on Friday nights with reality shows (The Mole, Wife Swap), the news magazines Primetime and 20/20, and sitcoms (The George Lopez Show, Life with Bonnie). Since 2003 only CBS has continued with a full schedule of scripted television programmes on Friday nights, and even then it would be shows that would appeal to a decidedly older crowd for the most part. JAG, NUMB3RS, Close to Home, Ghost Whisperer, and Blue Bloods do not appear to have been made with the 18 to 34 crowd in mind. Only Moonlight, a drama about a vampire detective that debuted in the 2007-2008 season on CBS, would appear to have been meant to appeal to youth, and it lasted all of one season.

Of course, while the major networks except for Fox have largely given up scheduling youth oriented programming on Friday nights, the fact is that the night may not be as deadly to youth oriented shows as it was in the Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties. In the Seventies the VCR would make it possible for individuals to record shows and watch them later. The late Nineties would see the arrival of both the DVD recorder and the digital video recorder (the DVR), both of which would make the time shifting of programmes more common than it ever had been before. Quite simply, in the Naughts and the Teens there are probably very few people without some device that will allow them to record their favourite programmes. It then does not matter if a  programme is on a Friday night; its loyal viewers can simply record it. What is more, recording a programme on a DVR will not have a negative impact on a show's ratings--the Nielsens count watching a show at a later time on a DVR the same as if it was viewed when it was initially aired. The fact that many of its viewers time shifted Fringe is much of the reason Fox moved that show to Friday night. In 2010 The CW moved Supernatural to Friday nights where it would survive for two seasons, perhaps because many of its viewers simply recorded the programme. On NBC Grimm became one of its most successful shows despite airing on Friday nights, perhaps because of the phenomenon of time shifting. While most of the networks have abandoned youth programming on Friday nights, then, with the existence of DVRs and DVD recorders, there really was not nearly as much reason for them to do so as there once was.

Strangely enough, then, the phrase "Friday night death slot" would come into common usage in print at the very time that most of the networks were abandoning the practice of scheduling youth oriented programming on Friday nights, the very practice that had given rise to the phrase to begin with, and at a time when DVRs and DVD recorders would make the Friday night death slot redundant to some degree.  While today apparently only Fox seems insistent on scheduling shows that appeal to young people on Friday nights, the idea of the Friday night death slot is one that has dominated television history for decades. In 1965 fans of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. complained because their favourite show was scheduled on a Friday. Star Trek fans would do the same. And while the low rated  Star Trek might not have lasted any longer than one more season regardless, it seems that in scheduling it at 10:00 PM on Friday NBC insured its cancellation in its third season beyond a shadow of a doubt. Star Trek would not be the only show with a cult following that would meet its end on Friday night. Max Headroom, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. Firefly, and  The Good Guys all died on Friday night, but maintain followings to this day (particularly Firefly). Given the number of shows that have died on Friday night, over the decades many viewers have shared the reaction of Star Trek fans in the Sixties to their favourite show being moved to that particular night--they have assumed it was an automatic death sentence. Even today in the age of DVRs, many fans of Community regard NBC's moving the show to Friday nights this season as a sure sign that this will be its final season.

While the phrase "Friday night death slot" is still quite common when discussing television scheduling, it remains to be seen in this age of DVRs and time shifting whether Friday nights will remain an automatic death sentence for shows scheduled then. Supernatural and Fringe have both survived on Friday nights, while Grimm actually proved to be a success there. Given the fact that most people can now record shows and watch them later and that this does not affect those shows' ratings, there is little reason that a youth oriented show cannot survive and even thrive on Friday night given enough people record it on their DVRs. The phrase "Friday night death slot" could then eventually become a thing of the past.

Bank Holiday (1938)

There is a tendency today for film buffs to think of The Lady Vanishes (1938) as the film that propelled Margaret Lockwood to stardom. This is certainly true here in the United States, where The Lady Vanishes was the first film in which Margaret Lockwood starred to capture a significant American audience. That having been said, it hardly holds true of Miss Lockwood's native United Kingdom, where she had become a star not long before the release of The Lady Vanishes. In the United Kingdom it was not The Lady Vanishes that made Margaret Lockwood a star, but an early Carol Reed film called Bank Holiday (1938) instead.

Bank Holiday was a particularly British variation on the "Grand Hotel theme," in which a film follows a number of different characters in story linked by a specific place or activity (Dinner at Eight from 1933 and Stagecoach from 1939 are other examples of the genre). In the case of Bank Holiday, the film centred on various characters who visit a seaside resort (a thinly veiled Brighton) for the August Bank Holiday. Margaret Lockwood plays a nurse from London who has consented to spend the weekend with her fiancé (Hugh Williams), something over which she does feel a good deal of guilt. At the same time Miss Lockwood's character is worried about a seriously distraught widower (John Loder) of one of her patients who had just died in childbirth.  Among the other plots in Bank Holiday are one involving a Cockney family with somewhat unruly children (Arthur, played by Wally Patch, and May, played by Kathleen Harrison), and another involving Doreen (Rene Ray), who is competing in a beauty contest, and her best friend  Milly (Merle Tottenham).

Bank Holiday premiered in London on 27 January 1938 and opened to very good reviews. Margaret Lockwood in particular was singled out for the quality of performance, which was entirely naturalistic and free of the sort of  artificial speaking common to British stage and even film actors of the time. While the critics loved Bank Holiday, it took some time for it to become a hit at the box office. It started somewhat sluggishly, but eventually through word of mouth did quite well. In the end, Margaret Lockwood had become one of the new stars of the British screen, a position that would be solidified by her next film (The Lady Vanishes).

In the United States Bank Holiday would run afoul of Hollywood's Production Code of the time, under which even an engaged couple such as Margaret Lockwood and Hugh Williams' characters could not spend the night together, let alone a weekend. While Joseph Breen, head of the Production Code Administration, thought Bank Holiday was "a very, very good picture," he thought that it could not possibly be recut so as to be acceptable for American audiences. Gaumont British would have Bank Holiday viewed again, after which they they agreed that Larry Darmour, Gaumont's man in Hollywood, would an editor who would remove anything objectionable from Bank Holiday. In the end 1450 feet of film (about five minutes) was cut from Bank Holiday, after which it was finally passed by the Production Code Administration. It was released in the United States on 1 June 1938 under the title Three on a Weekend (presumably Americans would not know what a "bank holiday" was). Here it should be pointed out that the Untied States was not the only place where Bank Holiday faced censorship. In the Republic of Ireland several cuts had to be made before the film could be released there, and the censor said of Bank Holiday, "This was a difficult film to deal with anyhow..."

For the most part Bank Holiday holds up very well when viewed today. In some respects it is at its most effective when dealing with its secondary plots. I thought the plot involving the Cockneys Arthur and May and their family was particularly well done, a good balance of comedy and seriousness. I thought the same held true of the plot involving beauty queen Doreen and her best friend Millie. If Bank Holiday has a weak point, it could well be its central plot line. While Margaret Lockwood gives a very good performance as the nurse Catherine, the material is not quite up to par. While I enjoyed the plot involving her fiancé and her reticence at spending an illicit weekend with him, I thought the whole plot involving her concern for the distraught widower was a bit too weepy and melodramatic, not to mention on the whole unrealistic. Indeed, the whole plot involving Catherine and the overly grieving widower seems a bit out of place among the other, more naturalistic plots of the film.

While the modern viewer may or may not find fault with the plot involving Catherine and the husband who has just lost his wife, I suspect most would find Bank Holiday enjoyable. Indeed, the film works on multiple levels. Its most basic appeal is that it gives the viewers slices of English life as it might have been in the late 1930's. In fact, in the various secondary stories the viewer might find things that hold true not only today, but in the United States at that. At the same time, Bank Holiday also acts as a commentary on English society at the time. Bank Holiday examined the changing sexual mores of the times (something that would not be acknowledged by Hollywood for nearly another twenty years), the classism of English society, and the monetary constraints of the middle and working classes, among other things.

While Bank Holiday is hardly on par with many of Carol Reed's later works, one can already see the promise of things to come in his handling of the film. Several sequences of the film are very impressive, from the early scenes at Victoria Station to the mass of individuals on holiday sleeping on the beach (for lack of funds or available rooms at a hotel). Bank Holiday was only Carol Reed's sixth film, but already he was demonstrating a good degree of mastery in his handling of framing scenes.

Bank Holiday would be a pivotal film in Margaret Lockwood's career and somewhat important in the career of Carol Reed as well. While the film has its flaws, it is a very enjoyable movie over all and one that is well seeking out. Viewers might not particularly care for portions of the central storyline of Bank Holiday, but they will certainly enjoy the many other plots the film has to offer.

Lance LeGault Passes On

Lance LeGault, perhaps best known for playing Colonel Decker on The A-Team, died on 10 September 2012 at the age of 75.

Lance LeGault was born in Chicago, Illinois on 2 May 1937. He started work while very young, working for the railroad when he was only 13. He made his film debut in uncredited roles in the Elvis Presley movie Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962). He would also have uncredited parts in Kissin' Cousins (1964), Viva Las Vegas (1964), and Roustabout (1964).  His first credited role was in The Swinger in 1966. In the late Sixties and Seventies he would appear in such films as The Young Runaways (1968), Sweet Charity (1969), Catch My Soul (1974), The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), Coma (1978), and French Quarter (1978). He appeared on such TV shows as Land of the Giants, Gunsmoke, Petrocelli, The Rockford Files, Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Battlestar Galactica, and The Dukes of Hazzard.

It was in 1983 that Lance LeGault was cast in the recurring role of Colonel Decker on The A-Team. Colonel Decker was an Army officer assigned to try to capture The A-Team, who had been falsely accused of robbing a bank in Vietnam. He appeared in the role for three years. He also played a brief, recurring role on Dynasty, a recurring role on Magnum P.I., and a regular role on the short lived show Werewolf. In the Eighties he also appeared on such shows as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Voyagers, Knight Rider, T. J. Hooker, Airwolf, Sledge Hammer, Murder She Wrote, Paradise, Star Trek : The Next Generation, Dallas, and L.A. Law. He appeared in the films Stripes (1981), Amy (1981), Fast-Walking (1982), Iron Eagle (1986), and Kidnapped (1987).

From the Nineties into the Naughts Lance LeGault appeared in such shows as Major Dad, Columbo, Renegade, L. A. Heat, and Crusade. He appeared in such films as Shadow Force (1992), The Silencers (1996), Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997), Scorpio One (1998), and Stuntmen (2009).

Not only was Colonel Decker on The A-Team perhaps Lance LeGault's best known role, but he played many military men over the years. With a gravelly voice and eyes that could be described as sharp looking, he was perhaps ideal for such roles. That having been said, Mr. LeGault could play more than military men. On Werewolf he played a very different role, that of bounty hunter Alamo Joe Rogan, who would have been more at home in a Western than he would have been a military base. His recurring role on that of Dynasty was that of a mobster's henchman. Although he is best known for playing military men, then, Lance LeGault could play a good deal more.

The New British Invasion of American Television

British television shows are certainly no stranger to American television. It was in 1955 that The Adventures of Robin Hood made its debut on CBS and became the first real hit of British origin on American shores. The Sixties may well have been the heyday for British programmes airing on American television. During the decade such British series as The Avengers, Danger Man (under the title Secret Agent), The Saint, and many others aired on the American broadcast networks. Sadly, the late Sixties would see a decline in the number of British shows airing on American television. The American commercial broadcast networks stopped buying British shows, so that those British programmes that did come to the United States either did so through PBS or syndication.

While many of these shows would develop large followings, British television shows remained very much a niche market in the United States for the next several decades. For all that Monty Python's Flying Circus, Are You Being Served and Red Dwarf may have had devoted followings, they were still hardly part of mainstream American television.  It was a rare thing when a British show, such as Upstairs, Downstairs, would capture the attention of the United States as a nation. In the past several years, however, this appears to have changed. Much as The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Avengers were in their day, it can now be said that there are British television shows that are part of mainstream American television, even if they do not air on the commercial broadcast networks.

One of these shows is actually rather old and was a mainstay of British television for literally decades. Doctor Who debuted in November 1963 and would remain on the air until 1989. The show first came to American television in 1972, failing to create much interest. It was in 1978 that Doctor Who became a regular on PBS for years. Sadly, the BBC would cancel the programme in 1989 and efforts to revive it (such as the 1996 television movie) failed. Fortunately, in 2005 Doctor Who was successfully revived and has remained on the air since. In the United States it has aired on BBC America, where it has proven to be its most popular programme. Indeed, its debut earlier this month drew 1.6 million viewers, which is small compared to most broadcast network series, but very good for a series airing on a cable channel in the United States. If there is any doubt that Doctor Who, long a favourite of American sci-fi fans and Anglophiles, has become a part of mainstream American television, the fact that it appeared on the 25 July 2012 issue of Entertainment Weekly should dispel that.

Another mainstay of British television has also become something of a mainstream success in the United States. The original version of Top Gear debuted in 1977.  The original series would come to an end in 2001, only to be revived in 2002. It has been running ever since. The new version of Top Gear debuted on BBC America in 2007, where it has become one of the cable channel's most popular shows. The show has been popular enough to inspire home grown versions in Australia, Korea, Russia, and even the United States. While an American version airs on the History Channel, it is the original British version of the show that remains the most popular. On the surface it would appear unlikely that a British automotive show as well known for its controversies as its discussions about cars would have mainstream success in the United States, but it appears to have done exactly that. The long running news magazine 60 Minutes did a profile of the series, and it has been covered by such American publications as Time. 

Both Doctor Who and Top Gear are older programmes, but a fairly recent British show has also seen a good deal of mainstream success. Indeed, Downton Abbey may have seen more success in the United States than either Doctor Who or Top Gear.  Downton Abbey debuted on ITV on  26 September 2010. It made its American debut on PBS' series Masterpiece on 9 January 2011.  Downton Abbey delivered very good ratings for PBS upon its American debut, and in the months that followed its run on PBS it gathered more and more viewers through the internet and DVD release. When its second series aired on Masterpiece in January and February it performed even better, with an average of 5.4 million viewers, making it more watched than some lower rated shows on the commercial networks. In fact, Downton Abbey would accomplish something no programme on PBS ever had before it--it came in second to the Super Bowl in ratings for the night of 5 February 2012. Downton Abbey received coverage in American newspapers, magazines, and television news programmes in a way that few British television shows have before. Even if one could argue that Doctor Who and Top Gear have not seen mainstream success in the United States, it would be very difficult to argue that Downton Abbey has not.

Downton Abbey would not be the only British show that has recently proven to be a hit on PBS. Sherlock, which updated Sherlock Holmes to the 21st Century, debuted on BBC One on 25 July 2010. The series made its American debut on Masterpiece on PBS on 24 October 2010. Its first series received fairly good ratings in the United States, but like Downton Abbey its Stateside following would grow after its initial run in America. When the second series debuted on Masterpiece on 6 May 2012, it garnered 3.2 million viewers. In other words, it actually performed better than such hit cable series as Mad Men and Breaking Bad. It has been covered in such newspapers as The Chicago Sun-Times and such magazines as Entertainment Weekly. If that were not enough to prove Sherlock as a mainstream success in the United States, many suspect that the new CBS series Elementary (also dealing with Sherlock Holmes in modern times, although it is set in the United States rather than Britain) was inspired by the success Sherlock, although CBS denies this.

While these are the most successful recent British shows airing in the United States, those that have broken into the mainstream, there are yet other British shows that have developed followings in the U.S. in recent years. The supernatural drama Being Human proved to be popular on BBC America and even has an American counterpart that airs on Sy-Fy. While Gordon Ramsay has had hit series made here in the United States, his British series continue to be popular on BBC America. Although not as wildly popular as Doctor Who, the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood continues to have a following here in the United States. Its last series aired on the premium channel Starz. It proved popular enough that Starz would consider another Torchwood series provided producer Russell T. Davies has the time.

As to why British TV series would return to prominence in the United States for the first time since the Sixties, the reasons are probably many. Primary among these is simply the fact that for the past many decades PBS has relied on British imports  for Masterpiece and Mystery, while its local stations have relied on British shows to fill their schedules. Series ranging from Cadfael to Jeeves and Wooster have aired on Masterpiece and Mystery. At the same time local PBS stations aired many British shows over the years, including Monty Python's Flying Circus, Are You Being Served, All Creatures Great and Small, Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, Keeping Up Appearances, Doc Martin, and many others. In combination with the British shows that had aired on the American commercial networks in the Fifties and Sixties, many of which would continue to be popular in syndication, the British programmes that aired on PBS would create an audience in the United States for British programming.

Another reason that British shows would gain mainstream popularity in the United States would be the expansion and increasing specialisation of cable television from the Seventies to the Nineties. Starting in the mid-Seventies, cable television expanded rapidly in the United States, resulting in the creation of several cable channels, such as TBS and the USA Network. By the Eighties cable channels started to become much more specialised. A&E originally centred on arts and entertainment, while MTV originally aired only music videos and other musically oriented programming. The creation of specialised cable channels in the United States has continued to this day. With specialisation emerging in cable channels in the United States, it was inevitable that a cable channel specialising in British programming would arise. It was then on 29 March 1998 that the British Broadcasting Corporation launched BBC America. BBC America not only aired programmes made for the BBC, but also shows from other British broadcasters, such as ITV and Channel 4. Like PBS, BBC America played a large role in creating an audience for British programming.

Of course, BBC America would not be the only cable channel to air British programmes. In the days when A&E was still devoted to arts and entertainment, it aired many shows of British origin. Some of these were shows that had aired on the commercial networks in the Sixties, such as The Avengers. Others, such as Inspector Morse and Midsomer Murders, had originally aired in the United States on PBS. Still others, such as Hornblower and The Scarlet Pimpernel, made their debut on A&E. Like PBS and BBC America, A&E did its part in creating an audience for British television.

Another reason that British programming has once again come to prominence nay be that for much of the time since the Seventies the American commercial broadcast networks have demonstrated little variety in their programming since the Seventies. For most of those decades the American commercial broadcast networks appear to have been content to continually air the same old things. This has been no different in the Naughts and the Teens than it was before. While the past decade did see cycles towards police procedurals, reality shows, and talent competition shows, it also saw yet more medical dramas, standard police dramas, sitcoms, and, even though they have a massive failure rate, legal dramas. It is notable that the most successful British shows in the Untied States tend to be of the sort of genres that  have been rarely seen on American television: science fiction (Doctor Who), mystery (Sherlock), Edwardian period pieces (Downton Abbey), and so on. The sameness of the programming on the American commercial broadcast networks may also explain the success of such cable shows as Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and Breaking Bad. Viewers bored with the shows on the American broadcast networks might tune in to shows elsewhere, some of which might just happen to be British.

It is difficult to determine whether British programmes will continue to see mainstream success here in the United States. In the Sixties, when The Adventures of Robin Hood was still in reruns and shows such as The Avengers and The Saint were airing on the commercial broadcast networks, it must have seemed like British shows would remain a prominent part of American programming. Sadly, by the early Seventies they could only be found on PBS and in syndication. Despite the success of Downton Abbey and Doctor Who, then, it could be that in several years one might hear little of British shows in the United States beyond PBS and BBC America. With any luck this will not be the case, and we continue to see British programmes prove to be hits here in the United States.

Dorothy McGuire R.I.P.

Dorothy McGuire of the singing group The McGuire Sisters, died 7 September 2012 at the age of 84. The McGuire Sisters were one of the last bastions of standard American pop before rock 'n' roll took over, with a string of hits from 1954 to 1964.

Dorothy McGuire was born  13 February 1928 in Middlestown, Ohio.  Her father was a steel worker, while her mother was a pastor at a local church. Dorothy McGuire and her sisters sang at the church. While modern, secular music was banned in the household, the McGuire Sisters would listen to it in secret. It was in 1950 that agent and band leader Karl Taylor visited their mother's church and heard the McGuire Sisters sing. He made them an offer that they could work for him if they ever want to sing popular music. It was then a month later that the McGuire Sisters made their debut with Karl Taylor's band at a hotel in Dayton, Ohio.


The year 1952 would prove to be a pivotal one for the McGuire Sisters. That year they appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. That same year they signed with Coral Records. They would have their first major hit, "Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite," in 1954. It went to #7 on the Billboard singles chart. The McGuire Sisters would follow it with several more hits, including  "Sincerely (which went to #1 on the singles chart in 1955), "Something's Gotta Give," "He," "Sugartime," and "May You Always." The McGuire Sisters also appeared frequently on television in the Fifties and Sixties, appearing on such shows as The Jackie Gleason Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Steve Allen Plymouth Show, The Garry Moore Show, Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall, The Arthur Godfrey Show, The Hollywood Palace, and The Dean Martin Comedy Hour.

As the Fifties progressed and  rock 'n' roll began to dominate the charts, The McGuire Sisters would find hits fewer and farther between. Their last top forty hit would be in 1959. It was  fittingly called  Just For Old Time's Sake." In 1968 The McGuire Sisters retired as a group. While Dorothy and Christine McGuire retired to spend time with their families, Phyllis McGuire continued to perform for a time as a solo act. The McGuire Sisters reunited as a singing act in 1986. They continued to play the night club circuit until the mid-Naughts.

I cannot say that I was ever a huge fan of The McGuire Sisters. Indeed, to this day I still think of "Sugartime," perhaps their biggest hit,  as "old people's music." That having been said, even as a child I liked a good number of their songs. To their version of "Sincerely" remains the definitive version. I have also always enjoyed their renditions of "Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite" and "Goodnight My Love." What made The McGuire Sisters so listenable was that they had rather good voices and a gift for being able to sing in three part harmony. They could have easily been a low rent version of The Andrew Sisters (and they were sometimes accused of imitating them), but they did a very fine job of differentiating themselves. While The Andrew Sisters excelled at lively, swing and jump blues songs, The McGuire Sisters area of expertise was slower paced love songs. While their career faded with the advent of rock and roll, the group's songs will be remembered for a long time to come.

Letterboxd

It would seem that since social networking sites emerged in the Naughts they have become increasingly specialised. An example of this is the web site Letterboxd. Letterboxd is essentially a social network for film buffs. The site takes it name from the means of preserving the aspect ratio of widescreen films on a standard television screen.  Essentially the site is meant for people to share what films they have been watching and what they think of those films.

While Letterboxd is meant to be a social network, for me the primary attraction of the site is not particularly social at all. One can keep a diary of the films one has watched. I have found this feature particularly enjoyable. It is interesting to look back at the films one has watched over the last several months, to determine if there are any patterns in what one has been watching (Do they belong to a particular genre? Do they belong to a particular era?). While perhaps I should not speak for other Letterboxd users, if they are like me it is the feature they enjoy the most.

I suspect the other feature that will appeal to film buffs is the ability to rate and review films. One can rate movies anywhere from one to five stars, as well as provide reviews of those movies. There are appears to be no real limit on the length of reviews. They can be only a few words to several paragraphs. As might be expected, reading the reviews of others can be interesting and even illuminating with regards to various motion pictures.

In addition to being able to keep a diary of the films one has watched and being able to rate and review films, one can also make lists of films at Letterboxd. For example, I created a list of British rock musicals. List can vary greatly. I've seen lists of everything from alien invasion movies to the greatest Westerns of all time. Lists can be particularly useful if one wants to start watching movies in a particular genre (let's say "Thrillers"). All one has to do is find a list of the greatest thrillers of all time and start watching movies.

Of course, Letterboxd is a social network. Like Twitter one can follow other users, see what movies they are watching and what one thinks of them. This can be useful in learning what films one might want to watch. If one of your friends gives a particular movie a good review, one might then be more inclined to check it out.

Now there is a downside of Letterboxd. It relies on The Movie Database for its film entries. For those who don't know what The Movie Database is, it is a database of films not unlike IMDB. The problem is that The Movie Database (or TMBD as it is also called) is not nearly as comprehensive as IMDB, which means that one might actually have to add lesser known films. Now I expected that I would have to do this with Gonks Go Beat, a 1965 British rock musical based around gonks, a toy that was a bit of a fad in the United Kingdom in the mid-Sixties. I did not think I would have to add Bank Holiday (1938), a Carol Reed film starring Margaret Lockwood that is hardly obscure, yet I did.

Regardless, Letterboxd is an enjoyable site for anyone interested in films. While it is not a web site one will necessarily find himself or herself spending hours upon, it is certainly interesting to visit for minutes at a time. And it is also a  great way to keep track of the movies one has watched in the past several months.