Classic Primetime Miniseries - Trashy or Classy?

[j swift]

There was something special in the era of monoculture when a miniseries would debut during sweeps.  Even as a kid, you had to watch them because it interrupted the regular schedule.  And since we've touched on the various productions in other threads, I thought it deserved its own topic.

Miniseries tended to fall into two categories, prestige and trashy.  I can still hear ABC's bombastic voice of prime-time announce that 'and now, a 6-hour adaptation of a classic novel for television' over three nights.  As well as the scintillating CBS ads for epic romance novels now made for television.

On the trashy side (I hate the term guilty pleasure), I recall getting completely sucked into a re-run of Lace the Miniseries (aka Which one of you bi-a-tches is my mother?)  It was New Year's Eve, and we had plans to go to a party, but as we got dressed we started watching.  Then, we looked at the clock, four hours had passed, I was missing a sock, and it was almost midnight!  I also enjoyed Mistral's Daughter and Scruples, although there was a lot of sexual assault in both.  I was never a fan of Lucky or Hollywood Wives (although I still rock out to the theme song).  And I would watch any of the Dominick Dunne adaptations again, including The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (Ann Margret was brilliant)_, People Like Us (Connie Sellecca's best work), An Inconvenient Woman (best death by bee ever), and A Season in Purgatory.

On the classy side, I was a big fan of a little seen miniseries called Family Pictures with Anjelica Huston and Sam Neil because I adored that book.  I also really liked I Claudius.  But, I never got into Winds of War or War and Remembrance.  And I while I'm glad that I watched them, I was never a fan of Shōgun or The Thornbirds.

What are your favorites, or least favorites, and were they classy or trashy? 

Note: Classy and Trashy and purely subjective and may not reflect the consensus.

However, I feel like we should abide by the Wiki definition for a miniseries,"a television program in several parts that is shown on consecutive days or weeks for a short period"

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by j swift

[China Jones]

I was pretty young at the time, but I remember enjoying Rich Man, Poor Man...

[Khan]

I miss the golden era of network TV miniseries.  They were like mini-soaps, but with more money for location shoots, lol.

One that made a big impression on me as a child, though, was "Judith Krantz's I'll Take Manhattan," starring Valerie Bertinelli.  I watched it again years ago, and it struck me how the first part, written by Sherman Yellen, was almost like a period drama; while the second, written by Diana Gould, was just straight-up '80's trash.

Of course, there's a cameo from a certain ex-president who shall remain nameless, but it was a different era, one where most of the country was clueless about him.

Edited December 4, 2023 by Khan

[kalbir]

I loved those big 1980s miniseries based on best-selling novels. It's too bad the broadcast networks don't make miniseries anymore. Lifetime movie adaptations of best-selling novels don't have that same feeling as the network ones BITD.

Edited December 4, 2023 by kalbir

[j swift]

In the classy domain, I forgot to mention the seminal miniseries Roots.  I was transfixed, and we talked about the episodes every day in school.  In fact, as part of the marketing, ABC sent discussion guides to schools.  Looking back, it really walked a fine line between historical drama and soap.  And, given the later controversy about how much of the original book was fictionalized, there were many elements that seemed overly melodramatic, when the actual events would probably have been just as powerful.

I also really enjoy the Jane Seymore version of East of Eden.  Unlike the James Dean film, TV allowed them the time to tell most of the saga.  And that book reads like a soap in some ways due to the multigenerational aspects and cliffhangers throughout.  Although, one assumes John Steinbeck scholars wouldn't want to be associated with James Stenbeck fans.  

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Amongst the trashy, I would be remiss if I didn't mention V the miniseries,.  As well as the trifecta of Love in a Cold Climate, Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story and Little Gloria... Happy at Last.  Because who doesn't love a story about the trials and tribulations of the upper crust?

Others that I didn't care for include the entire North & South saga, which felt like a Gone with the Wind rip off.   And NBC historical miniseries like Christopher Columbus and Peter the Great.

Edited December 4, 2023 by j swift

[Soaplovers]

1980s:

Windmills of the Gods, Masters of the Game, and Rage of Angels were pretty good Sidney Sheldon mini-series in the 80s.  They were a nice mix of trashy and classy.

For classy, I would say 'I know my first name is Steven' and 'Baby M' were pretty good.. and both so tragic.  

1990s:

Stephen King had some great mini series: It, The Stand, and the Tommy Knockers.  A good good mix of trashy and classy.

'A woman named Jackie' and 'The Odyssey' were pretty good and classy.

 

[Xanthe]

I don't recall watching any of the dramatic miniseries, classy or trashy. But I did watch Fresno, the miniseries parody of nighttime soaps, starring Carol Burnett and Gregory Harrison. 

[China Jones]

"Centennial" was excellent and "Captains and the Kings" was pretty good too.

[All My Shadows]

Flash forward to Spring 2022, when a smear campaign was launched in my community by a bunch of bored, unhappy, miserable fraus because I'd been showing the first part of the 2016 edition of Roots to facilitate discussion for my unit on the Atlantic slave trade. Thankfully, the entire community of people who actually know me showed up and showed out in my support, but SHEESH.

It never bothered me that there were fictionalized parts. Maybe it's because I grew up 20 years after it originally aired, but I always considered it historical fiction - the characters and their stories weren't real, but they just as well could have been because the circumstances were painfully real.

My big three when it comes to the trashy/fun mini-series are Hollywood Wives, Bare Essence, and Scruples. I became entranced with them when the WE network would regularly air "Monday Minis" in the early 2000s. IIRC, they'd show a part each Monday with a repeat on Saturday or Sunday mornings. Truly divine!!

I also enjoyed Sins and Deceptions but haven't watched them in years. Never was TOO big on Lace, but you can't not love the "btches" line, especially with Phoebe Cates's hideous French accent. There are some others I vaguely remember watching on one of the various Encore channels. Celebrity, Rage of Angels, etc.

[Paul Raven]

In the late 70's through the 80's mini series were in their prime and pretty much ratings winners. But networks got greedy and started scheduling way too many and they lost their unique standing.

The first out and out flop was ABC's Nov  1979 sweeps 'The French Atlantic Affair'

Part 1 on Thursday 22 share  was demolished by CBS showing a movie special 'Silver Streak'  40 share.

Pt 2 had a 17 share up against 2hr Dallas 50 share and Pt 3 on Sunday improved to a 25 share.

They admitted it had been rushed to air  and there was talk that it was the beginning of the genre losing its luster but there were many hits to come before that happened.

Edited December 4, 2023 by Paul Raven

[Contessa Donatella]

Recently in another thread it was discussed. I think I was the one person who liked it.

I love the form. So I have a long list. i don't consider any of them trashy. And I never felt watching them was a "guilty pleasure."

Shogun, The Thorn Birds, Lace, Bare Essence, North & South, The Stand, It, The Shining, Rose Red, Holocaust, V, My Name Is Steven, Battlestar Galactica, Angels in America, Dune, Children of Dune, Tin Man, Neverland, The Andromeda Strain, Brideshead Revisited, Prime Suspect, Tales of the City, Tipping the Velvet, Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect, 

[j swift]

I hadn't considered the entire subcategory of historical drama.  I assume the vast sagas made for multiple episodes.  However, there were trashy ones as well.  Does anyone remember John Jakes's The Bastard and The Rebels when Andrew Stevens ran around in contemporary hair but period costume?

I feel like you could always tell the trashy history from the classy by the lighting.  The classy ones were always dark and gray, and the trashy ones were brighter with candle lamps that could somehow light up an entire room.

[Khan]

It never bothered me either, @All My Shadows.  Even when I was in junior high, and my history teacher showed our class the miniseries, I knew "Roots" was, at best, partly fictionalized.  I hadn't read the book yet, nor had I heard all about the issues over its' veracity, but I reasoned that whatever anecdotal evidence Alex Haley had uncovered had to have been relayed to him second- or third-hand, and was likely embellished.  Besides, it wasn't as if Kunta Kinte, his descendants or any of the other slaves on the Harvey plantation were allowed to keep daily, detailed journals, so who the heck knows all that went down back then or how?

What was important to me, then and now, was the message behind the storytelling.  If any of the events that were depicted in the book or the miniseries were not real, or if they did not occur as described, or in the exact same order, it almost didn't matter.  What mattered was what both Haley's book and the subsequent miniseries had to say about the history of enslavement in this country.  Period.

Edited December 4, 2023 by Khan

[Khan]

I agree.  You'd think Lifetime, with their TV movies that verge on being exploitational, would know how to produce miniseries that were in the spirit of those made during the '70's and '80's, but it's almost like they want to play it safe.

I confess, as hard as I am on soaps whenever they're being trashy, I much prefer the "trashy" miniseries over the "classy" ones.  After all, the "trashy" ones aren't trying to win awards; they just want to tell a good story.

[Contessa Donatella]

I didn't even think about the historical dramas. I loved Centennial & also Captains & Kings. I was a sucker for the whole John Jakes series.