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Les Miserables to get modern retelling in BBC series
South China Morning Post ^ | 12/29/18 | Etan Smallman

Posted on 12/29/2018 5:54:25 PM PST by Simon Green

Edited on 12/29/2018 6:08:36 PM PST by Jim Robinson. [history]

If you were adapting a story that has already been turned into a colossus of a stage musical and a triple-Oscar-winning Hollywood film, you might be expected to be slightly overawed by the task.

The actors and producers of the latest iteration of Les Miserables – a six-part BBC take on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel – are suitably diplomatic about the stage show seen by 70 million people in 51 countries, giving verdicts that range from “perfectly good” to “brilliant”.


TOPICS: Books/Literature; TV/Movies; Travel
KEYWORDS: bbc; europeanunion; homosexualagenda; lesmiserables; liberalmedia; unitedkingdom; victorhugo
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To: Olog-hai

I have an old radio show epic, of about six episodes, of that novel. It is an Orson Welles production. I thought it was great.


41 posted on 12/30/2018 7:44:15 AM PST by odawg
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To: Simon Green; Gamecock; SaveFerris; FredZarguna; PROCON; Army Air Corps; KC_Lion; Yaelle

Even Alton Benes got into it.


42 posted on 12/30/2018 7:50:03 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: SunkenCiv

Oh sorry...I was tired and that just went over my head.


43 posted on 12/30/2018 12:00:35 PM PST by nopardons
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To: SunkenCiv

:^)


44 posted on 12/30/2018 12:00:54 PM PST by nopardons
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To: wally_bert
Yes, he was and seeing him, on stage, LIVE, instead of on film or T.V., was a real treat !

NEVER THE TWAIN was good, TWO'S COMPANY was as well.

45 posted on 12/30/2018 12:06:45 PM PST by nopardons
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To: nopardons

Happy Days on Tuesday. L and S on Tuesday’s then Thursdays then Mondays and back to Tuesdays,


46 posted on 12/30/2018 12:28:34 PM PST by morphing libertarian (Use Comey's Report; Indict Hillary now; build Kate's wall. --- Proud Smelly Walmart Deplorable)
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To: Simon Green

“After publication, Victor Hugo wrote that his story was intended to be read “in every place where man is ignorant and despairing, in every place where woman is sold for bread, wherever the child suffers for lack of the book which should instruct him and of the hearth which should warm him”.”

So...it has no point in modern America. Can’t remember the last time I sold a woman for bread or saw a child sleeping on a cold street because no one would help.

Now, a novel about people who work hard but have to give & give to a rapacious government who hands part of it over to the ungrateful & self-entitled poor...THAT might be appropriate.


47 posted on 12/30/2018 12:32:17 PM PST by Mr Rogers (Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools)
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To: SoCal Pubbie
Well, the conversation about Brit T.V. began with a discussion of MASTERPIECE THEATRE and how now much of it is either NOT memorable/any good, compared to what it once was. Which I still stand by!

ENDEAVOR is very good and I do enjoy it. OTOH...Midsummer Murders is VERY old ( just look at the dates of the shows at the end of them, not to mention how many of them have actors and actresses who are long DEAD!

George gently was a very short series and OLD!

Okay, I do REALLY like GRANCHESTER, but it hardly compares with the likes of THE LORD PETER WIMSEY, POIROT, Jeremy Brett SHERLOCK HOLMES, CAMPION, MISS MARPLE,INSPECTOR MORSE, BROTHER CADFEL, TOMMY AND TUPPENCE,PRIME SUSPECT ( and on and on and on and on ) mystery series.

MISS FISHER is also old and yes, an Aussie one.

There is NOTHING worth a damn on American T.V. and hasn't been for an extremely long time.

And now, what with Brits mumbling and/or not a patch on the older actresses and actors, lousy scripts, filming stuff in almost total darkness, and worst of ALL...THE CRUSHINGLY HORRID PC CRAP...Brit shows are becoming unwatchable as well.

48 posted on 12/30/2018 12:46:30 PM PST by nopardons
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To: morphing libertarian

So what? The point ( which you either ignored, or didn’t understand at all )was, that those shows were NOT on on Sunday nights!


49 posted on 12/30/2018 12:48:40 PM PST by nopardons
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To: nopardons

the point is you don’t know what your talking about. And you don’t understand your simple character flaw. Now, let’s not fall in love and double the length of this thread. I know you ignore the obvious. I may stumble across your next mistakes and I want to stay objective, despite my feelings about you.


50 posted on 12/30/2018 12:53:13 PM PST by morphing libertarian (Use Comey's Report; Indict Hillary now; build Kate's wall. --- Proud Smelly Walmart Deplorable)
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To: Rummyfan
Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert are homosexual lovers?!

Of course not. Read the article, carefully.

51 posted on 12/30/2018 12:54:28 PM PST by x
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To: nopardons

I know some of those were old, but some are new to me. I also liked Selfridge when it was on. I wouldn’t say there’s nothing on American TV worth watching. Almost nothing. There are a few good shows.


52 posted on 12/30/2018 12:59:17 PM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: Simon Green
Trump voters will be the villains and liberal elites will be the heroes... Oh, and some 'writer' or 'artists' will be slipped in as a gentle 'god like' creature.

The Bishop and his candlesticks will be dumped because liberals hate religion - so the candlesticks will belong to some Hollywood liberal type... again 'the writer' or 'artist'. The young girl will be Hispanic and the evil Inspector Javert will wear an ICE badge.

In short the whole story will be a lie and will get poor ratings and be forgotten quickly.

53 posted on 12/30/2018 1:08:11 PM PST by GOPJ (DC Swamp critters can't sell influence or American blood in the Middle East. Thanks President Trump)
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To: Mr Rogers
Trump voters will be the villains and liberal elites will be the heroes... Oh, and some 'writer' or 'artists' will be slipped in as a gentle 'god like' creature.

The Bishop and his candlesticks will be dumped because liberals hate religion - so the candlesticks will belong to some Hollywood liberal type... again 'the writer' or 'artist'. The young girl will be Hispanic and the evil Inspector Javert will wear an ICE badge.

In short the whole story will be a lie and will get poor ratings and be forgotten quickly.

54 posted on 12/30/2018 1:09:43 PM PST by GOPJ (DC Swamp critters can't sell influence or American blood in the Middle East. Thanks President Trump)
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To: SoCal Pubbie
Well, we disagree and mightily so re MR. SELFRIDGE; it was NOT well done and Jeremy Piven sucked!

I have a question for you, which will help me understand your postings better...how long have you been watching the Brit and Aussie shows on PBS?

To help YOU understand my point of view...I've been watching it since it began and before that, it's NYC precursor on PBS.

Once in a rare while, STARZ has a decent show. HBO? Not on a very long time. So I am at a loss as to what you think are "good" American shows.

55 posted on 12/30/2018 1:18:14 PM PST by nopardons
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To: morphing libertarian
Nope, the for REAL point is: YOU FOLLOW ME AROUND AND DISAGREE WITH EVERYTHING I POST, NO MATTER THE TOPIC!

You aren't and have NEVER been "objective" and your projection complex has now reached the terminal stage...seek much needed help, ASAP!

56 posted on 12/30/2018 1:21:03 PM PST by nopardons
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To: nopardons

I watched the original run of Upstairs Downstairs on PHS in 1971, when I was 13 years old. Does that pass your lowbrow detector test?

I already told you what current American shows I thought were worth watching. I really don’t care if you approve of them or not.


57 posted on 12/30/2018 2:24:24 PM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: SoCal Pubbie
You misunderstand why I asked you how long you had been watching PBS, utterly and completely. Perhaps it was my fault for not explaining, in detail, WHY I asked that of you. So here goes....

In order to make a comparison of something/s, it is helpful to know just how large or small the quantity of said group is. If, perchance, someone has only been watching the drama, comedy, and mystery shows on PBS, for say the past 10 or 15 years, compared with the knowledge of said programs, of someone who has been watching them, continually, since 1971, they will have different views, because of the disparity of knowledge of all of the shows.

Taste also enters into this, as well as the ages of the people, and a few other things such as knowledge about what makes the acting, scripts, directing, etc. good or bad.

The first showing, in America, on PBS, of UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS was January 6, 1974.

Though my book on MASTERPIECE THEATRE doesn't list it ( so sorry, I don't know what the date was, but I'm guessing, based on what they claim was the very first show date was, was that it was late in the year of 1969 ), the first show was THE FORSYTH SAGA which was in black & white. The first series, in my book and which followed was THE FIRST CHURCHILLS, which began airing on January 10, 1971.

OTOH...MYSTERY and the showing of BRIT COMS came much later; almost 10 years later for MYSTERY.

But yes, excluding one early on series, that I didn't much care for ( UXB ), I have been a faithful viewer ( though not as much recently, because I 1) refuse to watch some dumb remake [ POLDARK ] 2) the uncalled for zillionth remake [ LITTLE WOMEN ] of something I've seen every other version of ) of every single other show of the above Brit programs, as well as two Aussie one and on from New Zealand...presently.

This has NOTHING at all about "low" nor "high" brow anything and I hope that you understand that now.

Did you miss a LOT of terrific early shows? Yes, sadly you did. But at least you have seen a lot of the other GREAT ones, if you have been faithfully watching MASTERPIECE THEATRE since UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS.

Since not ALL shows have been/are shown on every PBS station, a lot of what one has seen depends greatly on where one lived/lives and which PBS station is viewed. Case in point was a series called "TENKO". It was fantastic; however, it was NOT shown in Chicago, but was shown on the PBS station in a neighboring state, which we were lucky enough to also get. And the same is true vis-a-vis ( now through cable ) the NYC tri-state area, which sadly, does NOT include WLIW...the Long Island PBS channel, so we had an ariel put up so that I could see something NOT shown in NYC nor Ct.!

As far as American T.V., this breaks down to a matter of taste and our's differ. And I just remembered that there is one that I do watch...VIKINGS, which I think is great, but which obviously doesn't appeal to you, as it wasn't on your list.

58 posted on 12/30/2018 3:06:27 PM PST by nopardons
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To: nopardons
You're correct, I checked Upstairs Downstairs on IMBD and it gave the original British air date of 1971. So I was 16 when I first saw it, though I can hardly remember it. I was 7 when Secret Agent aired, 8 when they started showing The Avengers here, 9 when The Saint with Roger Moore debuted on US television, 10 when The Prisoner came on as a summer show. I was 19 when I, Claudius aired in 1977. I didn't miss any of those. Of course I was in high school and college during most of that later time, with more to do than watch a lot of TV.

I'm not a faithful watcher of anything unless it appeals to me. I saw much of the Poirot series with David Suchet, a few episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Indian Summers, Taboo, The Tudors, Rome, Merlin, Inspector Lewis, Houdini and Doyle, we're waiting for more Victoria and Doc Martin, and we're watching Jamestown. I even suffered through that silly thing called The Royals. Hell, I used to watch Monty Python, Faulty Towers, and Benny Hill!

I never saw the popularity of Dr Who, watched one episode of Game of Thrones and it was just too much fantasy, thought Luther was preposterous, and refuse to watch a Sherlock Holmes series set in modern times. So the Brits have their clunkers too.

As for American network TV, there have been recent shows worth watching. Usually if it's good it gets canceled. By any objective measure (production values, writing, acting, etc.) shows like Vegas with Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis, Blue Bloods, Chicago Fire, and This Is Us are good drama shows, though the later isn't my cup of tea, Timeless was enjoyable fantasy/SiFi, Manifest is interesting, Mr Robot was too offbeat but not trash, Gotham is a good comic book adaptation, The Rookie isn't bad, Castle was light but fun, I liked The Last Ship but it ran out of gas, Turn was good period drama, Modern Family and The Goldbergs are pretty funny comedies. Empire is soap opera and targets a fairly narrow audience but it's okay. I'm sure there are other good ones I'm overlooking or never watched.

Then there's cable shows like The Sopranos, Deadwood (Got tired of the cuss words), Get Shorty, Knightfall, Boardwalk Empire, etc.

Most of the rest of American TV is useless.

59 posted on 12/30/2018 4:42:54 PM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: nopardons

I’m interested in giving Viking a shot, but it looked too much like Northmen 90210, which Game of Thrones also suffers from.


60 posted on 12/30/2018 4:53:59 PM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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