MASTERPIECE Studio Wins Two 2024 Signal Awards

I woke up this morning and remembered that the Signal Awards were set to name their 2024 winners today.

I'm always a little wary when it comes to awards or recognition (I find it beyond stressful to be singled out or, you know, judged) but I was thrilled to learn that MASTERPIECE Studio took home two awards this year, winning both the Signal Award Gold medal and Listeners’ Choice award for Best Host — that’s me! — in the Individual Episode category for my interview with Helena Bonham Carter.

Many, many thanks to my incredible team, which includes producer Jack Pombriant, editor Robyn Bissette, sound designer Elisheba Ittoop, my executive producer Susanne Simpson, and the entire team at MASTERPIECE for their unwavering support and encouragement as we approach the 300 episode mark for MASTERPIECE Studio.

This is a project that is a labor of love for all involved and I count myself so, so lucky that my job — even after all of these years and in so many different permutations — still involves watching television and interviewing the people (including the aforementioned Helena) in front of and behind the camera who bring these stories to life.

This industry has changed so much since I first started working in it 20 years ago and I feel so so lucky to continue to be supported by GBH and MASTERPIECE as I continue to do what I love: close reading television shows and offering critical insight and analysis. I cannot thank you enough, Susanne, for taking a chance on this — and me — nine years ago!

MASTERPIECE Studio Named 2024 Signal Awards Finalist for Best Host

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I woke up to a text from my producer telling me that MASTERPIECE Studio was named a Signal Award finalist for Best Host — that’s me!

We’re competing in the Individual Episode category for my interview with Helena Bonham Carter from earlier this year, discussing not only her spellbinding work in Nolly but the breadth of her career in an intimate and moving conversation.

While the podcast — and I guess, me — are currently in contention to be awarded a Gold, Silver, or Bronze award from the Signal Award judges, voting on the Signal Listener’s Choice Award is open until October 17. So help me take home a win for MASTERPIECE!

MASTERPIECE Studio Named 2024 Webby Award Nominee (and Honoree)

I woke up this morning not only to sunny skies (a rarity here in my new hometown of Portland, Oregon) but also to learn that MASTERPIECE Studio was nominated for a Webby Award for Best Film/TV Podcast — alongside entries for podcasts from Netflix (The Crown), HBO (The Last of Us), and Max (And Just Like That…) — for our Endeavour: The Story So Far episode, which was a Herculean endeavor (heh) in which I recapped eight seasons of the MASTERPIECE Mystery! drama Endeavour in under an hour. The lengthy script for that episode was written by me and my producer, Jack Pombriant — and it was so much fun to dive into the show’s plot and evoke the atmosphere of 1960s Oxford, which would seem to be the murder capital of Britain, based on the number of bodies that Morse keeps tripping over.

While judging is under way by the Webbys’ illustrious panel, you can vote for MASTERPIECE Studio to win the People’s Voice Award at this link until April 18, 2024.

Elsewhere at the 2024 Webby Awards, MASTERPIECE Studio was also named an honoree in the Interview/Talk Show category for our Sanditon finale interviews with series leads Rose Williams and Crystal Clarke.

Entertainment Weekly: "The Best Apple TV+ Shows to Watch Right Now"

Over at Entertainment Weekly, you can check out my recent piece on the best shows to watch right now on streaming service Apple TV+, which I think is putting out some of the very best content in this current era of the streaming wars. Shows mentioned include Slow Horses (above), Panchinko, The Afterparty, Ted Lasso, and a bunch of others.

You can check out the full list here.

Making MASTERPIECE Is a Webby Award Honoree

I’m absolutely thrilled that Making MASTERPIECE, my three-episode audio documentary about the 50-year history of MASTERPIECE (fka Masterpiece Theatre), was today named a Webby Award Honoree for Podcast Limited Series, Entertainment.

For those of us who worked on Making MASTERPIECE, it truly was a labor of love and I am so grateful to my collaborators on this passion project, which is equal parts TV history exploration, legacy TV appreciation, and wacky anecdotes as we tell the "full story of how public media’s favorite place for the best of British drama went from crazy idea to a franchise 50 years strong."

More information on Making MASTERPIECE — which Rufus Sewell, Lily Collins, Alan Cumming, Crystal Clarke, Laura Linney, Charles Dance, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Soraya McDonald, Glenda Jackson, Derek Jacobi, and many others — can be found here on the PBS website.

Trailer: Making MASTERPIECE

Today is the 50th birthday of MASTERPIECE (formerly known as Masterpiece Theatre) — which is a huge accomplishment for a media brand, especially a drama anthology series on public television that airs British drama series.

To celebrate this occasion, I’ve been working on an audio documentary called Making MASTERPIECE, which will examine five decades of MASTERPIECE history in three episodes and talk to the many people in front of and behind the camera about the development of this series and its legacy.

There’s a brand-new video trailer below that announces the audio documentary (below) and the launch date for the first episode: February 28. I’ve been working on this project in one form or another since July 2019 and I am beyond thrilled that it will finally be released in just a few weeks. Plus, this trailer is just amazing.

Here’s a full description for Making MASTERPIECE:

Making MASTERPIECE is the full story of how public media's favorite place for the best of British drama went from crazy idea to a franchise 50 years strong. Hosted by MASTERPIECE Studio host Jace Lacob, the three-part documentary miniseries features the inside scoop on everything from Downton Abbey to Upstairs, Downstairs, and everything in between. Featuring exclusive interviews with MASTERPIECE favorites like Rufus Sewell, Lily Collins, Alan Cumming, Laura Linney, Charles Dance and many more, Making MASTERPIECE launches February 28, 2021. Making MASTERPIECE will appear in the MASTERPIECE Studio podcast feed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Televisionary], An Archive

Back in 2006, I founded a television blog called Televisionary. At the time, it was a little side-project that I stared while working in television development: something to do during the off-hours or (my infrequent) down-time or at my desk during my lunch breaks.

Over the next few years, Televisionary morphed into a full-time job as I watched almost everything on television and cataloged my thoughts, penning reviews, conducting interviews with talent, breaking news, and aggregating the day’s entertainment news headlines and major listings every morning. It got noticed by Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and CNN, Deadline and Variety.

Televisionary took on a life of its own. It became discussed in Hollywood and I was always surprised to discover that actors or producers or executives who read my TV blog. It was a secret at first, one that I eventually shared with a few friends before spreading outwards, thanks to the advent of social media. Eventually, Televisionary led me to opportunities with The Los Angeles Times and then The Daily Beast (and a bit later into a joint venture with Newsweek) — where I would serve as television critic and later West Coast Deputy Bureau Chief — and eventually to BuzzFeed, where my title was Entertainment Editorial Director.

15 years ago, I had no idea where this blog would take me or the adventures that I would have along the way. The simple act of sitting in front of a computer screen and writing down my thoughts about television led me to some amazing interviews and opportunities. But it all started with an idea.

This is an archive of all of those Televisionary posts during those years — the prolific years, the quiet years, the years where I was experimenting, the years where people were listening and where my words had an effect, the years where I was excited to jump out of bed at 5:30 a.m. and write before work, and the years where it was all I had professionally. This is a record of those times. A different time on the Internet and a different time for me, as a writer, a person, and a human being.

Enjoy.

In The Works: Making MASTERPIECE

As announced today at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour (held virtually this year), I will be hosting a new documentary podcast for WGBH/MASTERPIECE, called Making MASTERPIECE, in honor of MASTERPIECE (formerly known as Masterpiece Theatre) celebrating half a century in existence.

Here’s what the press release had to say:

“MASTERPIECE will be celebrating with a special, multi-part documentary podcast, “Making MASTERPIECE.” Complete with exclusive interviews from longtime Executive-Producer-at-Large Rebecca Eaton and MASTERPIECE talent such as Rufus Sewell, Lily Collins and more, the “Making MASTERPIECE” podcast tells the remarkable story of how a scrappy group of public media producers in the 1970s created a vibrant and longstanding cultural touchstone.

Hosted by Webby Award-winning MASTERPIECE Studio podcast host Jace Lacob, “Making MASTERPIECE” will debut in early 2021.”

I’m so, so excited for this project.

The idea for this multi-part audio documentary came into being over a year ago and I’ve been working on Making MASTERPIECE during these strange stay-at-home orders since March. We’ll be exploring the 50-year existence of MASTERPIECE, exploring the rich history of the cultural touchstone by talking to the tastemakers, actors, executives, producers, writers, and people who brought the drama anthology to life and kept it afloat over the last half-century. Along the way, we’ll share some stories from behind the scenes, delve into some dark times for the brand, and look towards the future to see what lies ahead for MASTERPIECE.

Making MASTERPIECE will launch in early 2021.

Alan Cumming on How to Watch My Podcast

MASTERPIECE Mystery! host Alan Cumming recorded this truly adorable and informative video instructing viewers on how to listen to the MASTERPIECE Studio podcast.

I love Alan’s wry delivery of the introductions to MASTERPIECE Mystery! so this is a dream come true.

You can watch the video in full below:

MASTERPIECE Studio Wins People's Voice Award for Best Television & Film Podcast

I am beyond thrilled that MASTERPIECE Studio has taken home the People's Voice Award for Podcasts, Television & Film at the 2020 Webby Awards.

MASTERPIECE Studio is truly a passion project for all of us involved — and I feel so appreciative that we've again been recognized for the podcast, particularly against such storied competition.

When I co-created MASTERPIECE Studio — five years and more than 150 episodes ago (!) — i never imagined that we’d be where we are today. What was once an audio pilot has developed into an award-winning podcast that has to date produced 155 episodes, been downloaded more than 14 million times, and which never fails to inspire me and make me love what I get to do as a job: exploring British television, talking to writers, actors, and directors, and delving into in-depth research for these one-hour in-studio interviews. It truly is a dream gig.

MASTERPIECE Studio Nominated for Best Podcast: Television & Film by the Webby Awards

It’s 2020 and MASTERPIECE Studio has once again been nominated by the Webby Awards for Best Podcast in the Television & Film category, alongside such luminaries as Office Ladies, Vanity Fair’s Little Gold Men, Netflix’s Behind the Scenes, and HuffPost’s How to Make Friends.

Many, many thanks to the Webby Awards for the recognition again this year and a very special thanks to both MASTERPIECE and WGBH for their continued support — this is both a passion project and a group effort, and I could not make this show without our amazing team.

Thank you for listening!

Writing Life: I Wrote a Short

It’s been a busy few months in my life, particularly on the family side of things.

But I did finally sit down to write something that I’ve always wanted to try my hand at: a short film script.

It’s something that I was initially fearful of doing: short scripts are by nature, well, short. They can be challenging for that very reason — how do you tell a complete story in a very limited amount of time?

Writing this short was a pleasure, not only because those limitations become opportunities. Opportunities to lean heavily on atmosphere and tone, on tension, and payoffs.

As for what the script is about? As always, I’m (rather fittingly) short on details, but I’ll offer the following logline:

VERMILION (short)

In Vermilion, Ohio — a small town on a great lake — a grieving mother must confront her darkest fear.

MASTERPIECE Studio Named Webby Award Honoree

Beyond thrilled to wake up this morning to learn that MASTERPIECE Studio was named an Honoree in the Television & Film Podcast category of the 2019 Webby Awards.

Against some serious competition this year, I’m really pleased with the recognition. A huge, celebratory thank you to the Webby Award judges and to our incredible, supportive, and devoted listeners.

CONNECTION Named Semi-Finalist in ScreenCraft's Pilot Launch

As we wrap up 2018, I’m thrilled to announce that my drama pilot script CONNECTION has been named a semi-finalist in ScreenCraft’s 2018 Pilot Launch competition, selected out of more than 2500 submissions.

A full list of the semi-finalists can be found at the ScreenCraft site.

CONNECTION Named Quarter-Finalist in 2018 ScreenCraft Pilot Launch

It’s been a while since I’ve had any contest-related news as I had wrapped up my contest submissions a few months back.

This was the final contest I entered in 2018 and so I’m v. happy that CONNECTION was named a quarter-finalist thus far in the 2018 edition of ScreenCraft’s annual Pilot Launch competition, out of more than 2500 entries.

A full list of the quarter-finalists can be found at the ScreenCraft site…

My JESSICA Jones Spec Made the Second Round in the Austin Film Fest!

In a bit of exciting contest news, my super-creepy Jessica Jones spec script — AKA White Rabbit — made the second round at the Austin Film Fest. (And, no, I'm not kidding: this thing is super-duper creepy as hell.)

I'm thrilled the script is being recognized by the Austin Film Festival, and by the lovely handwritten note that accompanied the news that discussed the strengths of the script.

What I'm Watching: "Crazy, Rich Asians"

I loved every single second of Crazy Rich Asians. (Even though I insist that there ought to be a comma between "crazy" and "rich.")

Crazy Rich Asians is a romantic comedy that perfectly captures a world, a style, and a tone. But it's also a genuine cultural watershed moment that managed to be fun, romantic, and thrilling to watch. I’m in love.

Run, don't walk, to see it.

CONNECTION Named Quarter-Finalist in 2018 PAGE Awards

Lately, I've been winding down my screenwriting contest entries for a variety of reasons (which I hope to discuss in a blog post one of these days), but I still have a few final contests for which I'm awaiting results.

One of those is the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, one of the most prestigious screenwriting contests around, which I entered earlier this year.

I'm thrilled that my drama pilot script CONNECTION was selected as a quarter-finalist in this year's competition, ranking within the top 10 percent of all contest entries, of which there were an astounding 6,560 entries this year. (WHAT.) 

(It's also my 26th screenwriting contest placement!)

To put that in perspective, Jennifer Berg, PAGE's Administrative Director, wrote, "Over 150 scripts advanced in the Drama category, over 120 scripts advanced in the Comedy category, approximately 100 scripts advanced in the Thriller/Horror and TV Drama categories, and between 50 and 80 scripts have advanced in each of the other categories — all adding up to a total of 876 Quarter-Finalists this year."

A full list of quarter-finalists can be found at the PAGE Awards site here.

What I'm Watching: "GLOW" Season 2

After deliberately dragging my feet in order to actually enjoy the show rather than race through it (thank you, binge viewing!), I finished Season 2 of Netflix's GLOW the other night and can’t stop thinking about that final scene on the bus, which body slammed me right in the heart.

Despite my undying love for Season 1, GLOW broke that dreaded sophomore season curse to deliver a second go-around that was a perfect season of television, one that pushed its characters forward in intriguing and unexpected ways and deepened the supporting players considerably. (Tammé, I love you.)

Add in a timely #MeToo parallel, an AIDS subplot, the culmination of that Ruth/Debbie rivalry, the simmering of the Ruth/Sam dynamic, and one of the best uses of Yaz's "Only You" — not to mention the amazing Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling promo that Ruth directed in the shopping mall and that astonishing eighth episode that I wanted to live in forever and ever — and you have the makings of a pitch-perfect season that I never wanted to end.

The wait for Season 3 is going to be painful, Netflix.

Writing Life: On Change and Changing...

It's time to get honest about my writing journey...

Oh, my kingdom for a staff writer gig. (I kid. Sort of.)

I wish I’d tried to make this move a decade ago. Trying to change careers and move from writing about television to actually writing television feels 10,000 times harder when you’re 40 years old and a parent to a small child.

But there is a joy that comes from screenwriting, from breaking stories, from living in it.

Journeys are never straight lines between two points. They twist and turn, often into unexpected detours. There are more pitfalls than shortcuts, or breakdowns so severe that it seems the end is in sight. You pick yourself up, brush off the dust, apply salve, and keep going.

And that's what I'm doing.