Day: January 30, 2022

After changes and scrambles, “Sanditon” returns

Even before “Sanditon” reached America two years ago, PBS had a dilemma.
Like virtually everything on “Masterpiece Theatre,” this was a global project, with a British network paying more and getting it first. And that network had already decided not to do a second season.
“We knew that (it) had been canceled before it even aired on ‘Masterpiece,’” Susanne Simpsons, the “Masterpiece” producer, said in a Television Critics Association virtual press conference.
The new season (shown here) finally returns March 20, but she was taking a chance: If there never was a second year, characters would have been left hanging; viewers would have been bitter. Since this is based on a novel that Jane Austen had barely started before her death in 1817, they couldn’t check a book to see how it ends. Read more…

Best-bets for Feb. 1: One Fox show scores, another vanishes

1) “The Resident” return, 8 p.m., Fox. After a seven-week break, here’s a big hour, complete with three potent stories. Two had started previously – Dr. Bell’s secret ailment and Dr. Austin’s mother’s cancer. Now a third has a personal link for Conrad. There’s more — Devon’s clinical trial, a new doctor (shown here with Conrad) with an elusive past – in a packed hour. Despite a few excesses, it’s well-crafted and moving. Read more…