Merlin will make history - guardian.co.uk article
According to The Guardian Merlin will make history this month!
BBC drama Merlin to air on NBC
First British drama shown on a mainstream US network for more than 30 years
* Leigh Holmwood
* guardian.co.uk, Saturday 6 June 2009
The BBC1 drama series about the mythical wizard Merlin will make history this month when it becomes the first British drama to air on one of America's main television networks since The New Avengers more than 30 years ago.
The new telling of the Arthurian legend, starring newcomer Colin Morgan and featuring John Hurt as the voice of the Great Dragon, will air on NBC in a prime 8pm slot on Sundays from 21 June.
The network, home to shows including the US version of The Office and Heroes, will screen the series as part of a summer lineup that has a distinct British feel - currently airing is the American version of ITV's reality hit I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, while The Great American Road Trip, a new travel show from the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, will air in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, a fourth series of America's Got Talent, based on the UK format, kicks off on 23 June, hoping to pull in big numbers off the back of the huge coverage stateside of Britain's Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle.
The NBC schedule is being spearheaded by the Anglophile co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, Ben Silverman, who recently brought in a Briton, former BBC Worldwide executive Paul Telegdy, to head up the network's reality programming.
Silverman, a colourful and sometimes controversial figure who spent several years in London as a talent agent in the 1990s, helped bring British formats such as The Office, Survivor and Who Wants to be a Millionaire to US screens.
In February, he sold his production company Reveille to Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert, and her London-based production company Shine for a reported $200m. Shine also happens to be the producer of Merlin.
"I have always had an interest in the global production business and UK production, and I have a particular affinity and connection with British TV," he told the Observer. "The UK is one of the most creative platforms in the world. It really does have a brilliant output creatively across everything from fashion to literature, to entertainment and theatre and ideas.
"I hired a Brit, Paul Telegdy, to work with us in some of these arenas and look at UK TV. I really like a lot of the people who work in British TV and I have tremendous relationships with people in the UK market. It is a great partnership."
The dominance of British content on NBC this summer is just the latest boost for British firms in the US. Just last month, it was confirmed that Waterloo Road producer Shed Media would make Jerry Seinfeld's forthcoming new show for NBC, The Marriage Ref.
However, the snapping up of Merlin is being seen as a key milestone. While British dramas, including Spooks and Doctor Who, have previously found American homes on cable channels such as BBC America and Sci Fi, it is almost unheard of for one of the big four US terrestrial networks to buy a UK series off the shelf, the last time being in 1978 when CBS broadcast The New Avengers.
Silverman said that while Merlin - which has been licensed to 180 countries worldwide, including Australia, New Zealand, France and Italy - was a "unique" case, he was open to other British shows.
"Merlin is a very global popular character who is English, like Harry Potter," he said. "There was a gap in the market and no one was making these shows. It is a little bit of an experiment for us. Let's see what happens. We are hoping it can get a big young audience."
David Ellender, the chief executive of FremantleMedia Enterprises, which distributes Merlin internationally, said the purchase of the drama was just the latest "acknowledgement from the American creative community that we are making exciting programming in the UK".
"We have exciting talent both in front of and behind the camera," he said. "American broadcasters are looking to the UK for some creative ideas."
NBC, once the biggest US network with hits such as Friends and ER, is currently struggling in fourth place and is making radical moves to shore up its position and cut costs, such as moving late night talkshow host Jay Leno to a new nightly 10pm show - a slot traditionally filled with expensive scripted shows.
Silverman admitted that picking up British shows and formats was also a way of getting "better value".
As well as Merlin, NBC also recently commissioned British production company Power to make 13-part series Crusoe, based on the classic novel by Daniel Defoe, while its newly acquired British production company Carnival Films, maker of Hotel Babylon, is currently producing a new drama for the network in London, The Philanthropist.
British content also comes in handy for a new ratings battleground - the summer. Traditionally, the season was a quieter period of low ratings and repeats, but the growing challenge from cable channels has meant the networks have had to up their game with more original, but still cheap, content while saving their big guns for autumn.
Nellie Andreeva, the television editor of trade journal The Hollywood Reporter, said the networks were looking increasingly towards Canada and Britain for this.
"NBC has been really aggressive in this area," she said. "The networks are trying to have original offerings during the summer and use these shows when it is a low rating period.
"Merlin was something they didn't spend a lot of money on and expectations for summer are pretty low, but if it does any numbers it will be a success."
Ellender added: "Everybody is looking at the current model for programme creation, with ad revenues not there as much as they were in previous years. People are looking for a slightly different economic model."
But he warned: "The American market is tough. It is very unusual that a finished drama plays on an American network and it a calculated risk that NBC are taking. They are trying to do something new. They know it is a quality production. I just hope it delivers."
ETA: Just found THIS THREAD [ETA2: link doesn't work any longer] at the zip.4chan.org forum (a message board for mainly Japanese anime, manga and culture) where they talk about this article and it's quite annoying to read these people's opinions about Merlin! :o And even more annoying as I see many pics (Soccer Six, London Expo, fanart) from LJ's posted there. D:
For example this: Terrible tv show, in all fields, ugly sets, terrible cgi, uncharismatic and bad cast, ugly lead role, rape of great legends...
SHUT UP, YOU STUPID GIT! :(