Gillian Anderson’s Masterpiece de Résistance
Gina Serpe

LOS ANGELES—PBS is hoping to turn its most iconic series into a Masterpiece de résistance. And they’re enlisting Gillian Anderson to aid in their antiquation-busting quest. After 37 years, the people’s broadcaster has unveiled plans to overhaul their staple and increasingly staid anthology series, Masterpiece Theatre, signing the erstwhile X-Files babe up to host the first of three new miniseasons when the pedigree show returns on Jan. 13. “I am a huge supporter of Masterpiece Theatre and the quality and integrity of its programming,” Anderson said. “And if my hosting the first season brings a new generation of viewers to the classics, then I’m proud to be a part of it.” Rather than the mash-up of genres the series has previously scheduled, come 2008, the show’s featured content will be divided into three separate blocks of programming: period pieces, mysteries and contemporary dramas.
The first bundle of TV movies, dubbed “Masterpiece Classic,” will be hosted by Anderson and is set to run from January through May. Anderson is no doubt already a familiar face to loyal Masterpiece Theatre viewers, having starred in its Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House back in January 2006. Anderson’s ascension to the hosting gig marks not only the first time a woman has hosted the show, but the first time anyone has since 2004, when former New York Times columnist Russell Baker stepped down from the emcee gig. Veteran journalist Alistair Cooke was the series’ inaugural host, introducing the program from 1971 until 1992.