Poirot...

For as long as I can remember, I've found great comfort in Classic Films and British Telly. Comfort that has gotten me through some of the hardest of times. Now, I don't fancy just any British telly. Mostly Classic Britcom's from the 70's, 80's and early 90's, and British Mysteries. You can imaging, then, the excitement I felt when finding out a couple of years ago that the powers that be, were creating more Poirot episodes! ITV aired "Cat Among the Pigeons" , "Third Girl" and "Mrs. McGinty's Dead" in September of 2008. I simply could not wait to get them here in the states! I was so incredibly excited! Back in the day, when A&E was worth a damn, we used to get tons of British Mysteries throughout the month, including old and new Poirot's. But then, as all the other channels starting airing "Reality Television", and less and less quality material, A&E, in order to compete, I suppose, cut their "Mysteries to Die For", thus leaving the British Mysteries strictly to PBS. Much to my dismay, however, PBS' Mystery!, was soon cut from the roster, and eventually incorporated into Masterpiece Theater. Gone were the days of Edward Gorey and Diana Rigg. Gone were my Thursday night escapes into "Inspector Morse", "Sherlock Holmes", "Miss Marple", "Lord Peter Wimsey", and "Poirot" (to name a few). When Exxon pulled it's funding of Masterpiece Theater, it too suffered. Everything had to be scaled down, and there simply wasn't enough money to buy the rights to many British television series. Many Sunday nights were spent watching re-runs of shows aired the season before. Now, Masterpiece Theater is broken up into three parts: Classic, Mystery! and Contemporary. Masterpiece Classic's are aired in the winter and spring. Masterpiece Mystery's are aired in the summer. And, Contemporary's are aired in the fall. Last summer we were promised the new Poirot's and the new Miss Marple's, starring Julia McKenzie. However, unfortunately this did not come to pass. After many letters and e-mails to the Program Director of Masterpiece, we were told that they would air the new Mysteries in the summer of 2009. I have now waited two years for the fruition of my Agatha Christie Mysteries!!! And, at last on June 21, 2009, at 8:00 pm CST, PBS' Masterpiece Mystery! will air Agatha Christie's : "Poirot: Cat Among the Pigeons". To the loyal fans, "our little grey cells" will finally be given the chance to flourish. To those of you who have not yet experienced the joys of Christie, brew a cuppa tea, turn off the lights, grab a cuddly blanket and dig in on June 21. You will not be disappointed, mon ami!