SCREENS

hiatus (although the show’s official website makes it sound fairly permanent), while InContext.tv Where My Ladies At? will become a series of occasional specials BY BELINDA ACOSTA focusing on the local arts community. A couple of readers had something to say Daytime soap operas are another genre I’m Programs unaffected by the cost-cutting about last week’s “TV Eye,” “And Then There not fond of, yet reader Natalie Nicola of Austin tv measures include Texas Monthly Talks Was Maude,” about the passing of actress Bea thinks I’m missing some good women there, and Central Texas Gardener. Arthur. Specifically, they took issue with my particularly in TV’s longest running series, eye Austin-based Latino-music lover lament that middle-aged women were hard to (CBS): and former ME Television veejay Paul find on the small screen and those that are out “[Guiding Light is] slated to be canceled just Saucido is returning to TV – ME TV – there are not quite cutting it. as they are featuring a captivating same-sex love but only for a limited time. After the strug- One reader offered this important addendum: story between a very Catholic Latina widow gling TV station bid Saucido farewell in a mass “I believe you forgot one of the most promi- and her fiancé’s much-married ex-girlfriend. layoff, Saucido went online, posting interviews, nent women’s roles on broadcast television in the This being soap-land, there is a lot of melo- reviews, raves, and rants about what’s new past decade; namely, Helen Mirren as Detective drama and soapy silliness, but the focus on the When “TV Eye” complained last week that there and cool in the Latino music scene. Because Chief Inspector Jane Tennyson on the PBS series storyline is this previously straight woman’s weren’t enough strong roles for middle-aged May is Latino Music Month, ME TV asked him Prime Suspect. Surely, as prolific and ground- acceptance of her love for another woman while women on TV, readers wrote in support of the to return to create 3- to 4-minute segments breaking as Bea Arthur was in the role of Maude, remaining a practicing Catholic. Naturally there women of daytime TV and PBS’ (now-canceled) on what’s happening where to play through- Mirren achieved new heights in her role.” was an emotional interruption [at a] wedding Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren (above). out the month. Saucido will film interviews Oh, snap! Of course! Mirren starred for seven with artists, such as local singer-songwriter when the bride fled the altar to declare her love Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, and occasionally seasons as the tenacious Inspector Tennyson in Myrna Cabello about her upcoming show at to her maid of honor. Did I mention that the Desperate Housewives. the BBC production, which was first brought to the Long Center, along with sit-downs with mayor of this soap-land burg is a snarky clos- Thanks to those readers who weighed in on U.S. audiences in 1992 on PBS (an encore of the higher profile artists such as Ozomatli. The eted lesbian called Doris Wolfe?” the subject. final season aired in 2008). Credited with recon- I have a friend who suggests, like Nicola, segments appear hourly, and as Latino Music stituting the crime drama, the series featured that if you want to see interesting and com- KLRU Lays Off Staff, Month progresses, Saucido says there may be Mirren as a brilliant but imperfect aging woman pelling women and difficult social issues a chance to do some actual programming. ME working in a male-dominated field, doing her tackled for the first time, you need to turn to Paul Saucido Back on ME TV TV airs on Time Warner Cable Channel 15. best to keep her dignity and her sanity intact. the soaps. While the storyline Nicola shares The sour economy forced local PBS affiliate For those without Time Warner, check out I confess that I have never seen Prime Suspect sounds compelling, my tolerance for “soapy KLRU to lay off 12 staff members on May 5, Saucido online at www.saucidoslant.blogspot.com. in its entirety. It’s one of those series I have on silliness” waned many years ago. No, I pre- as well as make several programming changes. And finally, you can now follow “TV Eye” my “must watch on DVD” list. And while I am fer my melodrama served toasty, not soapy, The most visible change includes suspending on Twitter at www.twitter.com/chronicletveye. not a fan of crime dramas in general, Mirren which is the only explanation I have for overnight hours, signing off from 1 to 6am. The As always, stay tuned. alone is worth dropping that prejudice. tuning in to such prime-time fare as Grey’s award-winning program Docubloggers will go on E-mail Belinda Acosta at [email protected].

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