[Editor's note: The new Anne of Green Gables adaptation just finished its CBC run in Canada before its Netflix release, and the results there were underwhelming. Read why Anne's country of origin might have been protective of (and more wistful for) the 1985 CBC original...]

Its CBC run over, Anne of Green Gables premiered Friday in nearly 100 million homes outside of Canada on Netflix.

It’s been renamed Anne with an E on the streaming service; presumably “E” stands for Export.

There are a lot of talented people behind it. The cast is stellar, especially leads Geraldine James as Marilla Cuthbert, R.H. Thomson as brother Matthew and Irish actress Amybeth McNulty (with James, top) as spunky young heroine Anne. Niki Caro (Whale Rider) brings her stark sensibility to the first two episodes as director. Vancouver native Moira Walley-Beckett, who shone as a writer on Breaking Bad, pushes Lucy Maud Montgomery’s narrative in a much darker direction.

Still, a lot of Canadians looked the other way. I suspect some felt as I did, that Kevin Sullivan’s mid-’80s opus Anne of Green Gables got things just right, and remaking this, even 32 year later, was akin to re-doing Casablanca or Citizen Kane. There are a lot of kindred spirits out there, loathe to betray our Anne.

That sounds dumb but I think it was a factor in Anne falling below expectations, ratings-wise, when it aired on CBC. Sometimes good reviews and promotion are not enough. You can’t blame an audience for having favorites.

No episode broke a million viewers (although the opener came close) and some sank around 600,000. Given the enormous promotional push and the Sunday night showcase, as well as the cherished property, that was surprising. It’s one reason CBC hasn’t ordered a second season yet, although that will likely be addressed before CBC’s upfront in Toronto May 25.

Most Canadian critics praised the adaptation and admired the performances as well as the modern spin. Promoting it as from the writer behind Breaking Bad, however, may have backfired. The overlooked fact about many of today’s most critically-praised dark dramas is that they draw a very small, if discerning audience. They aren’t always a great model for broadcasters.

CBC never built a bridge, either, for original Anne viewers to cross. Chatter about the public network’s all-time ratings winner was MIA in the lead-up to Anne and Megan Follows, done now with Reign, seemed whisked away by the witness protection program.

There would have been an easy fix to all of this: cast Follows as Marilla.

It worked for Patty Duke, who won an Emmy playing another Annie, Sullivan, in The Miracle Worker in 1979, 27 years after winning an Oscar for playing Helen Keller in the 1962 feature.

When I asked Walley-Beckett at the Netflix round table press conference in New York Wednesday if anyone had thought to cast Megan Follows as Marilla she looked at me like I had two heads.

“I – I don’t even know how to answer that,” she said.

So she didn’t. Certainly Walley-Beckett and everyone connected to this new Anne were entitled to make their own creative choices and impose their own vision of this classic Canadian story. CBC had to know, however, that the record number of viewers who grew up with and embraced Kevin Sullivan’s misty-eyed, romantic Anne might need to be led back to this story by a familiar face.

Now, perhaps somebody did suggest this, and perhaps Follows (as Anne, 1985, right) wanted nothing to do with it. But had Follows or Sullivan been seen or heard saying, “give this new kid a try,” I’d bet a bag of PEI potatoes that more kindred spirits would have sampled the opener at least.

Some American reviewers, including Sarah Larson in The New Yorker (“How Not to Adapt ‘Anne of Green Gables’"), have already taken Walley-Beckett to task for turning Green Gables into Grim Gables. Vanity Fair has also weighed in, pointing out exactly why Sullivan’s original is such a hard act to follow.

It hasn’t helped, of course, that a second new Anne is already a PBS import or that broadcast TV has been fragmented to bits on Sunday nights. That’s part of the nostalgia surrounding Sullivan’s Anne; it was a simpler time for viewers as well as for carrot-haired heroines.

Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)

Name (required)

Email (required) (will not be published)


Type in the verification word shown on the image.

Page: 1 of 1 | Go to page:

3 Comments

confetti canon

It captures the essence of eerie charm, transporting readers to a world of mystery and suspense. With its dark twists and sinister secrets, this novel promises a thrilling journey through shadowy corridors and haunted halls. Prepare for an unforgettable adventure into the depths of darkness.

Mar 24, 2024 | Reply

Mark Wright Fool Me Once Premier Coat

Thank you for posting such a great article! I found your website perfect for my needs. It contains wonderful and helpful posts. Keep up the good work!. Thank you for this wonderful Article!

Jan 10, 2024 | Reply

jaeseu

Great work, lucky to find this amazing post.
How I wish I can also write like this very well written and organized.
Can you check mine? Click this

?? ???
?? ???
?? ?? ???
?? ?? ????
??? ?? ???
https://www.j9korea.com

Jan 19, 2023 | Reply

Page: 1 of 1 | Go to page:

New From TVWW

PBS' 'Frontline’ Examines Pension Promises and — Spoiler Alert — Finds the Math Doesn’t Add Up

The Decadence of ‘Versailles’ Comes to Ovation

Prescribing Mamie Gummer in 'Emily Owens, M.D.'

Looking for a Free Ride? HBO Can Deliver

'Pass the Biscuits' Part of the Hatfield-McCoy Pop-Culture Legacy

1957: Julie Andrews Stars in 'Cinderella'

Dispatches From TVWW

'Extinction: The Facts' is a Sobering Call to Action

How 'Mayans' Has Been Influenced by the Show's Creator Elgin James

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Take on Ernest Hemingway, the Man and the Myth

In the Final Season, Sutton Foster's Liza is Now the Genuine Version of Her 'Younger' Self

Season 2 of 'City on a Hill' Returns with Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, and Boston Corruption