Masterpiece Theater, Open

[Jantv81]

My how times have changed. My parents enjoyed Upstairs Downstairs.. personally I hated that show.. Times change, great television shouldn't. Thanks to PBS and Allistair Cooke.

[keithsmove]

prob the most-known theme intro to any televison show in history.....

[Grdankl]

@keithsmove its definitely up there with Jeopardy and The Simpsons

[brookechapple12345]

this video sucks!!!

[DetroitLove4U]

Is it tea time yet??

[bleuxyeux]

I've loved this theme since I was little. I used to wish I had a big chair,too, just like the one Alistair Cooke sat in.

[careyeOhkey]

I miss this "Classic" theme on PBS.  :(

[laminage]

I am telling you, MP has done such brilliant interpretations of Books. My personal favorite was Pride & Prejudice with Jane Austen.

[Jantv81]

@MNsportsguru they did, they just missed PBS, instead they watched crappy cable television.

[FastWalkToFresno]

They never should have gotten rid of this as the opening theme. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[aGWARfan]

BRITISH PRIDE!

[frankd1965]

@aGWARfan been a fan since 1971. I also like the British comedies on PBS

[soulsurvivor2001]

Allistair MOTHER-FUCKIN' Cooke baby!

[Loofur2010]

hahahahaHAHhaAHAHAH legend

[Mestinon]

this is such a wonderful piece! I love mouret-rondeau. anyone have any ideae where I can obtain this version! this is my fav version and I cant find a cd any where. just the cd of organs and stuff.

[Mestinon]

this is such a wonderful piece! I love mouret-rondeau. anyone have any ideae where I can obtain this version! this is my fav version and I cant find a cd any where. just the cd of organs and stuff.

[clintonearlwalker]

A nasty story I just seen on the net:

Alistair Cooke died of cancer at age 95 in March 2004. He wanted to be cremated, and harbored a horror of being cut open. His daughter, a pastor in Vermont, said district attorney's investigators contacted her recently to say they had discovered forged papers, allegedly signed by Cooke's family, allowing his bones and tissue to be removed. Investigators said they had evidence his body parts had been implanted in patients but declined to provide details.

[soulgirl66]

I miss this version of the "MT" opening theme. The new version is absolutely AWFUL!!

[potatoegirl31]

Aaaaahhhh, the loverly stuffy side of British culturah! I enjoyed it, though, haven't seen this since 5th grade

[ConwaysCorpse]

G Unit is better than this trash. I'd rather felch vomit out of a dirty hippo's anus than listen to this dribble.

[EinsDaVinGaliDar]

@ConwaysCorpse What the fuck is your problem? You can't compare this to G Unit.

[wggwagg17]

@ConwaysCorpse LOL! I would pay good money to watch you "felch vomit out of a dirty hippo's anus". Will you please oblige us with video of you doing exactly that?

[epa316]

my mom insisted on watching this shit.. hearing this takes me straight back to the 80's

[CAgrenadier]

You are one of the many accounts that have bad language. If you continue to post comments similar to this one, your account can be banned or removed. This is just a warning. Please don't reply as i will not read it.

Regards, the Youtube team.

[epa316]

@CAgrenadier Go ahead and try it, you're not "Youtube team." just another troll.

[quakeroats0316]

whoa i actually got chills hearing this it brought back so many childhood memories i miss the 90s

[frankd1965]

still running after almost 40 years

[tall32guy]

@frankd1965 Wow! I knew it had been running for a long time but not that long! Nice! :)

[FREEASTHESTARS]

omgggg this was what I was looking for!! the best version everr!! this brings back soo many memories- this was in the good old days the newest version is weird

[thegreatactor]

Could they got back to this!

you here me Easton at PBS???

[Ian16545]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe WOSU-TV/34 in Columbus, OH (my hometown station) once used this music for their Soviet telecasts back in the day- sometime around the late 80's.

[ADHDfox]

love this theme such a nice music

[cubsrule2040]

what's the name of this piece?

[ADHDfox]

I belive its by Handel but I don't know what's the name of the piece.

[CAgrenadier]

This song is called "Rondeau".

[CAgrenadier]

This piece is called "Rondeau"

[BadBoysX3]

rondeau

[ajayjain318]

@ADHDfox I'm playing it in my middle school orchestra! We have a concert tomorrow and I play the cello. By the way, the song is Rondeau

[ajayjain318]

@ADHDfox I'm playing it in my middle school orchestra! We have a concert tomorrow and I play the cello. By the way, the song is Rondeau

[ADHDfox]

@ajayjain318 Thats great I am glad your concert went well :) 

[The1CamBo]

This is a good show. I know because I too am good.

[catchersmitt0]

we can tell. you didn't need to spell it out.

[The1CamBo]

Good.

[adventuregirl76]

Sooo high falutin...funny

[Pansy1980]

I remember this. I used to watch it with my mom!

[countpanda]

omg i did too :)

[radiohead322]

bahaha. me too

[moogle301]

man, such a copy of the sesame street version..

:P

[05309193]

It is, It looks just like the SS version, and just so you know that 1992 was also Alistair Cooke's final year of hosting the show that year, and I think the Intro premeried in 1991 as a tie-in to it's spoof on SS, and can you upload the 1991 Monsterpiece Theater intro on Sesame Street please?

[moogle301]

Its on youtube.. or at least thats how I know of masterpiece theatre so it must be! (I mean i remember watching some episodes as a youngster but i don't remember the intro)

[BuddyBoy600alt]

I wonder. Was there a Masterpiece Theater intro with a Union Jack Flag in place of the "P"? When I first saw Monsterpiece Theater, It had a Union Jack flag on the "P."

[BuddyBoy600alt]

BTW, Another skit Sesame Street spoofed was "Mysterious Theater." It was a spoof of "Mystery Theater" with Vincent Price. It was hosted by Vincent Twice.

[thedab101]

HAHAHAHA

Good Evening, Me Allistar Cookie. hahaha

[hawaiidispenser]

@thedab101 Funny! But that highlights one of the flaws of Sesame Street that researchers found, namely the writers wanting to be clever in their humor, which adults loved, but little kids usually didn't get.

[thedab101]

@hawaiidispenser Not sure I'd call it a flaw. When Sesame Street was in its development, it was precisely the kind of thing they built - a program that could also entertain the parents AND the children. I think the logic was to have parents participate in education of their children, but giving them a reason to watch. Definitely not a flaw - and if we can laugh at Sesame Street years later, then it worked.

[hawaiidispenser]

@thedab101 That's fair. If it got the parents to watch with kids, then that's better than just having the kids watch all alone. I was just quoting the book "Outliers" which referenced studies that found that kids stopped paying attention whenever a show had something that confused them, including grown up humor.