Video: A Tough Sell for the Arts

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Not all of the channel's BBC shows were worth importing. A&E's most highly touted mini-series of the winter is Freud, a six-part bio-drama about the father of modern psychoanalysis (played by David Suchet). But the promising subject has been turned into plodding and uninspired drama, all furrowed brows and discordant cellos. Another British multiparter, The Old Men at the Zoo, adapted from Angus Wilson's satirical novel about an impending nuclear disaster, is a musty spoof of British politics and manners whose wit has not survived the transatlantic crossing.

Yet there have also been gems. One is Icebound in the Antarctic: Shackleton, a magnificent four-hour drama about the British polar explorer, starring David Schofield. Henry Shackleton was one of history's most intriguing also-rans: his first expedition to Antarctica missed being the first to reach the South Pole by just 97 miles; a later one had to be aborted when his ship became trapped in the Antarctic ice. But few dramas have told a more inspiring tale of man against nature or better conveyed the excitement of a great period of exploration. Another winning import is Solo, a wry sitcom starring the delightful Felicity Kendal as a single woman who dumps her boyfriend, quits her job and tries to start a new life.

A&E's heavy reliance on British programs is something that A&E executives hope to alleviate gradually. Says Vice President of Programming Curtis Davis: "It's vital that a network like ours has programming that speaks to an American audience in an American voice." A&E is looking to local communities and arts institutions for some of that programming. One current example is The Baltimore Funny Pages, a comedy series originally produced for a Baltimore cable channel.

All of which, of course, will be for naught if A&E cannot prove that arts on cable is a viable business. The channel charges a small fee to cable systems that carry it but hopes to earn most of its revenue from advertising. Though progress has been slow, 24 national advertisers have signed up thus far, and network executives predict that the channel will be in the black by 1986. "We have minded our knitting," says Davatzes. "We finished our first year ahead of our business plan." For the last best hope of culture on cable, that is no mean feat.