This might provide a base: http://www.mjsimpson.co.uk/interviews/Resources/gabrie6.gif
Harry Potter and the Small Screen
- Thread starter Brainbin
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JJohnson
Banned
She is American, true. I was going for the look really. It's been over a year since I've touched a Potter book. What's Hermione's description? If it is to be British, I'd hope the actress would be a bit more adult-looking than Emma Watson (Keeley Hazell, or Lucy Pinder, says my college roommate. He thinks Emma Watson still looks 12-years-old.).
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Hermione is described as having uncontrollably bushy brown hair, slightly big teeth, and maybe even a bit homely. She's definitely not conventionally attractive, and generally spends almost no effort on her appearance. Emma Watson was actually thought by some people to be too pretty in the later movies to fit the description (Hollywood Homely in action, basically). So, I'm sorry, but somebody more like Keeley Hazell would be rather right out.
EDIT: Lucy Pinder at least has the right hair color, but absolutely the wrong look.
OK, I tried posting early this afternoon, but the computer ate my post. 
So I'll try this again:
First off, thanks a bunch. Used to be a big fan and read the first 3 books. I was introduced to it during the craze, because the school librarian read the first couple of chapters of the Sorcerer's Stone to the class. That, of course, peaked my interest.
Am I'm glad that I found some good choices in Herren Brühl and Lukas - both of them seemed to have good chemistry together in Good Bye, Lenin!.
Like I said the last time to your partner in this, that makes a lot of sense.
Looking through Wiki, it turns out that there was a dub of Doctor Who, but it was not through Radio-Canada - rather, it was through Astral Media, the owners of Z-télé (French Canada's sci-fi channel). Why that is I'm assuming is an oversight by the CBC - understandable, because traditionally Radio-Canada was autonomous in its production (which was broken with Canada: A People's History). If the CBC could get Radio-Canada on board early enough, then this could be in TTL what Canada: A People's History was OTL.
This is even more so during the 1990s, because starting in 1992 with the refresh of the CBC/Radio-Canada logo by simplifying the "gem" to look less like the "exploding pizza", the CBC is undergoing a massive promo effort and rebranding of CBC Television and Télévision de Radio-Canada to promote itself as a public broadcaster. Hence the slogan was "CBC: Public Broadcasting" in English and "Radio-Canada: Le réseau national" in French (originally "SRC: Le réseau national", but it didn't catch on with French-Canadians used to calling the station Radio-Canada) - the French slogan making a lot of sense, as Radio-Canada is the only terrestrial French-language television station broadcasting in all Canadian provinces and territories and not just in Québec only (as are most French-language TV stations). Although it got updated over time, the basics were already there and the original promo was still around, particularly in the sign-ons and sign-offs. Remember these?
Logo/Station ID: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue20vdGDgYk
Some promos from 1993: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbLK03ELuXU
Some promos from 1995: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSkgJn5fB-U
English sign-off (1): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktXLKDBdMik (from CBUT/Vancouver)
English sign-off (2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JfjNIvKKs8#t=0m59s (from CBNT/St. John's, with the "Ode to Newfoundland" after O Canada, but shows how the sign-off sequence - and, in reverse, the sign-on sequence was supposed to look, with it all blending together)
French sign-off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZUALe6wp8w (from CBFT/Montréal)
Concurrent with this is the push towards having an all-Canadian primetime lineup. Now, we know that technically HP isn't unless it's a true co-production (which in TTL looks like the case), but that can be swept under the rug thanks since the programme would qualify as CanCon, which would mean a heavy promo effort as part of the all-Canadian primetime lineup on the CBC's part. Based on that alone, a French dub would look very likely as a strengthening of this promo effort, even if Radio-Canada has always had more-or-less an all-Canadian primetime lineup but in this case more like cross-country coöperation à la Canada: A People's History, which would be an achievement unto itself.
That sounds like how the US does things!
I don't know, but I'm assuming the Parisian French dub. Here, though, since the CBC is involved, there can be a Québec French dub, even if all the actors and actresses are speaking Standard French so as to have the dub obtain international distribution.
That's good. Now comes the next question: which day of the week, and will it be immediately before The National (or Sunday Report, if on a Sunday) or starting off the primetime lineup? Now, to me, we can discount Saturday because that's the big sports day (particularly with HNIC once the hockey season starts up). The only days I could see would be either Friday (to end the work week, probably influenced by me watching PBS so I'm used to having costume dramas happen at around 8-10 pm, courtesy of Masterpiece Theatre) or Sunday (when the family's together as an end-of-week activity). That's just my observations - if you can think of something better, that's great.
You're very welcome.
Now here's another one: could this work for an opening sequence and/or a closing sequence? It's the 3rd movement of the Bradenburg Concerto No.# 4 (BWV 1049) by Johann Sebastian Bach, here recorded in 1968 with the Munich Bach Orchestra with the excellent Karl Richter as conductor. In this case, it could be adapted to a modern orchestra and rerecorded with either the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or a British orchestra, or a combo of both.
So I'll try this again:First off, thanks a bunch. Used to be a big fan and read the first 3 books. I was introduced to it during the craze, because the school librarian read the first couple of chapters of the Sorcerer's Stone to the class. That, of course, peaked my interest.
Am I'm glad that I found some good choices in Herren Brühl and Lukas - both of them seemed to have good chemistry together in Good Bye, Lenin!.
Like I said the last time to your partner in this, that makes a lot of sense.
Looking through Wiki, it turns out that there was a dub of Doctor Who, but it was not through Radio-Canada - rather, it was through Astral Media, the owners of Z-télé (French Canada's sci-fi channel). Why that is I'm assuming is an oversight by the CBC - understandable, because traditionally Radio-Canada was autonomous in its production (which was broken with Canada: A People's History). If the CBC could get Radio-Canada on board early enough, then this could be in TTL what Canada: A People's History was OTL.
This is even more so during the 1990s, because starting in 1992 with the refresh of the CBC/Radio-Canada logo by simplifying the "gem" to look less like the "exploding pizza", the CBC is undergoing a massive promo effort and rebranding of CBC Television and Télévision de Radio-Canada to promote itself as a public broadcaster. Hence the slogan was "CBC: Public Broadcasting" in English and "Radio-Canada: Le réseau national" in French (originally "SRC: Le réseau national", but it didn't catch on with French-Canadians used to calling the station Radio-Canada) - the French slogan making a lot of sense, as Radio-Canada is the only terrestrial French-language television station broadcasting in all Canadian provinces and territories and not just in Québec only (as are most French-language TV stations). Although it got updated over time, the basics were already there and the original promo was still around, particularly in the sign-ons and sign-offs. Remember these?
Logo/Station ID: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue20vdGDgYk
Some promos from 1993: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbLK03ELuXU
Some promos from 1995: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSkgJn5fB-U
English sign-off (1): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktXLKDBdMik (from CBUT/Vancouver)
English sign-off (2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JfjNIvKKs8#t=0m59s (from CBNT/St. John's, with the "Ode to Newfoundland" after O Canada, but shows how the sign-off sequence - and, in reverse, the sign-on sequence was supposed to look, with it all blending together)
French sign-off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZUALe6wp8w (from CBFT/Montréal)
Concurrent with this is the push towards having an all-Canadian primetime lineup. Now, we know that technically HP isn't unless it's a true co-production (which in TTL looks like the case), but that can be swept under the rug thanks since the programme would qualify as CanCon, which would mean a heavy promo effort as part of the all-Canadian primetime lineup on the CBC's part. Based on that alone, a French dub would look very likely as a strengthening of this promo effort, even if Radio-Canada has always had more-or-less an all-Canadian primetime lineup but in this case more like cross-country coöperation à la Canada: A People's History, which would be an achievement unto itself.
That sounds like how the US does things!
I don't know, but I'm assuming the Parisian French dub. Here, though, since the CBC is involved, there can be a Québec French dub, even if all the actors and actresses are speaking Standard French so as to have the dub obtain international distribution.
That's good. Now comes the next question: which day of the week, and will it be immediately before The National (or Sunday Report, if on a Sunday) or starting off the primetime lineup? Now, to me, we can discount Saturday because that's the big sports day (particularly with HNIC once the hockey season starts up). The only days I could see would be either Friday (to end the work week, probably influenced by me watching PBS so I'm used to having costume dramas happen at around 8-10 pm, courtesy of Masterpiece Theatre) or Sunday (when the family's together as an end-of-week activity). That's just my observations - if you can think of something better, that's great.
And there you have it! Thanks for your insightful contributions
You're very welcome.
Now here's another one: could this work for an opening sequence and/or a closing sequence? It's the 3rd movement of the Bradenburg Concerto No.# 4 (BWV 1049) by Johann Sebastian Bach, here recorded in 1968 with the Munich Bach Orchestra with the excellent Karl Richter as conductor. In this case, it could be adapted to a modern orchestra and rerecorded with either the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or a British orchestra, or a combo of both.
It is not as if I hadn't considered Daniel "Schnubbi" Brühl, he would make a very sympathetic Krum, but he does not properly suit the timeframe. Born in 1978 he is seven years older than Ianevski who played the role in the movie. Even if the TV series comes around a year earlier than OTL's movie, that would make him 25/26 during filming in 2003 (directly after Good Bye, Lenin).
Brühl still played a high-school student in 2004 in the excellent "Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken" (Love in thoughts), but his opposites were not Daniel Radcliffe (or a similiarly young child actor), but generally the cast was of his age (August Diehl, who should also be known from "Basterds" being even older).
So, these are my reasons why I didn't mention Brühl, but if there is consensus to cast him, I would not contradict it.
However, casting Brühl, who can play German officers and still come over as the nicest guy around, would cast an "un-shadow" on the whole school of Durmstrang. If any ambiguity is intended concerning the general course of that school, it is not helped with this decision.
Florian Lukas is again 5 years older than Brühl, definitely too old for a student, but IMHO still too young for the role of Karkaroff. Now here we come into a sorry problem, that is the Durmstrang school only allowing for two main roles (Krum, Karkarov) unless we assume the books to divert from OTL (or the TV-series emancipating from the source a lot). If I remember wrongly, please correct me.
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About dubbing, I think it might be interesting if I refer to the German OTL-practize here where child-actors have been cast for this task.
Tim Schwarzmaier who dubbed Daniel Radcliffe in the first two movies is even a year younger than DR and started dubbing at the age of 7. (He was replaced for HP III as his voice hadn't yet broken at the time when Radcliffe's started to do so).
Max Felder is the same age as Grint (and nowadays also the German voice of Jacob Black in Twilight).
Gabrielle Petermann is among the three the only non-thespian but only doing voicework. She is a bit older (*1987) and is also the standard voice for Selena Gomez and Tinkerbell.
No contradiction from me, Dan. I am also happy People like to discuss this aspect of the production. BTW, OTL's Movies ignored Age in a Casting decision once and the result was Great: C. Coulson As Tom Riddle.
Stolengood
Banned
Quite right on that one; still think it's a shame they never brought him back for Half-Blood Prince.
Coulson is mainly a television actor, which means he's still perfect for the part in our small-screen endeavour...
I was talking this over with my sister, and she had a suggestion for something to give a similar feel, without requiring a big name: take Gustav Holst's Jupiter, and mess about with it. Try this, starting from about 25 seconds into the original piece. There's some good themes in there that could be picked up for specific narrative elements, and the opening would have some intrigue to it. Best part: the composer's dead, so you just have to pay someone to pick it up and write based off it, which is a lot cheaper than trying to swing a Big Name like Williams for TV work.
Quite right on that one; still think it's a shame they never brought him back for Half-Blood Prince.
Coulson is mainly a television actor, which means he's still perfect for the part in our small-screen endeavour...
I absolutely agree! And I expect the Series to Be far more Elaborate on the flashbacks! IMHO the worst shortcoming of OTLs Movies.
Going into more Detail about the "1st Order" and voldy's original Rise (when He had a nose) would just Be fantastic!
On the music an interesting observation: Alexandre Desplat was not yet internationally renowned by 1999. What if by coincidence he could be won to at least lay the groundwork for the music (main themes, opening, closing)?
I prefer his music of the last movies slightly over John Williams on autopilot.
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And also at the beginning of his career was Yann Tiersen (Amelie, Good Bye Lenin). It is a bit improbable that he would be on the radar, but that would make a very quirky music, IMHO often quite fitting with Rowling's tone.
I prefer his music of the last movies slightly over John Williams on autopilot.
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And also at the beginning of his career was Yann Tiersen (Amelie, Good Bye Lenin). It is a bit improbable that he would be on the radar, but that would make a very quirky music, IMHO often quite fitting with Rowling's tone.
Ah yes - I liked his work on Good Bye, Lenin! The flying Lenin statue scene would not be the same without it.
Well, and as subsequent commentary has explained for me, I'm not so hot on Lukas - I don't really buy him as a student. But I do like Bruhl, yes.
Pottermania seems to have hit everyone thick and fast - I can buy it uniting the two linguistically disparate branches.Dan1988 said:
Ah yes, or what I like to call the most boneheaded programming decision in recorded history. For those who are unaware: the CBC, though it is a public broadcaster, does not receive dedicated licencing fees akin to the BBC, and is largely reliant on advertising revenue, like private broadcasters. Most Canadians, as you might expect, overwhelmingly prefer American programming, which is far more lavishly budgeted and diverse in its content. Effectively, they hobbled themselves in making this decision; their one consistent success in the two decades since has been Hockey Night in Canada. And CTV has been trying to poach that from them for years.Dan1988 said:
This is going to be a very desperately-needed huge hit for them. And it'll last for about a decade, too. Maybe they can splurge on keeping the HNiC theme song?
You don't air programming intended to attract audiences - especially within the valuable demographics - on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays anymore, because they're all out living their lives (or so the stereotype goes). The Adventures of Harry Potter would have to air between Monday and Thursday. I agree that - for the first couple of seasons, at least - we're going to be looking at pre-Watershed (9:00 PM), for thirty minutes plus commercials (a little over forty minutes total). I'm not sure what the CBC would do with the remaining twenty minutes in that hour - the notion of "special behind-the-scenes" featurettes has been raised, and I can see the CBC putting a CanCon spin on that.Dan1988 said:
Having used Wikipedia as a guide for my ATL network schedules for That Wacky Redhead (and other projects), I would normally suggest this page as a potential template for when we could air The Adventures of Harry Potter in Canada, but alas, it doesn't quite go back for enough for us to do so at this time.
I like it, but it sounds too "period" to serve as a Harry Potter theme. Too Masterpiece Theatre, if you willDan1988 said:
Thanks for sharing that tidbit with us, Hornla! Odd that they kept Schwarzmaier for Chamber, even though Radcliffe's voice had very obviously broken for that film.
Agree that Coulson was good in Chamber (and the notion of him being "too old" for HBP was a laugh and a half), and he would be a year younger ITTL...
Quite right on that one; still think it's a shame they never brought him back for Half-Blood Prince.
Coulson is mainly a television actor, which means he's still perfect for the part in our small-screen endeavour...
I personally think that public domain music would be a great way to go (it's what made the Looney Tunes so memorable, after all, though sadly I doubt that anyone living could match the genius for arrangement of a Carl Stalling), and though in any actual situation they would have gone for an original composition (because that's just the way things are), I do really like this piece. The section that I really like starts here, just over a minute in. You can hear the similarities to the OTL John Williams theme.
That's an intriguing possibility - and a nice, economical use of the "young Marauders generation" actors beyond their token scenes. Now, this could mean that they'll all have to be twenty-somethings, as it's easier to play younger than older (as the OTL epilogue in Deathly Hallows Part II so conclusively demonstrates - you are all aware that none of them are going to look anything like that in fifteen years?). Which reminds me - they'll probably recast for that epilogue ITTL. Any objections?
It's H-H-H-Harry, c-c-c-coming to h-h-h-hurt me!I've an idea: How about Michael Palin for Quirrell?
One point of order: before we go too far afield, consider that the likeliest candidate for the job would be someone with a history at the BBC.
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Stolengood
Banned
I figured as much, but it fits with the character, stutterer as he is. But don't forget that Palin also did phenomenal work in Brazil and GBH, so he's no stranger to serious parts. I think he might be the best candidate thus far.It's H-H-H-Harry, c-c-c-coming to h-h-h-hurt me!
I've an idea: How about Michael Palin for
Quirrell?
I think that two trappings we talked about when considering possible Quirells apply here, too:
-too famous for the first season (Palin being out of budget unless being talked into the role by grandkids/nieces/nephews)
-name to big for the character (employing Michael "Pilatus" Palin on such a minor role might giveaway the main villain-character of Quirell by itself)
Apart from that, Palin would be great. Whether as a travelogist or a comedian, a wonderful guy.
Thank you. I loved the way the books unfolded the past during the final volumes.
I also agree that the Young marauders should be played by folks in the early 20s, but different actors than those who portray them in Harry's "present". American movies got us used to older actors playing High School Students anyways.
Also, if the flashbacks have a sort of "period piece"-feel (-> à la Chamber of Secrets), we more readily accept older faces because we feel that "people looked different then"By the way: proof of the inaccuracy of the VII.2-epilogue was the critique of my mother who was not content at all.
While every earlier viewing of a Harry Potter movie (and of "Woman in Black", too) ended with the comment "I can't help it, but that Harry Potter guy again looks just like you at that age", after the last movie she said that "they didn't do it right, they just should have cast you for that scene, it would have been far more convincing".
Stolengood
Banned
Again, Palin had done GBH not even seven years before; also, just before TTL's BBC starts producing, casting, what have you, he'd done Full Circle not a year before -- he'd be available, willing to work for the Beeb, and considering how many actors IOTL jumped at the chance to work on Potter, I think he'd want to do it.
I also think, surprisingly enough, that Daniel Day-Lewis, in a moment of spontaneity, would want to get involved, too, if they approached him. He seems the kind of guy who'd keep his fee low just to be able to do something like this.
Well, if we could make it work to some degree - if not as a student, then either as an adult or as an extra to some degree.
Now, we still need to figure out some more of the main kid rôles, for sure.
I definitely agree on that.
The funny thing about that is that, if Wiki is believed, before 1952 all radio sets (and presumably any experimental TV sets as well, as 1952 is the year when CBFT/ch2, Montréal signed on for the first time) were licensed, and not so much for funding public broadcasting. After 1952, all "home-type" receivers were exempt from licensing. Now there's an easy POD waiting to be used for such a thing if one wanted to add a licence fee mechanism for the CBC or a CBC analogue.
It may or may not stop advertising from being found on the CBC, but at least it would give the CBC a dedicated funding stream.Not surprisingly so, though CBC and even CTV have had some good programmes, which with the CBC was even more evident with their all-Canadian primetime lineup as there were some decent programmes in there. The understatement here is that French-Canadians, by contrast, overwhelmingly prefer Canadian programming because most of it is home-made, so Radio-Canada - the CBC's French half, hence why the official corporate name is "Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada", or "CBC/Radio-Canada" for short - is far more likely to have huge hits than the CBC and hence retain more loyal audiences. What few non-Canadian programmes there are are largely steered towards either big-hit American programmes (far more common on TVA and TQS/V), European programmes (mainly on Télé-Québec, which is Québec's version of PBS, and on the cable channels TV5 Québec Canada, which is part-owned by the CBC, and TV5MONDE), or movies (which is all the French-Canadian terrestrial channels). So Anglophone Canadians and Francophone Canadians have long been accustomed to separate programming, so having HP air on two of the main networks in Canada - one English, one French - will be a big deal, for sure.
**laughs**
Sure, why not? Who knows, a positive reaction in Canada would definitely help vis-à-vis its showing in the US. The French dub from Radio-Canada could also air on TV5's United States feed (yes, there's a dedicated feed of TV5 just for the US).
Which is interesting, because that's kinda sorta been a practice in the US for decades now - certainly at least on PBS. (Then again, it's PBS.)
How about Thursday? Traditionally, Thursdays were when the CBC aired its arts programming.
The featurettes could work, or even alternating between those and airing more or less the same version as the BBC (with suitable breaks for the commercials). Of course, were it not for the failure that was Prime Time News, I'd have suggested a small (say, about 5 minute) news update, but that honestly wouldn't work well as Prime Time News demonstrated. So the featurettes it is (produced at the Maison de Radio-Canada so that we can get a single cross-community team working on them
).OK, so based on the 1998-1999 schedule we could place The Adventures of Harry Potter on Thursdays, still. On the CBC, it would be at 19:00 (that's 7pm to the rest of us), replacing OTL's Riverdale. At 21:00 (9pm), it could air on Radio-Canada, replacing the game show Tous pour un, which could air when Les aventures d'Harry Potter is on break (even as a New Year's tradition, akin to the "Bye Bye" specials). To emphasize the cross-community thing, the 9pm slot could be hyped up as "Missed it when it aired at 7pm? Want to watch it again? Switch to your local Radio-Canada station at 9pm!" In this case, CBC/Radio-Canada will be a heavy user of both closed captioning and SAP (secondary audio programming) to emphasize the cross-community aspect, mainly so as to make the programme accessible to both Anglophone and Francophone audiences (so in that case I could see HP be used as much of a language-learning tool as the books allegedly are). In that case, in terms of audio, the main language of the service (English for CBC Television and French for Télévision de Radio-Canada, obviously
) will be the one everyone hears, but if you switch it to SAP mode you can get the "other" language. As for closed-captioning, it would be the same way - as per FCC recommendations in the US (and which is borne out in practice by the Spanish-language stations actually implementing it, prominently Telemundo), CC1 would be for the closed captioning in the original language, whilst CC3 would be for the "other" language (CC2 would not be used due to bandwidth problems).I like it, but it sounds too "period" to serve as a Harry Potter theme. Too Masterpiece Theatre, if you will
Listening to it again, I can see why it sounds too Masterpiece Theatre.
That's probably due to the fact that in the case of that clip, it's an actual orchestra devoted to Baroque music that is playing that Bach piece. In the case of using it for a television programme, I could see it definitely rerecorded in a professional environment, using a more modern orchestra (i.e. the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and/or any of the BBC orchestras, of which in the latter case there's quite a few to choose from) and modified to include additional details to emphasize the more "magical" nature of the programme and hence make it more contemporary. Of course, it doesn't preclude having additional musical composers doing incidental/background music, which could complement this Bach movement. (A butterfly to using the OSM here, in addition to any of the BBC orchestras, is that an OSM contract with Radio-Canada for HP could help save Charles Dutoit's career there.)BTW, part of the reason why I have it later on Radio-Canada is because in the 7pm slot Radio-Canada already has a popular hit with Virginie, and I don't want to cause any problems in that case. Alternatively, Radio-Canada could either air repeats and/or previews of the Thursday episode on Wednesdays at 20:00 (8pm) and/or immediately before Le Téléjournal at 21:00 (9pm), as they seems to be open slots.
And some thoughts and a question, which has to do with the US. Now, as it stands HP would definitely be on cable TV in the US, more likely a premium movie channel, most likely HBO. Now, someone had mentioned TBS instead of HBO as the partner. That I find problematic, because at the time TBS was largely made up of reruns, Atlanta Braves games, and classic movies - in other words, your typical independent TV station schedule - and even in the late 1990s they were making the big push to comedy. A case could be made for having it on TNT, but most TNT programmes were either produced in-house or commissioned anyway (the few Canadian programmes TNT aired were largely from CTV, anyway).
That leaves two possible options - A&E and HBO. HBO, to me, would be more likely because as it's a separate subscription channel they could air the episodes as is (using the BBC feed, which fits HBO well as they do not air commercials in the middle of shows like the networks), maybe with the featurettes or not. This ties into two trends with HBO - one, its involvement with children's programming on one hand, and on the other HBO has long broadcast dramatic series, in 1997 exemplified with Oz. Having HP along with Oz and, later on, The Sopranos would give HBO a strong lineup. A&E is possible here, either instead of HBO or alongside it though with HBO having priority with first-run episodes and A&E airing reruns. A&E is interesting here as they've had a bit of a history co-producing with the BBC, and this is still whilst A&E is still "the PBS of cable TV", which in TTL would probably become more the case instead of the "channel drift" it has experienced. In this case, though, A&E would use the CBC feed as it allows for commercials and even then would slightly edit it a bit. Why is that? That's because of a little piece of legislation Clinton signed, called the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Not only was the V-Chip introduced to American households, so too were TV content ratings. Depending on your POV, in this case HP on A&E would either fall under TV-Y7-FV or TV-G in the beginning, probably towards the end being given ratings of TV-G or TV-PG. HBO could schedule HP any time it wants, but A&E I'm not sure - I'd have to see an A&E schedule from the late 1990s.
Which leaves open a question - how many episodes/seasons are necessary for a programme to go into syndication? If we scrape by with just the first three books, then that should be enough for it to be in syndication, right?
That leaves two possible options - A&E and HBO. HBO, to me, would be more likely because as it's a separate subscription channel they could air the episodes as is (using the BBC feed, which fits HBO well as they do not air commercials in the middle of shows like the networks), maybe with the featurettes or not. This ties into two trends with HBO - one, its involvement with children's programming on one hand, and on the other HBO has long broadcast dramatic series, in 1997 exemplified with Oz. Having HP along with Oz and, later on, The Sopranos would give HBO a strong lineup. A&E is possible here, either instead of HBO or alongside it though with HBO having priority with first-run episodes and A&E airing reruns. A&E is interesting here as they've had a bit of a history co-producing with the BBC, and this is still whilst A&E is still "the PBS of cable TV", which in TTL would probably become more the case instead of the "channel drift" it has experienced. In this case, though, A&E would use the CBC feed as it allows for commercials and even then would slightly edit it a bit. Why is that? That's because of a little piece of legislation Clinton signed, called the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Not only was the V-Chip introduced to American households, so too were TV content ratings. Depending on your POV, in this case HP on A&E would either fall under TV-Y7-FV or TV-G in the beginning, probably towards the end being given ratings of TV-G or TV-PG. HBO could schedule HP any time it wants, but A&E I'm not sure - I'd have to see an A&E schedule from the late 1990s.
Which leaves open a question - how many episodes/seasons are necessary for a programme to go into syndication? If we scrape by with just the first three books, then that should be enough for it to be in syndication, right?