The Gazette - September 20, 1986

"Canada's carrot-top princess up for two awards at Emmy show on Sunday"
Janice Kennedy

Canadian hearts might be thumping with a little extra pride tomorrow night.

It's Emmy time again in the television arena, and there are a few CBC hats in the American ring - one of which belongs to the little carrot-top from P.E.I., Anne Shirley of Green Gables.

What does Canada's Anne have to do with the 38th annual shindig put on by the U.S. Academy of Television Arts and Sciences? The four-hour drama is eligible for an Emmy Award because, as a co-production of the CBC and the American PBS, it was broadcast on U.S. television last year. (And, luckily for viewers, it will be repeated on both the CBC this December and PBS sometime after that.) In fact, Anne is in the running twice: as outstanding children's program and for outstanding writing in a mini-series.

In the outstanding children's category, Anne of Green Gables is up against Punky Brewster, The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and two ABC made-for-TV movies (one of which, Disney's The Girl Who Spelled Freedom, was quite moving). With any justice, however, Anne should win this competition easily.

From the moment Anne Shirley saw the light of day in 1908, at the hands of Lucy Maud Montgomery, she was enormously popular. Mark Twain called Green Gables "the sweetest creation of child life yet written." The made-for-television adaptation is no less charming, with a faithfulness to the original that Montgomery herself would have endorsed.

Breathtaking cinematography, a superb script, perfect pacing and - most of all - flawless acting (by Megan Follows as Anne, Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla and Richard Farnsworth as Matthew) make this Anne of Green Gables a memorable television event. One might be tempted to react to it in the words of Anne herself: "Oh, it was wonderful - wonderful. It's the first thing I ever saw that couldn't be improved upon by imagination."

We don't need this Emmy, or Uncle Sam's recognition, to tell us that Anne is a top drawer - even though Canadians' yen for international approval is legend. No, Anne of Green Gables had already set ratings records in this country last December before it aired on PBS's Wonderworks. (5.8 million Canadians, 56% of English-language viewers, watched part two of Anne - outdrawing even Cosby that week.)

We don't need the Emmy, but it's always nice to have someone else agree with you. Especially if that someone is the acknowledged leader of the pack.

Source: The Gazette