Downton Abbey - I'm hooked

[Doctor Strange]

BTW, for American Downton Abbey fans going through withdrawal...

Tomorrow night (Tuesday, February 26) HBO is airing the first two episodes of a five-part miniseries coproduced with the BBC: Parade's End. It's a British-upper-class-types-dealing-with-the-Great-War saga based on a respected series of 1920s novels by Ford Maddox Ford. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall, Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson, Jack Huston, etc.

It looks like a sumptuous production, and it got great reviews when it ran in the UK last year, so I plan to check it out!

 

[Rathdown]

i got it... Flash forward... Loverboy's in a hospital bed... His face covered in bandages... 6 months later they take off the bandages and voila! Same hubby with a new face and a different actor who can plausibly explain how he now looks like maurice chevalier and talks like samuel l. Jackson.

There solved... Send my check please

worf

lol!

 

[Lily Powers]

I GOT IT... flash forward... loverboy's in a hospital bed... his face covered in bandages... 6 months later they take off the bandages and VOILA! Same hubby with a new face and a different actor who can plausibly explain how he now looks like Maurice Chevalier and talks like Samuel L. Jackson.

There solved... send my check please

Worf

What? No "it was all a dream" episode (a la Dallas, circa 1978)?! Lady Mary wakes up to find Matthew really wasn't dead in a car crash, it was only a dream and in fact, so was Matthew, and the object of her desires was actually a quaint little man with a Belgian accent, spats, a funny moustache and a penchant for solving crime.

 

[LocktownDog]

Excellent, mon ami. The little grey cells do indeed get quite tired. Dreams often refresh them a bit. But that one? Non. Too horrible for this weak mind.

 

[ButteMT61]

I'm guessing she wakes up from a dream with Bob Newhart. Best closer ever.

 

[The Good]

About the only thing I know about Downton Abbey, is that it's a period TV series. I became aware of it's existence just recently after my grandmother started watching it and telling me about it.

How is Downton Abbey compared to shows like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire? What does it involve? Thank you.

 

[LocktownDog]

Certainly doesn't compare to Boardwalk Empire, that's for sure. It's more like Upstairs Downstairs (although I preferred that series). DA is very soap opera-ish.

 

[Worf]

The trials and tribulations of the "idle rich" and their spoiled kids, and tragic lives..... Oh I'm going to faint. When it started there was some "grit" to it. The British "Class System" was starting to fray around the edges and Downton Abbey was a nice glimpse into that world. But since then the bodies have piled up and those who were seduced at the begining are now feeling quite betrayed by the arbitrary nature of it all.

Worf

 

[Worf]

What? No "it was all a dream" episode (a la Dallas, circa 1978)?! Lady Mary wakes up to find Matthew really wasn't dead in a car crash, it was only a dream and in fact, so was Matthew, and the object of her desires was actually a quaint little man with a Belgian accent, spats, a funny moustache and a penchant for solving crime.

I don't see it myself but... I like he way you're thinkin'...

Worf

 

[Doctor Strange]

Speak for yourself, Worf. I don't feel "betrayed" by the series. It's just another teens/twenties soap, and I don't hold it to any higher standard than that. It's enormous fun, and I accept its soapish plotting right along with its many anarchronistically modern bits of language and attitude. It's just entertainment with droolworthy costuming, really. I'm not looking for historical accuracy or literary significance.

Now the Parade's End miniseries starting on HBO tonight - according to the review I scanned in this morning's New York Times - is far more accurate about the lives of upper-class Brits in WWI, largely because it's based on a series of novels written in the twenties when they were actually living through the aftermath. It's not a nostalgia piece a la Downton, which idealizes the period but features suspiciously modern characterizations and attitudes. (Well, we'll see.)

 

[ButteMT61]

Detour: Anyone here watching "Ripper Street"? I am beginning to really like it!

 

[LocktownDog]

FYI: New characters on the way for season 4.

 

[LocktownDog]

The actor who plays O'Brien has just announced he will no longer be in the show.

 

[dhermann1]

O'Brien is a she.

 

[LocktownDog]

O'Brien is a she.

Eh. I kinda lost interest in the show after 1 1/2 seasons. lol

 

[AmateisGal]

Everyone is jumping ship. How much longer can this boat stay afloat?

 

[sheeplady]

Everyone is jumping ship. How much longer can this boat stay afloat?

It's a test to see if we'll keep watching... sadly, i probably will, beacuse:
1. I get stupidly attached to things
2. I'm stubborn
3. I'm unrealistically optimistic things will improve.
4. There's not much else good on television
5. I'm addicted to masterpiece

But, seriously, how are they gonna whack O'Brien? Or will she be the one character who leaves the show by a force other than death?

 

[vitanola]

It's a test to see if we'll keep watching... sadly, i probably will, beacuse:
1. I get stupidly attached to things
2. I'm stubborn
3. I'm unrealistically optimistic things will improve.
4. There's not much else good on television
5. I'm addicted to masterpiece

But, seriously, how are they gonna whack O'Brien? Or will she be the one character who leaves the show by a force other than death?

I suspect that she will end up somewhere very hot.














And humid.




Perhaps take up with some not terribly talented superannuated Younger Son




(who murdered in 1351 an extremely rowdy nun, who resented it.)

 

[Gingerella72]

I'm sad to see O'Brien go. Nasty as she was, there was a fierce loyalty and kindness in her towards those that she loved. I wish the actress would allow a couple of episodes in the 4th season to give her character a proper send off.

Jumped shark or not, I love Downton and will watch it until the end.

 

[McMurdo]

Detour: Anyone here watching "Ripper Street"? I am beginning to really like it!

I have been watching it as well, enjoying it thus far.