My daughter shared the above cartoon with me via Facebook.
I don’t know where it came from originally, but it certainly sums up the appalling third season of “Downton Abbey”…
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My daughter shared the above cartoon with me via Facebook.
I don’t know where it came from originally, but it certainly sums up the appalling third season of “Downton Abbey”…
The appalling nature was not because they killed off popular characters, whose actors’ popularity is what spurred them to leave the show. The appalling aspect was the poor writing overall, as well as dubious plotting, such that one watched to see the lovely scenes and costumes. The plotting was, however, so much better than the ridiculous second season, with the magic recovery from spinal injury and the amnesiac heir, among others. Basically, they lost it after the first season……
BBC regenerates “The Doctor”, thus booting off a beloved actor, even if his contract ended or he wanted other things.
But we’re Doctor Who fans regarless; I’m a big fan of ginger haired companions: Donna Noble, Amy Pond.
Women did, and do, die in childbirth, and lots of people died, and still do, in car accidents back then. That no one important died or was even seriously injured in WWI was far more unlikely…..
Also the birth of a child followed immediately by the death of one of his/her parents was more plausible in the case of childbirth complications. The death in a car accident smacks of carelessness.
I’ll say this for it — it’s better than “Upstairs, Downstairs.” And I’m not just talking about production values. I think the stories are better written and characters better drawn overall.
“Upstairs, Downstairs” is remembered fondly as a sort of television landmark, but I went back and watched some of the first season recently. Downton is way better.
The original Upstairs Downstairs was far better than DA. The first season was not a good one. Later ones are much better. We rewatched it a year or so ago. The new version, well, I did not make it through more than a few minutes of the second season.
Of course, I’m a fan of Gordon (Mr. Hudson) Jackson, but that dates for me all the way back to “The Great Escape.”
When my long-lost (and, alas, unknown to me) noble relations finally find me and restore me to my estate, I want a butler just like Mr. Hudson. Although Mr. Carson will do in a pinch. One must sometimes make do in these parlous times.
But back to our comparison — there was no one and nothing in Upstairs Downstairs to touch the Dowager Countess. “What is a week-end?” beats all of the dialogue ever written for UD put together.
No one on U,D would ever have inspired a meme like “Sh!t the Dowager Countess Says.”
Countess Violet is indeed amusing, but she is more comic relief with her one liners than good drama, or accurate drama.
The dynamic between servant and master is far more accurate and better exploited for drama in UD than DA. Fellowes, far more than John Hawkesworth, is sugar coating the aristocracy and the system. Perhaps since there is no DA equivalent in the production team to Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins of UD, two proud working class members, it shows. Also Hawkesworth lived the experience, while Fellowes is too far removed.
You do not have saccharine characters like Anna and Bates in UD. Everyone has flaws, and virtues.
I was all set up not to like Downton Abbey, but I found it to be surprisingly seductive. As for the dialogue, it struck me as a little stilted at first, but it started to grow on me (kind of like when you first dive into Shakespeare). I’d be interested to know if the writers are Brits.
Mr. Carson and the Dowager definitely get the best lines. I’ve never heard of Upstairs/Downstairs, so I can’t compare.
The writer is Julian Fellowes, a posh Brit
As in “pish posh”?
Sorry I don’t watch PBS.
Really?!? I am shocked, shocked….
Dialogue? Best dialogue in a current show is on “Justified.”
Totally! Good female characters, too. Shout out to Georgian Walton Goggins and Augusta State Alumna Joelle Carter!
Has anyone seen “House of Cards” with Kevin Spacey as the Strom Thurmond-inspired character?
They loaded the entire first season on Netflix at once – the future of “television” series, I think.
I haven’t watched it yet.
Yes, I’ve seen four episodes of it. I’ve been meaning to write a blog post about it. Maybe I can get to it this weekend…
It’s sort of political science fiction. Kevin Spacey portrays a white Democratic congressman from South Carolina. And we know they ain’t none a them no more.
In the series’ defense, he does represent the 5th District (I don’t think they’ve actually said that, but he’s from Gaffney, which in real life is in the 5th District), which was represented by John Spratt until 2011. But that makes the series feel a bit retro. I wouldn’t say nostalgic, because Spacey’s character is nowhere near the sympathetic figure that Spratt was.
House of Cards was well done, but clearly not intended to be taken as a realistic representation. My quarrel with the Kevin Spacey character is that he sounded Lowcountry or Alabama/Missippi, not Gaffney. Gaffney is Andie MacDowell, or at least more like Lindsey Graham or Rudy Mancke–a twang in it, than Walter Edgar.
Loved that the Peachoid figured prominently, as well as a Citadel clone, the Sentinel.
House of Cards (Netfix) is based on the BBC series of the same name, which began airing in 1990. Frank Underwood (SC pol) shares the same completely intentional initials as Francis Urquhart (British pol, just as evil). The initials embody their attitudes towards anyone or anything standing in their way.
Yes, I talk about the British original in my post about “House of Cards,” which just went up…