Archive for February, 2012

• Downtonmania

  Date: 2012.02.06 | Category: TV | Response: 3

  Many years ago, in the pre-VCR, pre-cable era, if you wanted to watch something on TV, you had no choice but to make sure you were in front of the set when the program started. And since there were only three major networks back then (plus PBS and, if you were lucky, an independent UHF station that showed old movies), you didn’t have a lot of choice, so we all watched the same programs, at the same time. Today, the only show that almost “everyone” watches is the Super Bowl. Everything else — comedies, dramas, reality shows, other sporting events — attracts a niche audience.

  However, once in a while, there comes a show that seemingly becomes part of the national conversation, and starts racking up critical plaudits, awards and magazine covers. “Mad Men,” “Lost,” “Breaking Bad,” “American Idol” and a handful of others may not have Super Bowl or “Cosby”-size ratings, but everybody knows about them; even if you don’t know where AMC lives in your cable line-up, you probably have at least a passing familiarity with the names Don Draper and Simon Cowell.

  Most of the time, I tend to ignore the TV chatter, but last year, I kept hearing about a PBS series called “Downton Abbey.” Some kind of costume drama about aristocrats and servants… it sounded a bit like “Upstairs Downstairs,” which was a bit before my time but has a reputation as the ur-Brit period drama. I may not have given “Downton” another thought were it not for the fact that (a) my favorite comedian, Patton Oswalt, started Tweeting relentlessly about it and (b) KQED announced it was running the entire first season on New Year’s Day. In any case, I TiVo’d all the episodes and started recording the new ones, which are currently airing Sunday nights on “Masterpiece.” It took a little while, but we finally sat down to sample the first episode, and within the first 15 minutes, we were both hopelessly hooked.

  “Downton” is basically a high class soap opera starring some of the world’s best actors. Some of the plot twists had me groaning — the series’ creator, Julian Fellowes, seems to want to put his protagonists through as much misery as possible, ranging from busted-up romances to World War I — but it turns out the wildest and wackiest turn is actually based on a real incident (don’t click on that link unless you’ve watched Season One!), so I guess I can’t complain too much. The characters tend to be either noble or evil, though the oldest daughter, Lady Mary, is drawn with enough shades of gray that you may find yourself changing your mind about her several times within the space of a few episodes.

  My favorite character is Mr. Bates, the Earl of Grantham’s valet, who has a mysterious past that thwarts his budding romance with Anna, a fellow servant. Out of all the noble characters, Mr. Bates is undoubtedly the noblest, despite his lowly social status. But the dark deeds he alludes to make him more than just a generic good guy. Bates’ arch-enemies are Thomas, the scheming gay footman, and his best pal O’Brien, the countess’ lady’s maid, who want him gone (Thomas felt he should have been promoted to valet).

  And no discussion of “Downton” would be complete without some applause for Maggie Smith, who plays the Dowager Countess (the Earl’s mother) and gets most of the show’s best lines, such as “What is a weekend?” and “No Englishman would dream of dying in someone else’s house.”

  One criticism of “Downton” is that it presents an idealized portrayal of the English aristocracy, perhaps due to the fact that Fellowes is a conservative member of the House of Lords. A review of a handful of “Downton”-related books in yesterday’s New York Times quoted a memoir by Margaret Powell, a former kitchen maid: “In one home, Powell was excoriated for passing the day’s mail to the lady of the house by hand: ‘Tears started to trickle down my cheeks; that someone could think that you were so low that you couldn’t even hand them anything out of your hands without it first being placed on a silver salver.’”

  But all drama requires some suspension of disbelief, and “Downton” wouldn’t work as well as it does if the Earl and his wife were unlikable baddies. After spending several hours in their company, all the characters feel like real people; if I ever get the chance to visit sumptuous Highclere Castle, where the series is filmed, I’d half expect head butler Mr. Carson to open the door.

  Perhaps the best indication that this Edwardian costume drama has wormed its way into the American public’s hearts is the fact that it was parodied on “Saturday Night Live” a couple nights ago and quickly became the night’s most talked about sketch. (For some reason, maybe a rights issue, NBC hasn’t made the bit available on its own site, but I found a low-quality version here; watch quickly before someone from the network makes them take it down.) The joke is that “Downton” reruns are going to start appearing on the dude-centric cable network Spike TV, and it’s being promo’d in a way that will make guys want to tune in: the three daughters are “hot, hotter, and… the other one” (poor Edith!), the Dowager Countess is “an old lady who looks like a chicken,” and then there are the “tuxedo people” who live in the basement: “Their lives suck!”

  There are few guarantees in life, but if you haven’t watched “Downton Abbey” yet, I’ll bet it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes to hook you, too. I worry that I’m going to go through serious withdrawal when the season wraps up on Feb. 19; luckily, a third season is already in production.