Posted on 01/22/2012 2:47:29 PM PST by Steelfish
How I Became A Downton Abbey Addict Yes, I know it's just a glossy drama about the idle rich and their servants, but these idle rich are so classy compared with ours
Lizz Winstead 22 January 2012 1
I was in a year and a half into a self-imposed sequestration trying to finally make a book deadline – and panicking because I was endlessly derailed by obsessively following the race to the bottom-feeders better known as the Republican nomination process.
I should not have allowed another shiny object into my life. But what harm could streaming a little British show about early 20th century aristocracy do?
I would watch it here and there when I needed a break from writing. I could catch up in leisurely fashion on season one, and then join the civil conversation on Twitter when season two launched.
So, I foolishly took one taste and the gears of productivity came screeching to a halt. I binged on Downton Abbey for two days.
I never left my house. I only left my couch twice a day – once to answer the door for the delivery guy from my regular deli who thought I was a batshit crazy shut-in, who subsisted on a diet of cookies, cigarettes and Mandarin orange seltzer. And the second time was to answer the door for another delivery guy from some other deli I found so my regular deli guy wouldn't know he was right.
So, there I was, uncontrollably watching episode after episode, while blindly snacking to the point where I started foraging for Oreo crumbs that had fallen into my bra.
Yes, I ate them. In fact, I hit my bottom when I frantically took off my T-shirt and bra and violently shook them like a crack whore hoping for..
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Lol! We have been there in our house with shows like 24 and Dexter. Starting it with breaking bad. Right now it’s only on Mondays.
Netflix streaming
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Masterpiece_Classic_Downton_Abbey/70213223?trkid=2361637
I just started watching it on Netflix and am already up to Season 1 Episode 4.
We watch every Sunday night on our local PBS.
I literally just finished season 1 over the last two days. Loved it. So addicting. I’ve read season 2 falters a bit in the middle but the Christmas Special that just aired in the UK was supposedly great.
Plus, it irks some liberals because it’s written by Julian Fellowes and doesn’t demonize the wealthy.
I love this show—I love most Bristish television,
Love this show as well. Have many BBC favorites and, yes, my daughter and I and her toddlers have reclined on the couch for two days watching the giant CD set of Jane Austin flicks. (to be fair, we all had colds.)
Problem with some of these wonderful series is that they just end hanging. You can get the Forsyth Saga - a wonderful series, on Netflix, but it just ends with all ends loose.
Wish American tv was better. Will say the Borgias is a pretty good series, but you have to have a special channel to watch it.
I come from Lincolnshire Quakers. I love this story, even if my family was probably cleaning the chamber pots of the servants!
Same here. In fact I have been watching Masterpiece Theater on and off for the last 20 yrs. Great drama and I’ve learned a little about human nature.
Outstanding series. Sucks you in instantly and leaves you in agony waiting for the next episode (& Yes I do have a life : ) The wife and I watched the first season over three evenings and caught up to season 2 just in time. We DVR everything EXCEPT Downton, that one we watch (and record to enjoy again sometime in the future.
I have been recommended Lark Rise to Candelford as a similar veined british period piece. It has 5 seasons and looks good. I watched one episode and it was good not outstanding (Like Downton.)
For all here that love anything BBC the definitive pride and prejudice (Colin firth & Jennifer Ehle) on BluRay is a completely different viewing experience and I cannot recommend it enough.
I’m just annoyed that there isn’t a continuous stream of nonstop new Downton Abbey all the time, and when this series ends I’m going to have to miserably wait AN ENTIRE YEAR once more. Can’t stand it! Maybe I should just move to the UK.
I was in Spain in December...and the Spanish were eagerly awaiting the new season (it’s shown dubbed into Spanish). Pretty universal appeal!
I read an interview with someone in the production and evidently they had not expected it to go more than a season. Nobody knew it was going to be this popular.
The character development is fascinating. That doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has read Julian Fellowes’s books. And watching a civilization slowly metamorphose and die is also compelling. I just have to repeat that I dread the end of the series next month. These people should be forced to work constantly to supply me with more episodes, nonstop. :-)
I streamed Season One for no charge on my Kindle Fire. Season Two is available for streaming at 1.99 an episode, also showing each Sunday on PBS if you can catch it.
downton abbey ping
Hands down the best show on TV. The Brits best us again and how difficult is it when we represent trash like Shameless and Californication?
Even the highly praised Homeland doesn’t hold a candle.
Thank you Julian Fellowes and cast,especially Maggie Smith, for stellar writing and acting performances.
Such wonderful, calming viewing for political sabbaticals!
I’m grieving today...however...if you know what I mean.
Absolutely!
I was that way with Lovejoy as the dvds were released a few years back. Each time a new season was issued, I'd pick up the set, park myself at home on a Friday night, and watch every one...
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