Do you watch Downton Abbey?

[srican69]

I loved the first season ... second season was a letdown ( dont think they should have killed off Lavinia ) .. but I still find myself eagerly waiting for each episode ....

Plan to visit the Highclere Castle on my next vacation to UK.

Any other Downton fans in here?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. For some reason, I just wasn't interested in continuing after Season 2

I sort of liked it, but I don't get the "oh, I've got to see it" frenzy.

[srican69]

2. I give them some slack ... as the series was originally planned for just one season

.. and they were having to make it up as they went along ... and to some extent have become a victim of their own success..

my biggest criticism is that no problem stays a problem for long enough ... and things are a bit fairly tale like ...and solutions appear by magic ...

Hopefully there is some real drama ...maybe patrick makes a comeback and marries Edith ... that would be interesting

[elleng]

7. I fear real drama re: Bates' fate.

HOPE not, tho.
Saw a promo for next episode, don't recall but sounded like an 'interesting' spoiler.

[sammytko]

49. Same here. I even have it on the DVR and have not watched new season n/t

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Yes, I've been watching it and I've really enjoyed it.

I'm waiting for some questions to be answered, like who killed Bates' wife, Vera? Did Richard Carlisle have it done? What is the strange relationship between Thomas and O'Brien? Is it because they are both prone to being nasty and conniving? Will "Patrick Gordon" come back and have proof that he is the true heir to the Crawley fortune?

My favorite character is the Dowager Countess, Lady Grantham. Maggie Smith is wonderful in that role.

[elleng]

4. Maggie Smith is wonderful in ANY role!

Seen 'Marigold Hotel?' Maggie Smith AND Judi Dench!!!

[srican69]

6. oh .. they are the best!! .... I guess you also see 'As time goes by'

[elleng]

8. ABSOLUTELY!

PBS is my 'thing!' (after Martin Bashir, Rachel and Lawrence, of course!)

[CurtEastPoint]

13. Amen to all those possibilities. Hughes and Thomas fascinate me.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. Loved season 1, so so season 2, worse this season.

why no scene can last more than 15 seconds, or any perilous situation more than a few minutes is either lazy writing, or is aimed at a far less attention span audience. Upstairs Downstairs, Brideshead Revisited are both many times better written

but that's just the opinion of my wife and I - we tend to be really, really hard on TV and movies.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. Yes, I loved both Upstairs, Downstairs and Brideshead Revisited

but Downton Abbey just isn't as compelling for some reason. It should have ended with the engagement.

[JaneQPublic]

9. I'm a big fan of all British "costume dramas."

While I usually prefer those based on classic literature (Dickens, etc.), I have been enjoying "Downton" immensely.

That said, a few of the plot twists have troubled me. I never like it when a TV program kills off main characters. I didn't like it on "Grey's Anatomy" (time and time again), and I didn't like it when "Downton" killed of Lavinia and particularly William.

The lesson from watching "Grey's" has been that once the writers of a TV show decide to kill off a beloved character, they tend to do so again. So now, as much as I love "Downton," I'm apprehensive about who they're going to kill off next.

It better not be the Dowager Countess, or else the whole show will go down the dumper!

[srican69]

11. The last time I enjoyed a costume drama as much was pride and prejudice ( one with Colin Firth)

I remember waiting anxiously for the second Netflix DVD ...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Love it!

[wishlist]

12. Enjoying Season 3 but story lines could be better

Insults to Branson seem a bit exaggerated but the main storyline that doesn't ring true to me is Sir Anthony walking out during the wedding. I just can't see this proper gentlemen conducting himself that way in such a publicly humiliating way for him and Edith. Better to have had him die on the honeymoon in some shocking way, but I guess that was ruled out because they already had Mary's Turkish ambassador die in her bed! I have read all the spoilers and definitely don't like the major bad event coming up soon. But I still can't resist enjoying it as a shamelessly over the top jerker of a show.

[Demoiselle]

15. I was horrified by the wedding walkout...but still found it believable.

Probably because the actor playing him made him so twitchy and nervous. (There's trouble, I thought. Poor Edith, it can't end happily, I thought.) What I love about these British tv dramas is that they have all the visceral appeal of soap opera...but they're much better written, acted, and dressed. And the sets, my dear! The SETS!!

[mnhtnbb]

25. Downton Abbey is NOT a set: it is Highclere Castle and they shoot in the rooms

with all those amazing furnishings and paintings. Julian Fellowes--who originated the series--
is a personal friend of the current (8th) Earl and Countess Carnarvon who live in Highclere.
The 5th Earl financed the expedition which discovered King Tut's tomb--
and is the one who died from a mosquito bite in Egypt not long afterwards. He is
buried at Highclere--on the highest point overlooking the Castle.

[Demoiselle]

27. I know perfectly well that it's Highclere Castle.

I really didn't think I needed to do a sarcasm thingie on that comment!

[CurtEastPoint]

14. You all MUST see Colbert's Breaking Abbey!

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/422221/december-13-2012/uncensored---breaking-abbey

[eShirl]

16. +99999

[CurtEastPoint]

17. We should advise readers of this post that there are SPOILERS here and there.

[forestpath]

18. Yes - I'm totally hooked. I haven't been this hooked on a Masterpiece Theater

series since Poldark.

[eShirl]

19. It better not end like "Cougarton Abbey..."

[State the Obvious]

20. Love it...especially Maggie "what's a weekend?" Smith. nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

22. Yes. Am also going to watch the original "Upstairs Downstairs" on

Netflix. ( I remember my parents really loved that one.)

[vanlassie]

23. I spent Christmas in the UK with my daughter

and we watched the entire third season there. Ask me anything. The season finale is a doozy.

[mnhtnbb]

24. Yes! Did you see the special on Highclere Castle that aired right before the season opener?

[GreenPartyVoter]

26. I totally missed it, and haven't seen it set to replay. Will look for it on the PBS site.

[srican69]

28. okaaaay ... itunes is about to release the full season 3 on Jan 29 ...

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/01/18/downton_abbey_on_itunes_early_access_to_last_three_episodes_for_itunes_subscribers.html

either you pay 20 bucks and watch the whole show or you will have spoilers galore

[MISSDem]

29. Not yet.

I purchased the first two and will get the third so I can watch at my leisure. Right now I am enjoying Upstairs Downstairs. Great TV!

[srican69]

31. which one .. the 1971 or the 2010 version?

[MISSDem]

38. 1971 original UK version

I was so sad when it was over.

[greatauntoftriplets]

30. Yes!!!

[Glorfindel]

32. Yes, I love it.

Strangely, perhaps, my favorite character is Lady Mary. If I had been a rich girl in the early 20th Century, I'd have been just like her, except probably even bitchier.

[raccoon]

33. First season was good, second not so good, I haven't seen any of this one. nt

[annabanana]

34. It is a guilty pleasure! I LOVE a well dressed, well written

soap opera with illusions of grandeur and historical flair!

[Purveyor]

35. Tonight is my 3rd episode ever and it is now scheduled as a Sunday evening event. I'm going

see about netflixing season 1 & 2.

[GreenPartyVoter]

36. I caught up with one on Netflix and two on Amazon Prime.

[Aristus]

37. Big fan.

Michelle Dockery has skin so beautiful and flawless, it seems to glow...

[magical thyme]

39. too much of a soap opera for my taste

The resolution of one problem after another is too simplistic and easy. It's beautiful, but lacks any real depth. But I watch it anyway because I can. I only get PBS, and then only when weather and schedule permits.

I've also been disappointed in NOVA lately. They did a thing on chariots last night. That was interesting, but they conveniently labeled people "expert" without giving any indication of what makes them expert. And then, with so much possible genetics and history around the arabian horse, they said not one thing about them beyond their horse "expert" picking "a brown one and a black one" and "two smaller grey stallions as backup."

They briefly discussed the history of the chariot starting in the regions around current day Russia...but not the arabian horse that originated in the Asian steppes, as a possible descendant of the Akhal-Tekhe, and then migrated south through Turkey, to Syria and that region of the Arabian Desert. No mention, either, of how the Bedouins bred them and used them as war horses, and the Egyptians originally were unable to breed them because the conditions there are so harsh, so had to purchase or steal them from the nomadic Bedouins.

[llmart]

40. Lighten up already.....

Maybe you ought to read Will Pitt's latest lament. It will do you good.

[srican69]

42. Maybe the story between Anna & Bates will come to the foreground a bit more...and maybe Patrick

Gordon shows up again

That will make things really interesting

[llmart]

41. Love it!

It's the highlight of my Sunday evenings. A bit of escapism is good for us now and then.

[shanti]

43. i just did a season 1 binge

and i love it! btw, is elizabeth mcgovern's character supposed to be american?

[elleng]

46. Yes, she is American.

Her mother is Shirley MacLaine.

[harmonicon]

44. Yep.

I think the third season is pretty shitty though. The writing is a lot worse and they pack WAY too much in. They now put into one or two episodes almost as much as would be in an entire season before, plot-point-wise, I mean.

[Recursion]

45. Just finished season 2. I remember saying "an influenza epidemic seems like a good way...

... to trim a side from a love triangle."

I think when the spine injury magically healed itself I admitted that I'm watching Days of Our Lives with better costumes.

[bigwillq]

47. No (nt)

[Bucky]

48. I believe it's spelled "Downer Abbey"

What strikes me, from the eps I've watched with friends, is how dreary and depressed every character is. There's no drive, no joy, no ambition, no verve. Just a dreary adherence to the status quo. Blecchq.

[srican69]

50. finally watched the season finale (dvr'ed it) yesterday ( spoiler alert)

what a shocker ... but on scouring the web ... I believe Dan Stevens wanted to get out forcing the producers to kill him off ..