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For your enjoyment - Downton Tabby
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"Paw"sitively "purr"fect s"cat"ire.
Hilarious!!
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Does anyone know if Matthew and Mary have ever said “I love you” to each other?
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My PBS Station is showing Downton Abbey-Behind the Drama tomorrow! Check local listings!
Julian Fellowes (Lord or Sir and OB GYN and or whatever else he’s entitled to) is going to rewrite the book of the musical GYPSYas a star vehicle for Barbra Streisand.
Okay… GYPSY has been made into a movie twice- big screen and TV respectively. The role of Mama Rose has been played by pretty much every Broadway diva over the age of 35: originated by Merman, Rosalind Russell in the film, and in no particular order Tyne Daly, Patti Lupone, Bernadette Peters, Pearl Bailey, Bette Midler (TV movie), my personal favorite Angela Lansbury (adds the exact right amount of crazy- not too much not too little), and several I’m leaving out and a thousand lesser stars in regional productions. It’s kinda sorta been done, if not to death then at least to the “doesn’t need another film remake” point.
And then there’s the fact that at the beginning of the musical Mama Rose has two prepubescant daughters, then two adolescent daughters in the second act, and it ends with her older daughter in her early 20s, so she ages from mid-thirties to middle age. Streisand is 70 (or will be in a few weeks) and the thing won’t even be ready to shoot for at least a year.
Mama Rose is not just American but she’s blue-collar, coarse, and a cut throat opportunist who would dispatch Thomas-the-Evil-Footman, O’Brien, and even Mrs. Bates before her first dish of chow mein in her drive to first be a queen-mother of Vaudeville and then a stripper-mom. Fellowes is an English aristocrat who dismisses his critics as being insecure in their social position.
This is going to be the must see musical of the 21st century.
I must see… if I can’t manage to be doing something else when it comes out.
Some non-specific spoilers (“A major character we won’t name will ____” type stuff) for Season 3. And this rather rude (even if accurate) comment regarding Maggie Smith from the show’s executive producer:
Just finished The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes (either the wife or the daughter of the series creator, I guess). I highly recommend this book, which has a detailed discussion of English country house life of that era, and lots of photos and behind-the-scenes info on the TV series, too. Very interesting and engaging, with a good bibliography, too.
Some nifty trivia:
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The Earl of Grantham and Matthew serve in two fictional units, the North Riding Volunteers and the Duke of Manchester’s Own, respectively. Drawings were done of the crests by the College of Arms (official British heraldry experts), and molds of the artwork were then made for the characters’ uniform badges.
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The WWI battle scenes were filmed in Akenham, Ipswich, northeast of London, in trenches built especially for movie and TV filming - this was not the first filming done there.
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The producers looked at 30 different country houses before picking Highclere Castle.
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Continuity can be a problem, as the kitchen and belowstairs sets are in London, and the main dining room and state rooms are at Highclere. Given the filming schedule, food may be “prepared” in the kitchen and then “served” two weeks later at Highclere, in what appears to be a single scene.
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Maggie Smith has her own wigmaker, and dons her wig every day almost like a helmet.
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All the women wear corsets, even the cook.
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It took 18 takes to show Mr. Bates falling after Mrs. O’Brien tripped him. The actor was rather bruised by the end of the day on set.
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The names of the upstairs bedrooms, shown on the bell board in the servants’ hall, are: Portico, Arundel, Queen Caroline, Mercia, East Anglia, Grantham, Stanhope, York, Ripon and Wetherby. (The actual Highclere has 61 bedrooms, only 11 of which are regularly in use).
Thank you! I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how they had signal bells that could be activated from Ripon or York, the actual towns.
Just saw the extra features on the S2 DVD. There are three: changing Downton from a home to a hospital; costumes and uniforms; and love in wartime. In the last, Julian Fellowes says (FWIW) that he has no doubt that Sybil loves Branson. She’s a rebel and she wants to get away from Downton, but she also loves him.
Way late to the party, I see.
I just wanted to bump this to say I finally managed to get around to watching Season 2 (it’s free on Amazon Prime).
Still enjoyable, though eyerolly quite a few times.
My biggest complaint? Why in the world did Patrick/Peter sound and look like an overwrought Star Trek actor from some weird mummy planet?
My favorite character is probably Mrs. Patmore. Her manipulation of Daisy with the Ouija board was perfect.
At this rate, I figure I’ll see Season/Series 3 in 2016.
Series 3 is playing now in the UK. I’ve been reading reviews so I’m totally spoiled–but haven’t been tempted to get an early glimpse. (I succumbed for Parade’s End but ordered the DVD’s as soon as could.)
Masterpiece will begin showing Series 3 of Downton in early January. That’s PBS–which broadcasts all over the US; and the episodes will be available online for a while.
This S3 thread is already underway: Downton Abbey -- Series Three (open spoilers) - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board