Downton Abbey

If anyone smiles, they'll think we're American!

Downton Abbey is a British TV series that airs on PBS's Masterpiece Classic. It is a British period drama created by Julian Fellowes and originally released in the UK in 2010. The episodes were... edited and released in the US in January 2011. It's basically the story of a Yorkshire estate and everyone that lives there from the aristocratic Crawley family to the servants, even the lowly kitchen maid, Daisy.  The series begins with the sinking of the Titanic and the death of the two known male heirs and season three is stated to cover the Interwar period and the beginning of the Irish Free State and the birth of the newest Downton heir.

So... basically it's a show about a bunch of poncy British people running around and being British. How fantastic can that be?

Actually, I really enjoy it. The costumes are to die for. Whenever Maggie Smith is on screen, I'm prepared to laugh or roll my eyes. Every character seems to have a well-rounded personality;though why the aristocrats keep some characters around, I have no idea.

It's not something I'd normally watch. In fact, sometimes it feels like a bit of a guilty pleasure... especially Season Two which read more like a Soap Opera than anything else. They had blackmail, people coming back from the dead or pretending to be people coming back from he dead, blackmail, cripples walking, love triangles galore (you'd think they were handing them out like candy), and more blackmail (licorice).

I very nearly gave up on it when two characters were going off to elope together! However, I held in there. I kept watching with the new season even though I want to knock everyone's heads together and tell them to stop being proper and British and just get things done.

But then I'm a Middle Class American and things aren't done that way with aristocrats or anyone with a large amount of money.

Of course, part of the reason I watch this (and you'll remember I am a girl), is the costumes.  I love the dresses that all the girls wear in this show! I love the hairstyles and the hats. I absolutely adore the hats. Anyone can tell you how I feel about hats. I want them ALL!!!  Seriously, the girly bits in me watch the show and they're going crazy because the outfits are so beautiful and elegant and why don't people dress like that anymore? I'd love to be able to dress like that!

I would do it EVERY DAY!!!

While fighting for women's rights.

Of course.

I don't really know what my masculine side does when I watch this show. Probably puts on a tutu and enjoys the ride... However, my feminine side is drinking it all in and dreaming of dancing and balls and proper dinners and wondering why I ever decided to cut my hair.  Of course that's when the rest of me catches up and reminds the little girl in me that cutting my hair was a smart choice because taking care of it was such a lot of bother.

So, if you're a guy and you don't like the show, I understand perfectly. However, be understanding of the girls who adore it because the little girl in them is watching the show and singing all the way through.

However, if the girl doesn't like the period dress or the British politics and behavior or... history in general, then they won't like this show. No one would. As I like all of those things, I will love it and revel in it until the day it is cancelled.