The British costume drama 'Downton Abbey' is about to advance one Roman numeral, from II to III, to signify its third season, starting 12 days after Christmas on Epiphany, January 6, 2013. Any significance to this will have to await rumors.
We learn of this because the age-defying Angela Lansbury has just engagingly hosted a 'PBS' highlight presentation to show us key scenes from the first two seasons, and to tease us with some scenes from the third. Mixed into this are a few interviews with the actors discussing their characters. Not to be at all facetious, but when you contrast how these people are when they're not acting you really can appreciate that they do act in the series. It's what makes the series a success. To others, it's of course the hats with feathers.
Thus, we get a teasing glimpse of Ol' Shirl (Shirley MacLaine) carefully alighting from a car that's just pulled up to the medieval pile. It's not a simple taxi from the station that's just finished dropping off the other weary commuters, but a chauffeured car of the era sent by the Grantham clan to fetch Lady Grantham's American mother, who has just arrived from across the pond.
Ol' Shirl really doesn't look good, for whatever reason. Perhaps it's because they've just started Prohibition in the States and she really needs several legal stiff ones. Stay tuned. We'll find out more.
There's likely no threat to the show's challenging us with Roman numerals that extend beyond what we can decipher, like the Super Bowl. It would be impossible for the show to even reach the era of warnings on cigarettes. The guess is that WWII will be reached, because there's nothing the British like more than reminding the world how they had the stuffing bombed out of them, but still prevailed. Churchill's voice has got to come from a radio at some point.
The show is a great piece of fluff to be enjoyed on any of several levels. But, here they go. Excess.
The news is that 'Downton's' producer, Julian Fellowes, is in discussion with NBC to develop an American Age of Innocence-type show, 'The Gilded Age,' centered in New York City in the late 19th century.
It's not known if scenes will feature electricity, but if they don't then the show is sure to remind New Yorkers of the recent outages from Hurricane Sandy. This may easily spell doom, if other things don't pull it down first.
Start your list now as to why you might believe the endeavor cannot possibly succeed. Those that think it has a chance cannot be following this blog.
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