Downton Abbey

Enough time has passed since the end of Season 4 so the emotional drama has subsided to a memory until the advertising spins up for next season.

The first time I heard of Downton Abbey was at the 2012 Golden Globes when it won Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. At that ceremony, the presenters had a hard time saying “Downton.” On Twitter, there was even a ignorant tweeter who said something like “what’s so hard about saying downtown?” Even I knew THAT was wrong.

When Season 4 was about to air in the US, the media went wild. All actors, writers, creators were interviewed ad nauseum so I began to think maybe I should watch the series. Then my godmother insisted that it was the absolute best show ever and I just HAD to watch. I’ve never been able to resist her, so I queued up PBS at 9pm on Sunday night.

I didn’t know the characters so I was a little lost. After 3 weeks, I decided I needed the back story of seasons 1-3. I found season 1 on Netflix and part of season 2 on Amazon. I was so taken by the story and characters that I had strong urges to clean my house. Then sister saved the day and loaned me DVDs of season 2 and 3. Armed with the full story, I swam in the remaining episodes of season 4.

I don’t mind spoilers so I knew who was going to die. I kept wondering how the end would happen and didn’t expect that it wouldn’t occur until the last 30 seconds of the season.

Something isn’t really a “thing” until The Simpsons spoofs it in some way. In their series finale, Marge is addicted to the show “Upton Rectory” and finds an online male friend (voice of Seth Macfarlane) who shares her interest in the show. So funny. At the end of the show, there was a Simpton Abbey spoof on the Downton Abbey opening credits.

I am looking forward to season 5 and getting inspired to clean my house.

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