Binge watching long running TV shows or limited streaming series are one of my favorite pastimes in the evening. I have watch The West Wing, The Walking Dead, Monk, The Witcher, Queen’s Gambit, Outlander, The Wheel of Time, and Glee, just to name a few. And some of them I have seen more than once. They are great fun.
My current binge series is Downton Abbey. I saw the first season previously, and maybe parts of the second in the past, but there are a total of 6 seasons and it is highly rated so I started watching it again.
I really enjoy watching shows that are far far outside the scope of my experience, but interesting to watch and sometimes educational of the times depicted. Downton Abbey fits the bill because it has many season and it is far far far outside my life experience, and some people really did live like that in the early part of the 20th century. It also gives the flavor of the working man ... how they lived. It is a time when things seemed to move slower ... not like today when if you blink - you missed it.
But I have developed some observations about this series and I thought I’d share them here.
- Oh.My.Dear.God! The houses of the aristocracy were enormous ... the extreme. Of course they had bunches of servants because how else could you live in that much space! But I had a hard time wrapping my head around the amount of space in the structures. And the amount of stuff you owned. Just an awesome thought.
- The houses are beautiful!! Not cozy, warm or even comfortable, but just museums to a time in history when architecture was ‘king.’ But imagine trying to heat those buildings! Impossible I would imagine.
- And they dress for dinner every single night like they are going to a State dinner. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! Their hair is dressed by their attendants every single day. EVERY SINGLE DAY! I would go mad with that kind of structure and expectation!
- Lady Mary drove me insane in the first 2 seasons. I found myself saying frequently - “you stupid woman”. Her younger sisters seem to be growing and transitioning into the new world that is heading their way. Even her father and mother see the changes that are coming and they are evolving in small ways. As the seasons progress, she finally seems to achieve a kind of maturity.
- The clothes are to die for. I totally love the styles, the costumes - just beautiful.
- The social class structure within the English culture is striking. Even within the lower working class - there is a ranking.
8 comments:
I love "Monk;" that's the only one in your list I've watched many seasons of. A friend had a boxed set that I borrowed. I am currently binge-watching "The Good Doctor;" my son got me started on that one. Previously he got me started on "NSCI" and "House," but both of those started bothering me, the first with all the depraved criminals in the story lines, the second with its totally awful human main character. I no longer watch them.
We loved Downton Abbey! Even Dan, who is often quite impatient with television series. Such an interesting peek into another culture.
We can only get what's available at the library, so we're more limited than folks with programming access. I definitely appreciate the ability to watch more than one episode at a time, or at least daily (very helpful for those cliff hangers).
Over the seasons, Downton Abbey addresses most of the issues you mention, so there's character development and lifestyle adaptation to current events. Makes for interesting and educational watching.
I enjoyed Downton as well. It is a wonderful glimpse back in time and a reminder of class distinction. However, in my experience, its remnants are still there in British society today.
I watch Scandinavian mystery series. Most are well done and I love a good mystery. British mystery series can be quite good too.
Ha ha I love your observations on Downton Abbey. Even as a Brit it's far removed from my reality but yes the aristocracy did live like that and yes heating those homes was and still is a nightmare. Many of the ones that have survived are now open to the public or have been converted into hotels as a way of providing the necessary income. I loved watching it and have seen it all apart from the latest film.
Love binge watching, love the continuity that gives you. Really enjoyed Downton Abbey and a few of the others you mentioned. West Wing to my way of thinking was probably the best show ever on TV. We've watched it probably 3 or 4 times. Some of the scenes are so memorable. Like you love the history you get when you watch some of them, and the clothes...oh my.
Downton is filmed at Highclere Castle. Some years ago, the aristocratic owners told their good friend Julian Fellowes that they really could not afford to maintain the property which had been in their family for generations. So he wrote the series as a way of raising income for them. It had been far more successful than they could have hoped. JF us a jolly nice chap, I met him at a function for the Dorset Blind Association Charity, of which he is patron.
I enjoyed Downton Abbey, and I had all of those same thoughts you had. I'm always on the lookout for something new to bingewatch, but have not seen anything new in some time. I suppose that's because of covid? Or I just don't have access to new series that would interest me. I love period dramas.
I watched Downton as it aired on PBS, and have the movie DVRd. The Witcher is great (excited now that Season 2 is out!). I'm currently sucked in to 911: Lonestar and am watching it on Hulu. And I DVRd all the episodes of Castle (Lifetime is showing them) and have been watching it and enjoying it very much - I never watched it when it was on network. Did the same thing to re-watch Major Crimes, and Rizzoli & Isles, both of which I really like.
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