No matter where you are, you gotta love The Onion. Self-proclaimed as America’s Finest News Source, The Onion has, once again, set it’s sights on the ITV/PBS mega-hit, Downton Abbey. If you remember, it was only just recently that the intrepid reporters over at The Onion were able to scoop what’s left of the world of journalism and reveal that Downton Abbey had been renewed for a fourth season and confirmed that it would be set in the Roaring 2120s. If parody is the sincerest form of flattery, then the tales of the Dowager Countess and Lord Grantham must, by now, be in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most flattered show on the telly. Now, The Onion reports on a recent finding from the Department of Education…
 
Watching Episode of Downton Abbey Counts As Reading Book
 

 
WASHINGTON—According to a report from the U.S. Department of Education released Thursday, watching a single episode of the British TV series Downton Abbey is the cultural and educational equivalent of reading an entire book. “It’s a period piece with British accents and drama that hinges on each character’s place within an aristocratic peerage system, so needless to say, viewing one show from beginning to end is basically the same as reading a book,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. “Also you really have to pay attention to the storylines, so it’s also like reading in that respect. And it’s not as if you can stop watching Downton Abbey for a while, come back to it, and remember exactly what’s going on. You’d probably have to start over from the very beginning, just like you do with a book.” Duncan then excused himself from the press conference so he could go home and watch a couple books before he went to bed.

Can’t begin to tell you how much I wish this would have come out when I was in high school…