DIY brilliance: A Gingerbread Downton Abbey

Trying to figure out how to pass the time until the series 3 premiere of Downton Abbey? I’m guessing that most of the U.S. have had their fill of playing with the Downton Abbey paper doll set. And, you’ve probably seen Jimmy Fallon’s Downton Sixbey, Downton Arbys, the Saturday Night Live re-imagining of Downton as […]

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Happy Christmas from Tellyspotting!

A Very Carson Christmas It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the latenight commercials for the Ronco Inside the Shell Electric Egg Scrambler, Ron Popeil’s Pocket Fisherman or the Ginsu knives that could cut a metal can in half and still be sharp enough to slice a tomato to perfection. We’ve all seen the […]

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Downton Abbey 1 & 2 – 16 hours in 5 minutes

Downton Abbey I & II – 16 hours in 5 minutes It’s hard to believe that a mere two years ago, the world had never heard of Downton Abbey, the Dowager Countess, Matthew & Mary, Carson or Bates. It was January 2011 that the Julian Fellowes penned drama series crashed the U.S. television party as […]

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Potential Midwife vs. Downton smackdown on Christmas Day averted in UK

Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier….Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey? First, there was the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974. Then came the Thrilla in Manilla in 1975. Now, some 37 years later, the new ‘Fight of the Century’ will occur on Christmas Day and feature the Call the Midwife Holiday Special in one corner […]

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PBS announces Call the Midwife Holiday Special & 2nd season premiere

Another day, another day that Christmas will be coming early to those that have been patiently awaiting the news about broadcast plans for the upcoming Call the Midwife Holiday Special on PBS. The BBC recently announced that the 75-minute special would be broadcast Christmas Day at 7:30p, The BBC broadcast has been scheduled at the […]

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Drama Wars 2013: BBC vs ITV

By all accounts, 2012 was a pretty stellar year for drama output from the BBC and ITV. Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Endeavour, DCI Banks, Scott and Bailey, Call the Midwife and Upstairs Downstairs to name a few. In 2013, it only gets better as both the BBC and ITV are getting ready to rumble for drama […]

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It's December. Must be Christmas telly time in the UK – 2012

Contrary to their North American neighbors to the west, both Christmas Day and Boxing Day might just possibly be the most important days in the UK for telly watching. Each and every year, both the BBC and ITV1 do not disappoint. As we wrote last year…and the year before…and the year before that, Christmas and […]

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Bad Day at Black Rock on the Sherlock and Downton Abbey front

This is like asking someone if they would rather have the Cod Liver Oil first with the Alka Seltzer chaser to follow or vice-versa. Trust me, giving either of them a cherry-flavor isn’t going to help in either case, they still tasted bad when you were a kid. That said, unfortunately, I need to be […]

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Surprise! NBC, Julian Fellowes to create U.S. 'Downton Abbey'

Bill Carter of the New York Times is reporting this week that US broadcast network NBC is partnering with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes in the development of a new period drama set in New York during the 19th century. Fellowes will write and produce The Gilded Age, which will recreate New York society in […]

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