Patricia Routledge talks Hyacinth, KUA and comedy 101

As the great Patricia Routledge inches closer to her 83rd birthday on Friday, 17 February, I’m reminded of a point in time in the late 1990’s that we had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interview Ms. Routledge for a salute to British comedy program for broadcast on public television in the States. For weeks before the […]

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Who knew the Dowager Countess was a Giants fan?

Talk of the town anywhere in the U.S. on Sunday was either Patriots-Giants or Grantham-Crawley. Judging from the overnight television ratings, the obvious winner was the Super Bowl, but Downton Abbey held its own to a much greater degree on PBS than any other program in recent memory up against the ‘big game’. Thankfully, the […]

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Saturday Night Live imagines Downton Abbey on Spike TV

***Update for those trying to access the video clip below. Sadly, the folks at NBC Universal have decided that a little extra added promotion for Saturday Night Live is not of interest. When you click on the video below you will now be greeted with a very nice message that says: “This video contains content […]

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You too can be the Dowager Countess….for $12K a day (lunch included!)

Yes, I know, the ‘another network’ has something on called the Super Bowl up against tonights new installment of Downton Abbey. Hopefully, they’ll learn not to counter program when series three comes around in 2013. If you can’t make it to the big game, we have a once-in-a-lifetime travel deal to satisfy your inner-Dowager Countess. […]

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Downton Abbey makes PBS an overnight success after 40+ years

PBS has now, officially, arrived. According to former Variety reporter Michael Schneider who is now with TV Guide, PBS is achieving their first TV Guide cover for a primetime program since the premiere of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series in 1980. Finally, PBS has firmly planted the flag on the television landscape and taken back its […]

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Shirley MacLaine joins cast of Downton Abbey 3

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Shirley MacLaine will join the cast of Downton Abbey as filming begins next month taking the DA saga into the 1920’s. MacLaine will play Martha Levinson, the American mother of Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern). Laura Mackie, director of drama at ITV, said, “It is so exciting to have an actress […]

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First look – Sherlock "Scandal in Belgravia" on PBS

I know we’re still talking about something that’s a bit down the road, but May 6 will be here before you know it. Whatever side of the pond you find yourself on today, you, most assuredly, are either part of the UK Sherlock Separation Anxiety Society or the U.S. Sherlock Anticipation Society. Not to worry! […]

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Creating Sherlock's 221b Baker Street "home"

In previous weeks, we’ve noted the painstaking efforts that writers Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and Steve Thompson went through to bring us television brilliance. Also, to no one’s surprise, the endless hours of prep the actors put in outside of just “learning their lines” to get it just right are well-documented. Benedict Cumberbatch not only […]

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The A-Z of Sherlock

While the UK was in the midst of Sherlock separation anxiety given last night was the first Sunday of the new year w/out a bit of Steven Moffat/Mark Gatiss greatness. Fortunately, they had the premiere of Sebastian Faulks’s modern classic set during the First World War, starring Eddie Redmayne and Clémence Poésy. While the U.S. […]

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