| Author |
Message |
Rehtse
Member
08-17-2005
| Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 9:01 pm 
Anyone watching Call the Midwife? I rather like it.
Why can't Americans create drama series like the Brits?
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Carlpsmom
Member
01-03-2004
| Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 9:14 pm
I think I enjoy reading the synopsis as much as watching, honestly. I do love the costuming and scenery, but the story can sometimes get a little tiresome or draggy. Regardless, it is the best soap on tv.  I know it is not really a soap opera, but it has the vibe at times.
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 11:18 pm
The cast of Downton Abbey won the SAG award tonight for best ensemble in a television drama.
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Landileigh
Member
07-28-2002
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 12:32 am
but IT IS a Soap Opera. Even Julian Fellows (writer/creator) says so!
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Irsnappy
Member
01-13-2009
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 6:18 am
oh I am so sorry that I posted the info about Dan Stevens, I never even thought of it as a spoiler, I just thought I was sharing info, so sorry. (besides I wouldn't even know how to do a spoiler box lol).
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Lake_gal
Member
06-09-2004
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 7:46 am
I had just read this week that Sybil didn't survive the season. But I had no idea it was happening so soon. It was heartbreaking. And I found another reason to dislike Robert. The man really is a fool and I don't blame Cora for banning him from the bedroom. Will she ever completely forgive him? And Thomas actually crying for someone... that was a surprise. Could he have a heart somewhere inside.
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 8:28 am
I have no idea why they've decided to turn Lord Grantham into some sort of uber-ignoramus/super-villain this season. Even Sir Doctor expressed more dismay at Sybil's demise than Robert.
And my dislike for Mary intensified last night: "Hey, Mary, do you think we could get along in memory of our dead sister whose body is laying in front of us?" "Nope." "Hey, Mary, I invested all this money you demanded I take from my dead fiance's father to save your father from ruin, would you mind if I make sure your Dad doesn't lose all that money too?" "You're a jackass for talking business while my sister is dead. Have you no decency?"
Yeesh.
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Irsnappy
Member
01-13-2009
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 9:14 am
well put Goddess, she is being a jerk. I heard her deny Edith's overtures before. If I happen to be drinking tea when Mary says "Nope" to Edith it makes me spit out my tea and cracks me up. Secretly wouldn't you love to say that to someone
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Gurliegirl
Member
06-20-2006
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 9:23 am
Mary did it the day of Edith's wedding and the day of Sybil's death. What a bizzach.
And you're right about Robert. They've turned him into an idiot.
What bugged me was when Sybil was laying there dying, the doctors were off in the corner cringing rather than even pretending to try to do something. Instead they sat and watched her saying "Well, there's nothing we can do now. She's all but dead at this point. der" Ok, that was completely paraphrased by me, but that's how I took it.
The death scene was awful and most of the men in the room had horrified looks on their faces but did nothing. Except Tom. Tom was doing all he could.
That's one effed up family.
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Kookliebird
Member
08-04-2005
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 9:41 am
The scene of Tom in the window with the baby was heartbreaking.... He wanted his wife alive and he knew he was stuck there and would never be able to leave now with the baby.
I suspect that that was how the doctors acted in those days. When the local doctor said 'urine', the dad and the other doctor didn't want to talk about it.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 10:04 am
Irsnappy making a spoiler box is easy - just copy this:
\ spoiler {write what you want to say inside these parenthesis}
If you smoosh \ + spoiler + { } together WITHOUT THE SPACES it should come out looking like this:
Spoiler
Click below to view spoiler | | write what you want to say inside the parenthesis |
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Irsnappy
Member
01-13-2009
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 10:42 am
hey thanks Mame. I tried a sample and it works sooo no more leaks from me
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 11:08 am
YVW
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Kookliebird
Member
08-04-2005
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 12:17 pm
For me, the best scene from last night was the interchange between Maggie Smith and Carson on the morning after. The barriers of upstairs/downstairs were not there when she talked to him. And when she walked into the drawing room, stopping partway to grab the column for strength, then slowly walked (kind of broken, looking every single one of her years) and finally found her strength to be the strong person she needed to be by the time she made it to the drawing room door. Well, that was awesome....without hardly any words required.
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Babyjaxmom
Member
10-20-2002
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 1:55 pm
Yes, Kooklie, that was really heartbreaking! What an actress. Without a single word spoken.
I hadn't read that Sybil wouldn't survive the season, but did see lots of headlines online this morning (before I got to watch my recording!) about "Downton Abbey's big tragedy." I thought maybe the baby wouldn't survive, but never expected them to lose Sybil. Truly heartbreaking, but not so uncommon in that era. One of my great aunts died the same way, in childbirth at approximately the same age.
It's all over the press about Matthew, so unless you never look at the Internet, it's hardly a spoiler.
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Irsnappy
Member
01-13-2009
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 2:07 pm
babyjax...lol and thanks about Matthew.
I did hear someone on the radio complaining that she also didn't watch but that it was all over twitter about Sybil.
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 2:08 pm
Kooklie, I agree - Maggie Smith is an international treasure. I can't take my eyes off her when she's on the screen, I am so afraid I am going to miss some nuance of hers. She cracks me up and she breaks my heart.
Irsnappy, I have a younger sister who drives me insane. I say "nope" to her all the time LOL. \feels good\.
I've decided that Lord Grantham and Mary are the same person - intractable, pompous and not very smart. And they both screwed up by trying to bang the wrong person.
Edith is getting the classic middle-child treatment in this script, but it's fun watching her make her way through it and having the younger men in the family root for her. They also seem to be getting a clue as to who her father is by watching him deal with her. It was horrible watching her left by the altar by the old guy, though. Maybe she and Tom will hook up and she'll wind up raising Sybil's baby, although I don't actually see her settling for the chauffeur - she is more Mary than Sybil in that regard.
Looking forward to them disinterring Mrs. Bates' body to scrape the pie dough out from under her nails. Maybe then Anna can crack a smile and stop wearing black. Also hoping the new footman gives Thomas a beatdown - not because of he's gay, but because of the crappy things he's done. I like the actor who's playing the new footman - he has a very readable face. Looking forward to them giving him a personality besides "the new guy." Maybe a sense of humor.
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Roteach
Member
06-01-2003
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 2:15 pm
I wonder if Edith, the maiden aunt will take over raising the baby when the lady from the village finishes nursing her or if her story will just revolve around her writing for the newspaper?
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Babyjaxmom
Member
10-20-2002
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 2:29 pm
Here's a nice story from MSNBC.com (one of the ones that tipped me off to the "tragedy"):
http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/01/18/16586844-downton-abbey-is-hit-with-tragedy?lite
I also read a good article the other day about Lady Edith being the Jan Brady of Downton Abby. Of course, Mary is "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" 
Here it is: http://todayhealth.today.com/_news/2013/01/17/16571359-middle-children-your-new-mascot-is-lady-edith?lite
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Holly
Member
07-21-2001
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 4:08 pm
Years ago, I watched Maggie Smith do a one-hour long monologue entitled "The Vicar's Wife" on Armchair Theatre. It was absolutely awesome-- just Maggie and a camera on her face while she talked about the pros and cons of being married to the vicar. I was transfixed. IMO, she's the absolute best actress alive today. Blows Meryl Streep away!
ETA: FYI- It was one of the Talking Head monologues.
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Holly
Member
07-21-2001
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 4:14 pm
I found it on Youtube. Here's a link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFZx27qQhzI
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Scout
Member
01-19-2005
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 5:02 pm
I wish they would give Maggie Smith more of a story line. She's magnificent in what they give her, but sometimes they waste her with nothing more than Sophia Petrillo one-liners. Not that she doesn't make the most out of what she gets, I just think they should use her more.
Loved hearing Mrs. Patmore's lines coming out of Daisy's mouth.
Wish they would please wrap up Bate's prison storyline and bring him back home. For me, the whole momentum of the show just stops and drags until they go back to something else.
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Csnog
Member
07-18-2002
| Monday, January 28, 2013 - 5:07 pm
NOT a spoiler
Maggie will be back for a 4th season.
Sybil wanted out of Downton and decided in the 2nd season, just as Mathew decided.
I agree that Mary and her father are one and the same. Mary grew up having to marry a certain kind, sorta like the royal family.
Lord Grantham is from the earlier era and change is not something he likes nor does he OR Mary understand the commoner businessman Matthew.
Bet Violet does, because she's a pragmatist.
Nothing will get in the way of saving Downton to hand down. It was after all hers, before her son and Coras'.
Now she lives in a stately home on the estate grounds like Matthews mother, at that time, a very liberal minded woman.
The last scene of both Bates and Anna reading each others letters grabbed me..I still have my late husbands letters both before we were married and after, when he was traveling.
He was a letter writer and something I cherished.
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Maris
Member
03-27-2002
| Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - 12:15 am
I can see the next thing to happen is that Lord Grantham will try to keep the baby in the family rather than have it raised by Catholics but Cora made a promise to Sybil on her deathbed that she would protect Tom. Poor Tom will have a battle on his hands. I dont see Lord Grantham welcoming him into the fold for the sake of the baby. He is more likely to try to banish Tom and forget that there was a chauffeur in the family.
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - 5:51 am
I want the Dowager Countess to get a suitor. And I think you're right about Tom and Grantham, Maris.
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