Interesting how much press this gets in the more thoughtful media. Nielsen has it averaging 5.4M viewers which doubled the average prime-time rating for PBS. Not bad when the biggest shows get 8-12M, so I guess it is popular though I am sure in certain NPR listening demographics.
Perhaps in these times of recession economics and politics, it's simply anglophile escapism.
The Upside-Down Appeal of ‘Downton Abbey’ - NYTimes.com: It’s not so much a portrait of an era as it is an advertisement for an imagined ideal of an enlightened aristocracy whose conservatism included a sense of responsibility, not disdain, toward those dependent on it. Which, at this particular political moment, makes it just about the weirdest thing on American TV.
Perhaps in these times of recession economics and politics, it's simply anglophile escapism.
The Upside-Down Appeal of ‘Downton Abbey’ - NYTimes.com: It’s not so much a portrait of an era as it is an advertisement for an imagined ideal of an enlightened aristocracy whose conservatism included a sense of responsibility, not disdain, toward those dependent on it. Which, at this particular political moment, makes it just about the weirdest thing on American TV.
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