Downton Abbey--Upstairs/Downstairs, Stiff Upper Lips, and Tea!

[Coco]

Now that the engagement is off and the secret is out of their control, the truth about Vera can be told.

Now here's a rude question. Shirley MacLaine's character's last name is Levinson. Is that an automatically Jewish last name? How creative of the writers make the Lady Grantham and her daughters Jewish as we move on from WWI.

[PRlady]

It is and as soon as I saw it I thought, you're kidding. American heiresses married Brit aristocrats all the time -- but not American JEWISH heiresses. The antisemitism in both societies was casual and absolute. Edith Wharton's House of Mirth was a frightening account of that, among other things.

However, having finally watched the finale, awwww. The dog is safe and the main couple is together, apparently with Lavinia's blessing thru the ouija board. What else could we ask for?

[Coco]

LOL, I thought it was the spirit of Mr. Pamuk!

[danceronice]

I
Did you see the background special after the show was over?
Most of the actors were interviewed and it showed scene's being shot.
I was most surprised to learn that Dour Branson, was a outgoing funny adorable guy in real life. For that matter, so was Sibil. She was so funny talking about how she couldn't wait for them to kiss. By the way, she is even twice as Beautiful in real life.

Lol, I don't find Branson (or, for that matter, Allan Leech's other character with which I'm familiar, Agrippa) dour--just painfully earnest! I always feel like "Aw, you're so cute when you're all idealistic and crap." He does it quite well, too. As for "Sibyl", I wonder if she curls her hair or they just attacked it with a straightening iron every day of shooting!

It was funny how with most of the men, it's basically a matter of combing their hair and adding some gel (and in "Matthew"'s case, slapping on a pound of clown white) while the women...well, Mrs. Patmore is quite a surprise and I had to TELL Mom "That's Mrs. Hughes!" Though it was kind of funny how the women all looked like they were wearing gobs of makeup (especially eyeliner) after seeing their fake-natural TV makeup jobs in-character!

For an even more different Downton, has anyone seen "Dollhouse Downton?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGXam...eature=related

As for Cora's family being Jewish, might be. If they were, Cora clearly converted and the daughters are obviously Anglicans. Well, Mary's obviously somewhat skeptical on the subject considering her "I don't even know if you're there" prayer for Matthew's safety. And I'm going to take a guess that whether or not she converted yet Sibyl will be raising some little Catholic children as I very much doubt Branson's Protestant. "Strauss" and "Guggenheim" were Jewish names, too, and no one sneezed socially at their money. Beggars can't be choosers and not every broke European aristocrat could score a Vanderbilt. Plus, maybe her mother remarried.

[ChelleC]

Interesting article a friend sent me.

http://thenewinquiry.com/blogs/zungu...eing-grantham/

[Grannyfan]

I stumbled onto this from the MSN site. Downton Abbey paperdolls.

http://www.vulture.com/2012/02/print...id=nymag_press

[my little pony]

Now here's a rude question. Shirley MacLaine's character's last name is Levinson. Is that an automatically Jewish last name? How creative of the writers make the Lady Grantham and her daughters Jewish as we move on from WWI.

per the downton abbey wiki,

Spoiler

cora's father's name was isadore. while shirley's character may not be jewish, i am sure isadore was.

[Michalle]

I think Julian used a particular family as the basis for the Granthams and that the woman who was the real-life parallel to Cora had a jewish father, if my very distant recollection is correct. Something like that. It's definitely coming out of the background of one of the real aristocrats he researched.

[victoriajh]

i think i read that they have not even shot the next season yet? set to air in septmener this year- gosh as i only watched season one right before season two aired it will seem forever!!

[Civic]

...And I'm going to take a guess that whether or not she converted yet Sibyl will be raising some little Catholic children as I very much doubt Branson's Protestant...

It's possible Branson is Protestant despite his Irish Nationalist and socialist politics. Roman Catholics dominated the Irish Nationalist movement but it had some prominent Protestant members. Playwright Sean O'Casey comes to mind.

[Lorac]

i think i read that they have not even shot the next season yet? set to air in septmener this year- gosh as i only watched season one right before season two aired it will seem forever!!

They have just started to shoot it I believe. It will be shown in the UK in the Autumn - probably starting in mid to late September.

[Artemis@BC]

Caught up last night, and just wanted to say 4 things quickly.

1. Did anyone else think that there might be a shooting accident (or even "accident") during the hunting party? Specifically with Vile Richard taking a fatal bullet?

2. Nigel Havers!!! (I don't care if his character was a cad. I still )

3. So we end the season with Thomas an (almost) reformed character, O'Brien an (almost) nice(er) character, and Richard somewhat nicer before disappearing. So no baddies left. A whole new crop for next season? Kind of a strange way of doing things, but ...

4. Enjoyed the behind-the-scenes they aired afterward, though too much recap (hello, we just watched the series) and not enough extras. But mostly I liked seeing 21st century Dan Stevens -- he's quite dishy!

[danceronice]

I loved Jullian Fellowes in the recap, practically chortling with glee at "We get them through World War One and they think they've come through, and then...Spanish Flu!" A writer after my own heart!

Grannyfan--those paper dolls are PRICELESS. I love O'Brien and Thomas--"evil soap!" "Evil facial hair!" But I wish I had not been drinking coffee when I saw the Matthew and Mary page comes with Mr. Parmuk!

[Scrufflet]

I just checked youtube to see the SNL parody. It was funny enough. But someone posted the top ten Maggie Smith moments. Now that is hilarious! Do check it out!

[Wyliefan]

I loved Jullian Fellowes in the recap, practically chortling with glee at "We get them through World War One and they think they've come through, and then...Spanish Flu!" A writer after my own heart!

NOBODY expects the Spanish influenza!!

(Not my own -- I got it from someone on Facebook.)

[LilJen]

I just checked youtube to see the SNL parody. It was funny enough. But someone posted the top ten Maggie Smith moments. Now that is hilarious! Do check it out!

I love Maggie Smith, and the writers obviously love her too.

[Finnice]

I love Maggie Smith, and the writers obviously love her too.

Great, great! She is absolutely marvellous, and seems to be enjoying her role very much.

[Lorac]

Great, great! She is absolutely marvellous, and seems to be enjoying her role very much.

Dame Maggie has reached a point in her life where she can take on any role she fancies as she has nothing more to prove as an actress. Because of that she just relaxes into the roles she plays and has a ball with them. No-body drops one liners like Dame Maggie - I just love her and hope she is around for many years to come.

[Cachoo]

Great, great! She is absolutely marvellous, and seems to be enjoying her role very much.

To me this just seems to be a continuation of her role in "Gosford Park" and that is fine with me. I can't imagine this series without her.

[nubka]

To me this just seems to be a continuation of her role in "Gosford Park" and that is fine with me. I can't imagine this series without her.

Anyone here seen her in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie? I'm going to dig up that DVD and watch it tomorrow. She was wonderful in it!