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Why I Love Downton Abbey

It seems like everyone and her sister is talking about Downton Abbey these days. I wasn’t going to board this train, but I can’t help myself. I have to chime in! No, I’m not going to start writing recaps or anything, but I have to share why I love this show so much and why I think you should be watching if you’re not!

We first heard about the show a couple years ago from a friend at church who often suggests shows that are a bit off the beaten path — usually historical in nature and always very well done. For example, they were the ones who turned us on to the HBO mini series Band of Brothers.

When they told us about Downton Abbey, we were looking for something new to watch together so they lent us their DVD of the first season. After the first episode, we were hooked.

When Season 2 came out on Netflix, we watched it in several marathon sessions, and we’ve been eagerly awaiting Season 3 ever since.

I was shocked to find out this winter that Downton Abbey has such a huge following — not shocked because it doesn’t deserve it. It most certainly does. But shocked because a) it is on Masterpiece Theater, not a major network channel or even a popular cable channel like HBO, and b) because, simply, it is such classy TV.

Yes, that is the point of this post. I could go on and on about the brilliant dialogues, the great storyline, the fabulous one-liners, but the reason I love Downton Abbey so much is that it is a class act.

They don’t resort to graphic love scenes and shocking language to garner ratings. They don’t need to. The storyline is so captivating, the characters so believable, the acting so skillful and the one liners so hysterical that you just want to keep watching show after show after show.

I hope they don’t change a thing!

Do you watch Downton Abbey???

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30 Responses

  1. Oh, yes indeed!! The Dowager’s one-liners alone are worth watching every minute of every episode. And watching O’Brien and Thomas become enemies? Yikes! I’m scared of what they might do to each other! One has the ear of Cora, and the other the ear of her hubby. Hmmm.

  2. I saw the cast on Katie the other day and Katie asked Elizabeth McGovern why she thought it was so poplular. Elizabeth said because it was full of decent people trying to do the right thing! Amen to that since there is SO little of that going on in American shows.

  3. I absolutely love Downton Abbey!! I just ordered their unofficial cookbook so I can experiment with some English cooking!

  4. We rarely watch series. The last show we watched regularly was, are you ready for this…. ER. Like in 1994. And once they started in with the drama….. We were out. Enter Downton Abbey. Like you, friends of ours were begging us to watch. We received Season 1 and 2 on DVD for Christmas and the marathon watching began! Even my husband enjoys it! And you are exactly right…… I don’t have to worry about my kids walking into the room at an inopportune time. And the acting is fabulous! My girls don’t really watch it….. But they always want me to let them know when the ladies have changed dresses! We love the wardrobes….. Even their PJ’s are gorgeous! It is a refreshing break from “reality” TV and we have even found ourselves wanting to protect English traditions.

  5. I LOVE it! I had heard it mentioned several times, so I watched season one and two on Netflix. Now, that season three is on, it is sooooo hard to only watch one episode at a time! AND to have to wait another year for the next season…..

  6. I borrowed season 1 from a friend and plan to watch it this weekend. Now I’m even more excited. Is it kid friendly or do I need to banish them from the house?

    1. I don’t think the first episode of season one is very kid friendly, and possibly episode 3, but the others I’ve seen so far are. I was actually a bit shocked by a particular scene in the first episode, but glad I’ve stuck with it because I am really enjoying the show now (almost finished with season one).

      1. I love the show too. Just started watching. There was a shocking scene (to me) in season 1 and it almost made me stop. So glad I didn’t. I am hooked on it.

    1. Of course I love Violet. Who doesn’t? She has THE BEST lines, and while she’s stodgy, she will stand behind those she loves. But I also really like Sybil. I love that she married the chauffer, lol. Good for her, not letting tradition and expectation get in the way of loving a good man who wasn’t born to position, ya know?? But she doesn’t get any of the good lines. 🙁

  7. Oh my, I am a huge fan of Downton Abby! I started watching it last year after a recommendation by a fellow blogger.

    It is refreshing to find shows that don’t resort to graphic scenes or language. For the first time in a while, I feel as if I can whole heartedly recommend a show to others. 😉

  8. I’ve been watching since season 1, love it. I don’t think I’d let my youngest 2 watch it but its definitely family friendly. I have hinted to Chad, that the next time he goes to England on business I want to go,too. His work is close to “Downton Abbey” .

  9. LOVE IT! It is one show that David makes me wait to watch so that we can watch it together. I know a lot of people had found a way to watch Season 3 sooner, but I wanted to wait until it was available for everyone. Plus it gives me something to look forward to on Sunday night.

  10. The more I hear about this the more I want to watch it. I’m going to have to find the DVDs for the first couple of seasons and somehow convince my husband that yes indeed he wants to watch it with me. I’ll have to check if the new season is online for when we get caught up. We don’t get PBS (no cable and for whatever reason the antenna won’t pick it up anymore).

    1. I’m in Canada, and bought the first 2 seasons on DVD at Costco. They were cheaper than the record store copies.

    1. I just commented above about this before I saw this comment. I just started watching on DVD Monday night, and this scene took me by surprise. I have been glad that this type of scene has not been repeated because I am really enjoying the series!

  11. I JUST caught wind of this show last Saturday. We are HOOKED! HOOKED I tell you. We’re watching in on Amazon Prime streaming (season 1 episode 5 so far).

  12. I dont watch downtown Abbey but enough people have started talking about it that I’m glad it is on Netflix so I can watch it. We dont have cable TV, so I’m always glad when a show everyone talks about is actually on Netflix or Hulu! I’m going to add it to my queue and check it out!

  13. I love Downton and I adore Maggie Smith. The Brits always have a remarkable way to entertain in a fabulous, intelligent, witty way. I don’t watch much TV in the way of “shows” (addiction to HGTV and Food network). So glad you boarded the train. I got my mom hooked 6 months ago and she raced to catch up on the prior seasons!

    P.S. I really enjoyed ‘midwives’ which ended its first season on PBS in the Fall.

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