I live in New York. I am a comedian, writer and actor. My day job is blogging for VH1.com. I write about the silly things celebrities and pop stars do, so you know...God's work.
You may have seen my writing on many other reputable websites (The Huffington Post, Hello Giggles, xojane.com, The Hairpin, Splitsider, The FW, etc.). I also write crazy blogs about Game of Thrones, Magneto and Jeff Goldblum.
I don't want to talk about anything with you except Star Trek Into Darkness.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
CRUSH OF THE WEEK: THEO JAMES (AKA MR. PAMUK ON ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’, ALSO AKA FOUR IN ‘DIVERGENT’)
I WANT TO SEX THIS GUY. /just saying.
(Source: eatsleeptv)
NBC hires Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes to create America's own Downton Abbey, for America
Hoping to prove that neither England nor PBS have a monopoly on wealthy people in corsets embroiled in soap opera scandals, NBC has drafted Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes to recreate that sort of heightened costume drama Stateside with The Gilded Age, an “epic tale of the princes of the American Renaissance, and the vast fortunes they made—and spent—in late 19th-century New York.”
America steals everything. Yes, I will watch this.
I BET YOU THEY WILL HAVE YOUNG CORA LEVINSON AS A CHARACTER AND SHE WILL BE A BUCCANEER OVER IN LONDON IN A SUBPLOT AND IT WILL BE FELLOWES VERSION OF A CARTMEL PLAN TO SNEAK THAT PREQUEL STORY INTO CANON WITHOUT ITV HAVING TO FOOT THE BILL.
Oh, look, Downton Abbey wound up handling the tricky politics and vague moralities of the Irish War of Independence with such nuance.
I think…
…that instead of writing my Crush of the Week for tomorrow, I’m just going to write an epic Downton Abbey: The Next Generation fan fic set in 1939. Matthew and Mary are the Lord and Lady Grantham. They have three children, Robbie, who is a natural leader, but who has poetic ambitions, Reggie, who is secretly gay, and Lizzie, a spitfire tomboy. Robbie is clearly Mary’s unspoken favorite and Lizzie Matthew’s. Edith is a famous novelist whose passionate romance novel, The Other Heiress, is being turned into a movie starring Laurence Olivier, Errol Flynn, Greer Garson and Myrna Loy. The house is run by Thomas, or Barrow, who is the head butler, Anna, or Mrs. Bates, who is now head housekeeper, and the head cook is Daisy, or Mrs. Mason. Various trouble-making maids and staff are below them. The show opens with young Sybil Branson visiting from Oxford—she’s a history major at St. Hugh’s—with her capricious friend and classmate, Lady Margaret Harville, Sybil’s beau, a middle class Marxist, Joe Buckley, and Joe’s friend, a Charlie Bryant. Cora and Isobel are still alive and living nearby and getting into tiffs. Oh, and World War II is going to break out at the end of the pilot.
Boom. I’m brilliant. GIVE ME ALL THE MONIEZZZZ.
okay fine i’ll do my crush of the week….
WE ARE EDITH.
I only drink Red Stripe now.
Watch out people! I might be bringing this back! So, if you’re not into potential series 3 spoilers, unfollow! Or, if you never knew I did this…I did this.
MAGGIE SMITH AND SHIRLEY MACLAINE ON DOWNTON ABBEY(by Jbellaire)
I AM GOING TO DIE
Need to put together my Martha Levinson cosplay outfit STAT.
Regarding Downton Abbey v. The Forsyte Saga
If you are going through Downton Abbey withdrawals, first check out my piece in Hello Giggles that directly addresses what to watch when you’re not watching Downton Abbey.
I know that’s kind of lazy of me, but the article pretty much addresses all of what I would say—and I give a bunch of recommendations along with reasons for them.
Downton Abbey is such a weird show because it’s framed and promoted like an epic high class literary adaptation like The Forsyte Saga, but it’s really a flimsy, yet well-acted, soap opera. (I’m sorry, internet. In terms of writing—not production or acting—Downton Abbey is like “Julian Fellowes plays British Costume drama’s greatest hits with AUTOTUNE!”)
There’s very little “downstairs” in The Forsyte Saga. It’s all very much about romantic obsession and the issues of art/passion/love versus stability/money/property.
Critically speaking, The Forsyte Saga is superior television to Downton Abbey *ducks out of way of intangible things being hurled at her from across the internet*. Downton is frothier and more fun. That said, both series are about huge rich families getting involved in personal scandals during time of culture shift. The Forsyte Saga takes a tiny bit more focus and critical thought than Downton Abbey, though.
I would highly recommend it, but just know what you’re getting into.
(Also, The Forsyte Saga has Horatio Hornblower and Young Inspector Greg Lestrade as its romantic heroes.)
