I think I will start watching it without the sound. It is still gorgeous but it sure has become dumb. And i never like a plot twist that was driven by contracts. It has always been about Mary and Matthew, and without tension it does not work. I also think that Fellowes was very self-indulgent with the Barrows story line. We get it. Sexual orientation doesn't matter. It's 2013, we know this. It was totally unrealistic to write a storyline where the staff and family were so tolerant and understanding in the environment where homosexuality was illegal! I think he made an improbable story line for the era, to make a point in 2013. It did not ring true. Plus I think acting like it was tolerated then actually does a disservice! How vulnerable are people whose relationships court criminality? The biggest problem with the show is that requited love (MnM) is boring. "l love you more each passing day"? Is that Fellowes, or Hallmark?

"To make Sir Anthony her "life's work" is rather a slap in the face and he did the right thing. I knew it was over the moment she said that." Me too... Not of same period, but other terrific British series: -- Wish Me Luck -- British women spies in France during WWII -- The Grand -- big family-owned hotel, lots of interesting characters and family intrigue -- Kingdom - w Stephen Frye -- Fortysomething - w Hugh Laurie

I drove 1.5 hours to see it. It was great. They have 40 costumes, both upstairs and downstairs, men and women. There are some video screens with scenes playing. They tie-in how Winterthur was an American DA and display some of their items. It's not a large exhibit but I thought it was very well done. ETA: Being the only person in the world without a GPS, I followed the directions from Mapquest. They directed me to turn left across a busy 2-lane road, not at a light, onto an unmarked country road. I missed the turn. When I backtracked to correct, I stopped at the Post Office to confirm directions. I asked is this small unmarked road behind me route 100? Yes. From there it was another small country lane (something with a T) to connect me to Route 52, the road with the museum. The course correction made me late for my timed admission to see the house decorated for Xmas. I didn't really care about that, I was there for DA. Anyhoo, when I arrived later than my scheduled time I was told I could not tour the house, they were sold out. Really? They had no way to accommodate one visitor? Not a carload, not a bus load but one person, anytime during that day? Okay, I'll just see the DA and other exhibits. So my suggestion is get better directions and don't arrive late of you want to see the Xmas decorations. I would have preferred to take Route 1 directly to Route 52, instead of the perhaps more direct but poorly marked scenic tour. This post was edited by hhireno on Wed, Dec 3, 14 at 10:45

Season 3 in 2013?? Why these long waits? Maire, I was talking about this just last night with my friend Christine, who's from Cornwall. I told her I had no problem understanding most of the British accents, but the Downton Abbey kitchen conversations had me rewinding. Now, tell me how you keep yourself from watching episode after episode without a break?? I wouldn't have the willpower! Well, my TV watching habits are probably a bit odd by most standards. For one thing, I enjoy anticipation and like to savor things and make them last. I have a lot of good shows on my Netflix Instant Queue, and some of them have a relatively small number of episodes. I'm careful to space them out so I can enjoy them over a longer period of time. (That's why I posted recently about whether or not Netflix will pull some of these shows unexpectedly.) The other thing is my rather limited attention span. I think it's probably the result of watching no TV at all for many years. Now that I have it (and love it!), I'm not comfortable watching for long stretches. After about 20 minutes I feel the need to get up and do something. I will come back to the show, but it stretches out the time it takes to watch the whole thing. Midsomer Murders is my longest show at 100 minutes. I have to start early in the evening if I want to watch that one. As for a movie, forget it . . . it takes several days. LOL (But I'm not exaggerating.) If I'm doing rug hooking with the TV on, that's different. But I do that only with shows like Law & Order or (sometimes) Brothers & Sisters, where I'm familiar with all the voices and actually look at the screen only occasionally. With a show like Downton Abbey, I'd want to pay attention and take it all in.