<p>blueiguana- shhhhhhhhhhhh. :)</p>
<p>I rewatched some of season 2 on PBS last night to get me revved up for tonight’s show!</p>
<p>I’ll be catching up as I haven’t watched one episode! Thanks for the tip, musicmom, about amazonprime.
That also means that I will have to delay watching the season opener tonight!</p>
<p>ebeee - The WaPo seems to pan everything. I ignore their reviews.</p>
<p>Got “The World Of Downton Abbey” book for Christmas and have been reading it to get geared up for tonight. Lots of good background makes me want to go back and rewatch Season 1 & 2 and look for details I missed!</p>
<p>I read “Lady Almina…” last spring, it was very interesting. Have been re-watching Seasons 1 and 2 the last few days in preparation for tonight- can’t wait!</p>
<p>Eagerly anticipating S3. I chose not to watch it online as it gives me something to look forward to over the long winter months ahead. </p>
<p>My PBS station just finished re-running all of S1 and S2.</p>
<p>One complaint from a huge Downton fan - should Shirley MacLaine really have red hair? I saw her picture in the ad for the upcoming season and I don’t think they had hair dye back then. I know I’m being picky, but everything they have done so far is so authentic.</p>
<p>Yes they had hair dye back then. It has been around for 100s of years. Was plant based for a long time rather than the chemicals we use now. </p>
<p>They also had make up.</p>
<p>The family really does seem to operate on a “one in, one out” principle. Can’t SOMEONE be happy for more than five minutes? </p>
<p>Lady Rose is starting to annoy me rather. The character is just as vacuous as the actress is in real life. Coming to Downton to stay? Again? ***.</p>
<p>On the plus side, however, the Dowager isn’t going to be killed off - or at least, she will live through season four! </p>
<p>[Fellowes:</a> Maggie Smith?s Downton Abbey character won?t be killed off | Metro News](<a href=“http://metro.co.uk/2012/11/22/julian-fellowes-maggie-smiths-downton-abbey-character-wont-be-killed-off-539319/]Fellowes:”>Fellowes: Maggie Smith’s Downton Abbey character won’t be killed off | Metro News)</p>
<p>So the huge plot twist is just money? I thought they were going to kill off Matthew or something.</p>
<p>Oh, not Matthew!
He’s one of the few characters I like.</p>
<p>I gotta admit–I was a little bored.</p>
<p>re: Shirley Maclaine’s character – did anyone notice that Maggie Smith made several pointed references to Shirley being out in the sun too much and tanning? But unless I was mistaken, Shirley looked as pale as Maggie.</p>
<p>I stopped watching after 1.5 hours. Treacle tart to the max.</p>
<p>I watched for the first time last night – haven’t seen any of Seasons 1 or 2, so it was my introduction to the show. Got a little bored but I guess I’ll go back again next week. It’s totally like Upstairs Downstairs, which was a favorite of mine in the '70s. Pretty clothes. Love watching the interaction between the different classes. I was particularly interested in the daughter trying to catch the older man. She is perfectly cast – and she played her part wonderfully.</p>
<p>What a snooze-fest. And did anyone else think that Shirley Maclaine’s makeup and clothing was a bit over the top? I felt they over-exaggerated the whole “I’m an American so I do things so differently from you” aspect of her character (although I realize that’s necessary to move the plot forward and have arch exchanges with Maggie Smith.) </p>
<p>An American with a lot of money and a cottage in Newport would be more likely to deliberately ape life at Downtown than snipe at it. When newly wealthy Americans built their stately homes, they often wound up looking like “The Elms” in Newport.</p>
<p>Ok, rant over. I wouldn’t have minded if the script had been better. :)</p>
<p>I forgot to set my DVR to tape Downton last night. Luckily it is on another PBS station this afternoon at 1:30p. Sorry to hear that people were bored. I guess there are only so many good seasons to a show :(. Was happy to hear about Shirley Maclaine’s character having a house in Newport. Have spent many happy times in Newport. As a matter of fact I had lunch in Newport on Saturday!</p>
<p>Reports are that while episode one was a bit of a snooze fest the pace picks up later in this season. Here’s hoping that so…</p>
<p>Near crisis in our house. Due to a scheduling conflict I was supposed to tape last night’s episode of Downton Abbey. (Which I always thought was “Downtown Abbey” ) I did not. Fortunately, my negligence was caught early in the late evening and I taped a 1am rerun. phew!</p>
<p>I also thought the premier was a bit lightweight, but with some good possibilities for future intrigue.</p>
<p>MacLaine was over the top but perhaps the writers will give the character more to work with in the coming episodes. Yeah, I was mildly confused and amused by all the cracks from the dowager about the sun, despite MacLaine looking as pale as a white washed fence.</p>
<p>And the Bates saga is going on a bit too long because the character is a bit too earnest. The guy shows no trace of despair at all. He was much more interesting when the dreadful Mrs. Bates was alive.</p>