<p>I have just set my DVR to record Mr. Selfridge on Masterpiece Classics. Are all the Downton Abbey addicts going to tune in?</p>
<p>I can’t wait - my D already watched it on a UK site and she says it’s fantastic. I like Jeremy Piven, so that’s an added bonus. I wish that I could watch it on my iPad, though, like I watched Downton (in bed while H watched something on TV). No one else in the house is interested.</p>
<p>Just checked, it’s on Amazon instant video free with Amazon Prime!</p>
<p>Thanks for making me aware of it.</p>
<p>So…did anyone watch last night?</p>
<p>Definitely a different vibe from Downton Abbey. I have mixed feelings about it. I’ll probably watch it next week before making a judgment about whether to continue to watch it. Jerry Piven (whom I normally like) seemed so manical, it was hard to watch at times.</p>
<p>I will watch it…the cast is gorgeous and I enjoyed just looking at the costumes and sets but it didn’t pull me in quite like Downton.</p>
<p>Didn’t like it. They introduce a bunch of characters to run story lines but it felt disconnected, not organic. </p>
<p>The girls are pretty.</p>
<p>I recorded it set to record series and will watch when I get the chance or save it until summer rerun season.</p>
<p>I didn’t like it. I don’t care about any of the characters or the story line.</p>
<p>I was disappointed in it. I think Mr. Selfridge as a character is not compelling. I liked the sets and the costumes, but many of the characters aren’t all that interesting. I liked Ellen Love, the actress character. Overall, I thought the first two hours dragged. </p>
<p>The actress playing Mrs. Selfridge (Frances O’Connor) is British and used to play sexy female lead characters like Ellen Love. Frances O’Connor was Gwendolen Fairfax in the 2002 movie version of The Importance of Being Earnest. Her American accent is excellent. The guy playing her artist friend that she met at the museum can’t pull off an American accent at all.</p>
<p>I started watching and kept watching it, despite not knowing what I really thought. This morning I read some of the background for the show and main character, and the more I think about it, the more compelling some of the characters seem to be. Mr. Selfridge is definitely complex, intense, and seemingly destined to self-destruct. The casting is quite good, will look forward to Sunday nights for ten weeks.</p>
<p>I wish I had followed a basic rule of thumb: If the program features Jeremy Piven, don’t watch it. After five minutes of him, I feel as if I’ve been beaten senseless with a sack of oranges. Not the most nuanced performer.</p>
<p>What I was amazed with was the accurate sets. We lived in London for several years, and I was in there at least one a week, maybe more. It really had the feel of Selfridges. I want to read more about the production. I didn’t love it as much as Downton Abbey, but I did enjoy it. Now that the characters are set up, it will be interesting to see how they develop. It will also be interesting to see how much they stray from the truth.</p>
<p>I’ll keep watching, but my current rankings are:
- Downton Abbey
- Call the Midwife
- Mr. Selfridge</p>
<p>I did like Mrs. Selfridge and am interested in seeing how she develops.</p>
<p>I watched it. Had never even heard of it…just didn’t change the channel after “Call the Midwife” which I love. I thought Selfridge kind of jumped around a lot…as if there were a race to see how much they could fit in during the first two hours.</p>
<p>Hope the pacing will slow down just a bit now that all the main characters have been introduced. I’ll prob. watch again…nothing else to see on Sundays after" Call the Midwife". It is interesting that it’s based on a true story. Had never heard of Selfridges before.</p>
<p>I looked up info about Harry Selfridge online. It’s quite an interesting story of his real life. He grew up in Jackson, Michigan, not far from where I grew up. He worked in a store there and his mother was a teacher and headmistress of Jackson High School. He worked in retail at Marshall Field in Chicago and married Rose there. She was an interesting person too, from a wealthy family and had purchased property and built a development of villas and artist’s cottages before her marriage at 30. </p>
<p>I also read Season 2 of Mr. Selfridge is in the works.</p>
<p>I like Piven, but I think the last thing I saw him in may have been Gross Pointe Blank.
My D has been trying to get me to watch House of Cards.
Maybe after Justified.</p>
<p>I also watched last night after “Call the Midwife” (which is fabulous). No contest for me, I will be switching over to AMC for the season premier of Madmen next week!</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking about the dramatic problem: you know the store opens & that it’s successful & that he runs it until 1941. But they chose to present this chronologically as though you’re actually going to become invested when you already know what happens. </p>
<p>I think it would have been better drama if they set up a framing device, like when he’d lost his money in old age and rode the bus around town. Or if they’d focused on the worries of the workers with him as a side character - but that would change the name of the show to “Selfridge’s”.</p>
<p>I am enjoying Mr Selfridge. It is not as compelling as Downton Abbey, but a fun distraction. Call the Midwife love it. What a great surprise find.</p>