Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

My mother was a very big fan of Masterpiece Theater long before I was. In fact, she is the sole reason I watch Masterpiece. When I was younger, I'd always see her on Sunday nights watching what seemed to be the most boring television with people just standing about and talking. There were no fight scenes. There were no car chases. Just a bunch of women in petticoats and men on horses. And the dialogue was a bit too fast for me to understand and I wasn't quite at their level of vocabulary. In seventh grade, however, my mom began pestering me to watch the BBC's version of Pride and Prejudice from 1995 starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. The new Pride and Prejudice would be coming out soon with Keira Knightley and Matthew McFadden. I kept telling her, "Yes, mom. Of course I'll watch it with you." But I was in seventh grade and much too cool to watch a great British series on VHS from the nineties with my mother.

One day in English class, we read a few scenes from Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 version, that was written in a play form in one of those school magazines like Scholastic. I was devastated when we read the end because it totally gave away the fact that Jane ends up with Mr. Darcy. I was angry for the rest of the day and rushed home to tell my mom that we had to watch the tapes. Now. My mom, being the kind and understanding mom that she is, agreed (looking back she was probably overjoyed that I wanted to watch it and was just looking for an excuse herself to see it again). We started at 5. At 5:50, the first episode was done. Around nine, we began the fifth episode out of the six episode series. My mom suggested that we stop there and save the rest for tomorrow. It was a school night after all and I still had homework to finish up. I convinced my mom that I just HAD to see the first five minutes. Those five minutes turned into the next episode and then the series was over. I decided then and there that I'd watch Masterpiece with my mom every Sunday.

My mom was quite pleased with herself since she knew I was going to love them. She was right. As moms always seem to be. I couldn't get enough of it. It didn't seem like I was sitting in my basement for 300 minutes watching a series that had been produced 10 years earlier. It was my first exposure to Colin Firth and the brilliance of period pieces. I love the character of Mr. Bingley. He was such a good-hearted chap. I liked Mr. Darcy throughout the entire series even when he was a bit of an ass purely because Colin Firth is a beautiful man. And when he came out of that pond, whew. Best part of the show. Although, I must admit I was worried the story was going to have a massive twist in which Mr. Darcy broke his neck by diving into two feet of pond water. This was also my first real experience in hearing some verbal sparring between people and I became more interested in what characters had to say as opposed to the actions of characters in other shows I watched. All of the Bennet sisters were a little ridiculous and I was genuinenly embarrassed during some of their scenes. Mrs. Bennet never seemed to be able to keep herself quiet for more than a minute.

We now watch Pride and Prejudice during every winter break or summer break. Or spring break. My mom and dad ended up giving me a DVD copy of it two Christmases ago. My roommate, Caitlin, has also seen this rendition of Pride and Prejudice. I asked her to say a few words and she responded with, "Perfection." and then she left the room.

Mr. Darcy:

The Graham Norton Show

The Graham Norton Show

I remember when my family first got the BBC as a channel. I remember not liking anything that was on it because I was still in middle school (I think) and I wasn't interested in dramas or talk shows that much. I was still in a bit of a Disney phase or if I was feeling especially rebellious (and if my parents were out) I would watch the Real World on MTV much to my parents' displeasure. One night, I was in my room and decided to get some water and my mom was watching something and laughing quite loudly. When I sat down next to her to laugh along, she muted it and told me that I couldn't watch because it was age appropriate. Looking back, I think my mom just wanted to watch something by herself for once and not be bothered by her teenage daughter. That show was the Graham Norton Show. I didn't watch an entire episode until the start of last year. My Fridays during my senior year were booked since I HAD to watch Doctor Who and the Graham Norton Show. Oh social life.

The host of the show is Graham Norton. SURPRISE! He is an Irish comedian and has hosted a variety of shows over the past few years such as So Graham Norton and most recently Would You Rather? His comedy is much more adult humor orientated and most of his monologues are not appropriate for younger kids.   He normally has 3 to 4 guests on a show and also has a musical guest that performs at the end of the show. The questions asked on the show are not exactly conventional but the stories he gets out of his guests are always funny. The audience also participates in the show at times and are often subjected to humor that makes fun of them. Some lines are cringe-worthy and I don't think I'd ever have the confidence to stand up or make a comment during his show. 

At the end of his show he says "Stories from the Red Chair". Ordinary people climb into a big red chair and are shown on a TV screen in front of the guests, audience and Graham. Graham has a big red lever positioned next to him. Once the guest has introduced themselves, they begin telling their best story. Or at least what they think is a good enough story to be told on the show. Most of the time Graham does not like the story and pushes the lever down and up goes the chair, throwing the person backwards. That is generally funnier than the story they are telling. Actually, some of the guests don't even make it through the introduction round. 

There are tons of great clips from this show
Here's a clip of Daniel Radcliffe singing "The Elements": 

Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey

When Downton Abbey first premiered on Masterpiece Theater a couple of years ago, my mom and I were ecstatic for a new drama to look forward to every Sunday night. The first season was only seven episodes long and my mom and I made sure to watch every week. She wasn't very pleased with it and quite honestly I wasn't either. It is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most critically acclaimed English-language television show but I still feel like something was missing. The second season aired this year and I watched all of the episodes online since my roommate and I don't have a TV.



The first season took place between the years 1912 and 1914. The story follows the aristocratic family, the Crawleys, and their staff of servants. The Earl of Grantham, Robert, and his wife, Cora, have three daughters, Mary, Edith, and Sybil and since the women in the family are not legally allowed to inherit property the house and money, when Robert would pass it would go to the heir, a distant cousin Patrick. Patrick and Mary were engaged and that way the family would be well cared for. Unfortunately, Patrick was on the Titanic and the Crawleys were without an heir. They eventually found one in Matthew Crawley, a third cousin. This starts a "are they or aren't they?" between Mary and Matthew. While the family was dealing with that, the staff had issues with servants stealing and new help adjusting to their new jobs.

The second season was during World War II and many of the residences of Downton Abbey were fighting in the war or volunteering in the hospitals. The daughters earned a little more independence in society and in their house. Relationships began to heat up and a love triangle was apparent in this season. The third season has been renewed and is set to air in September of this year.

Despite watching all the episodes, I am not particularly fond of any of the characters. Even the ones that I am 'supposed' to like, I just can't seem to feel for them or like their personality. The character who I liked watching the most was the Right Honorable Violet Crowley, Countess of Grantham played by Maggie Smith. She was the funniest character on the show and had the best zingers.

Well the best zingers in early 20th century at least.

The show is pretty compelling though. I was always intrigued with Mary and Matthew's story and the stories of some of the more unsavory characters working as servants. Normally, I always root for the 'good' guy but for some reason I found myself liking the manipulative help a bit more. Every episode ended in a cliffhanger and kept me wanting more. I would definitely recommended this series even though I didn't like it as much as some other Masterpiece Theater shows.

Doctor Who

Doctor Who Title Card

The Doctor. Doctor Who? Exactly. Doctor Who is the longest running sci-fi television show and it will entering its 50th year in 2013.  It began in 1963 and stopped running for a bit in 1989. In 2005, the BBC relaunched the program.  I became a Whovian (Doctor Who fans) last year while flipping through the stations. Doctor Who is a show I have occasionally heard of due to its cult like status but I never gave it a chance. And that night I finally did. Goodness me, what a fantastic decision. Two episodes were shown that night, the first and second from the sixth season of the revamped Doctor Who with the Eleventh Doctor, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon . Matt Smith took over as the Doctor in the fifth season after David Tennant's reign. He was joined by his companions Amy and Rory. They were trying to destroy the Silence, an alien that you instantly forget as soon as you look away.

Doctors through the Ages 1-11

The Eleventh Doctor? Yep, the eleventh one. The Doctor is a Time Lord and Time Lords can regenerate (duh). So anytime the Doctor is near death or mortally wounded he can regenerate and then BAM! a new actor takes over. Each Doctor has his own little quirks, fashion, and sayings. For example, David Tennant's Tenth Doctor wore converse, an overcoat and his little catchphrase was "Allons-y!". Whereas, Matt Smith's Doctor wears a bow tie and refers to bow ties often with his phrase "Bow ties are cool." Doctor Who's cast is always changing but at the heart of it the Doctor (no matter how many actors play him) and the TARDIS will be there. 

One of things that I love about the show is that it can be summed up in a sentence:  It is about a 900 year old Time Lord traveling through time and space in the TARDIS saving planets with the help of his companions. Or to put it even simpler: It's about a mad man and his box. TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. It's a time machine! The TARDIS is a blue (now called TARDIS blue by most fans) police box from the sixties.

Every episode is a new adventure with the Doctor. There are over arching story lines but for the most part you are able to jump in at anytime and enjoy the story. I will admit there are some pretty ghastly looking special effects that look like they cost about 6 dollars to create and some plots that are far from good but there are only a handful. This show also has the strange ability to make the mundane extraordinary and there have been quite a few episodes in which I began looking at the world around me in a different light. When describing the Silence the Doctor spoke about the noises or creaks you hear when you are alone sometimes. He gave them credit for those sounds. Granted it's not something I believe but just an interesting take.

The appeal of Doctor Who is the Doctor and his relationships with his companions and how he changes them or they change him. Every companion is a normal human who he just picks up and takes them anywhere they want to go and each companion realizes just how capable they are. Kinda cheesy, but it works. The Doctor has a big heart (he has two) and is the cleverest man in the universe. Banter is a sure thing in an episode and a few tears as well. 

Doctor Who is my favorite show because it is always sure to illicit a few laughs from me and yet pull on my heart strings. The Doctor is this fantastic man that makes everything better in the end and at times you can't help but feel envious of the companions travelling through the entire universe and time. Who doesn't like a cheesy sci-fi drama at times? I strongly suggest you give it a chance. I might even have to write another blog on it... So much to write about...

Actually Charlie explains it pretty well: