(This piece of writing is a couple of years old, but finding it again by accident, I thought it was fun and decided to post it anyway.)
I have heard people refer to Downton Abbey as “Downtown Abbey”, especially people who are either unfamiliar with the programme (yes, it’s hoity-toity, and it’s British, so it’s a “programme”), or people who don’t like it. And that made me think: Hey, how about making a show that’s the opposite of Downton Abbey that’s called Downtown Abbey? It could be about some urban skid row residency hotel in some American city called “The Abbey”, and it would be a drama about all the people’s lives and trials and tribulations and how they make their way in life (or not) in this decidedly non-upscale environment. And just so that people won’t think he’s a snob, it could be created by Julian Fellowes. (He could take a sabbatical from Downton Abbey to gain experience in the hard-knocks life of a down-on-his-luck petty criminal or drug addict, and write from the heart about what it’s like in this downscale soap opera for PBS. Or are there already too many depressing shows like this, and that’s why Downton Abbey is so popular?)
