directing the downstairs staff, and the clueless Lord Crawley was fucking up the running of the estate upstairs. By the time he got to visit with his paraffin (i.e. kerosene) heater (no wonder they looked askance--they probably feared he'd burn the joint down) the whole Great House system was on the skids--the staffs of hundreds were down to a dozen or fewer.
He's also waaaaaay behind the plot line with this diatribe, as well. There's plenty of demand to adhere to tradition from both groups (see Lady Mary dressing down Carson for stepping out of his "place" to encourage her to get involved in the management of the estate in the season opener, as an example).
Downton Abbey is popular because people like nicely-accented soap operas that are period pieces. He's right about one thing--the viewers aren't in it for the brutal reality, they're in it for the assorted story lines. Anyone who had an ancestor "in service" and is old enough to have talked to them knows that the work was hard and the hours were long and the pay sucked. You can't make a series out of that--a movie, maybe.
The viewers enjoy the clearly defined characters. They love witty repartee, and they like the costumes and scenery and customs and they enjoy being shocked by the attitudes, to include the anti-Irish racism and the sexism. They like travelling back in time to the period between 1912 through the roaring Twenties.
It's formulaic, but it's amusing. Not completely accurate, but not way off the mark either.
This guy's hatred of Julian Fellowes is rather visceral...such a waste of emotion! Who gives a shit...the guy should just let it go.
I'm betting Julian (raking in the dough) Fellowes doesn't give a squeaky fart what Clancy Sigal thinks. He's too busy counting his cash and enjoying the ride that is Downton Abbey. If he can sell the prequel idea (going back before the turn of the century) he'll be in clover until his dotage.
= new reply since forum marked as read
