Saturday, March 3, 2012

English TV Shows

We like to record shows from England and then we watch them when we are home together.   Have I ever mentioned that I love TV shows and movies, but only the good ones? I read that it was very surprising that Americans loved Downton Abbey so much, but I mean, really, people like me who saw this on PBS are almost always true-blue Anglophiles! Hands down, my favorite character was the one portrayed by Maggie Smith, who is one of my favorite actresses anyway.  Some of her lines just had me hooting in laughter...  "Oh, must have said it wrong then" and "Why does every day have to start with a fight with an American".  I also loved that the American actress in this is someone that is not only beautiful but is also made of strong stuff!
Of course, we have watched every single episode of anything by Agatha Christie (love Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot), Midsomer Murders, A Touch of Frost, Life On Mars, and well, everything that we eventually get over here really!  I truly loved the shows with Graham Norton, where they had the singers get voted off one by one to be in one of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's shows.   My favorites were the young men trying for Joseph in "The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat".  The song at the end, "Close Every Door",  where they went up the staircase after they were voted off?  That was great TV!   They knew they were leaving, but I loved the ones who sang their last song with determination and confidence rather than anger...  My favorite was the one called "Rob the builder" but I couldn't find a video of him, but this clip of Daniel is not too shabby.  Graham Norton almost seems as if he is about to cry at the beginning, and you can see how the others react to this performance.

Just this week, we watched an episode of "New Tricks" and because of where it was filmed, it has sent me into a frenzy of research into Victorian architecture (which I have always admired) and will have to wait until another post!



Please pray for all the families affected by the horrible tornadoes, I think at the last count, twenty-nine people have died.  That was such a huge storm...when they showed it on the USA map, it showed that it covered 342 miles. This photo shows the clouds coming over Arabia Mountain at about 6PM on March 2nd.   The worst hit county in Georgia was in the northwest part, but the whole state was under what is called a "watch" which means a tornado could develop and there is no way to tell when or where...Whenever we have these tragedies, the Red Cross is always there to help, along with any of the churches in the area. I know I am leaning heavily on Youtube for this post, but do you mind just one more? 
 WE ALL NEED SOMEBODY TO LEAN ON! 


24 comments:

  1. Hi Kay, I have watched a few episodes of Downtown Abbey and really liked it! Like you, I love anything Agatha Christie - especially Poirot :) Midsomer Murders are sublime - I sure wish it was still in production. Amazing singing - such talent and you sure can feel the emotion. I haven't caught this series, but then again, I really don't watch a whole lot of tv, except for American Idol which I watch religiously, lol!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Jane,
      When they show Downton Abbey again, be sure and watch it, even my husband and son loved it!
      They did another show where they tried to find Maria for "The Sound of Music" but I liked the men better! Midsomer Murders, so funny, they will have FIVE murders sometimes in one little village! But hey, we watch it for the lovely scenery! Oh, that American Idol, I gave up on it this year, just didn't enjoy it anymore. My sister never misses it! :-)

      Delete
  2. I love that you love a lot of our TV shows! I think I'm the only person left who doesn't watch Downton (they'll probably arrest me for admitting that!)but I love all Agatha Christie productions and Midsomer (for the sets - beautiful exteriors and houses). There seem to be more murders in a tiny English village every week than in the whole of the USA in a year!Like Jane, I still watch Idol - Adam Lambert was my all time favourite from that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sulky, Adam is also my all-time favourite!! I feel like a crazed Beetle fan whenever he makes an appearance, lol!!

      Delete
  3. I did watch it when Adam Lambert was on there. Also, they voted off Jennifer Hudson but she got her own back when she won an Oscar! I really dislike the beginning of the show when they have people on there that they just make fun of really, seems cruel to me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Have you seen Kingdom with Stephen Fry? It's on Netflix Instant. I loved it. Gentle and kind with a few eccentric townspeople. Quite wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Nan,
      I will look out for it...it will take 2-3 years to come on BBC America or PBS!

      Delete
  5. We saw some awful photographs of storm devastation, the worst ones came out of Indiana and around that part of the US, very upsetting. But your blog makes me aware that "lesser" ones can still change lives and be very frightening. I say "lesser" but of course for those affected, it is anything but "less".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Jenny,
      Tornadoes are horrible. I just read that in Alabama some people who lost their homes 10 months ago and had them rebuilt, just lost them again in this storm. Another story, a two year old was found a few miles from her home, but her whole family was gone...So incredibly sad. You watch the TV and see the figures of lives lost and homes lost, but you can only imagine all the upset and turmoil behind those words.
      You are very grateful if the storm passes over you.

      Delete
  6. Those storms are scary, although they make for spectacular photos...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meike,
      We have NEVER seen clouds like that, EVER in our lives.
      We were just on the edge of that huge front that stretched for hundreds of miles. The sky was so amazing...look for a post on it. Another one on Arabia, I'm afraid! :-)

      Delete
  7. Oh, I adore Downton Abbey. It's such a wonderful, wonderful show. And, if you like Bill Withers, you should try to see the documentary about him called STILL BILL. It's really great!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Audrey,
    We love Downton Abbey! My son who studies film at college always is pointing out things to me when we watch it, showing how well filmed it is...
    I will look out for that documentary on Bill Withers! Thanks for letting me know. I wish we had songs like that on the radio now.
    Hey Audrey, Scriptor Senex won my giveaway recently...but I decided to draw another name for a very small crochet piece made by ME as a 2nd prize...and you were the 2nd name! Send me an email with your address and I will mail it to you! :-)
    Look at my post "Stone Mountain Sunday and Giveaway Winners".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for the reminder ~ last week was crazy and I started to send it but got interrupted. Our guests are gone now so hopefully life will return to "normal"! Ha. I just sent my address. Thanks, Kay!

      Delete
  9. I think Maggie Smith is a hoot! I've never seen 'Downtown Abbey', but after this post, I really must! And I adore anything from Agatha Christie.

    How awful about those devastating storms. We had some really powerful winds sweeping across the city yesterday, and I said to my husband that something terrible must have happened down south (we always get strong winds as an after effect whenever something is going on south of us). And sure enough, I read about the horrible tornadoes in the news. Those poor families...my heart goes out to them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Martha,
      You would love Downton Abbey, I am sure of it! Agatha Christie is one of my favorites too!

      Whenever we have thunderstorms here (which is often) we also have to worry about the possibility of a tornado. You know it's a bad one when the TV shows pre-empt the regular scheduling to keep the map posted showing exactly where the storm is and where it is headed... We got the worst of it at 3AM on Saturday morning, not a tornado, thank goodness, but enough wind and rain to wake you from a sound sleep... and make you get in a safer part of your home.

      Delete
  10. Hi Kay! Thanks for your sweet comments! I love Downton too, of course! Midsomer is filmed in the villages all around us here...the actors often go to one of the pubs I supply & I even made the cake for the 50th episode celebrations! Didn't want to be too elaborate (that's not my forte anyway ;0) so I ended up with a big rectangle, iced with the series logo & lots of 'blood' spatters all over! It went down very well...
    Terrible weather & devastation...I so feel for all those involved. Australia is suffering strange & terrible storms this summer too. Nature can be so cruel. Sending much love for the week ahead x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Rachel,
      You're welcome! You know that I know what it is like to have close ones live far from you!
      SO HAPPY that you told me that they film Midsomer near you and that YOU MADE THEM THE 50th EPISODE cake! How wonderful is that! Oh, I'll just bet it looked great!
      Does it cause a lot of disruption when they film? Or is the filming done when it is the least busy time?

      Storms here can be quite powerful and you have to use your common sense and try to be in a safe place if at all possible. Sometimes, if the wind is too strong, there is no safe place...

      Delete
  11. We folk in calm parts of the world need every reminder we get of the perils that other people live with every day of their lives. Until GB spent half each year in New Zealand I hadn't realised how frequent earthquakes are there and I hadn't realised you and Mac n'Janet were in a tornado area. How lucky I am.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Scriptor (John),
      I really must do a post on tornadoes.
      Our home was partially destroyed by one on March 31, 1973. We were not living there at the time...we were in South Georgia then, but my Dad had rented it out for about a year and a half.
      All of our childhood things were left in the attic and therefore blown away. I have read that what people miss the most are photographs and objects which have sentimental value that cannot be replaced.
      Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful that we weren't in the house at the time, but we still felt the loss of those childhood things, even all the decorations for our Christmas tree!

      Delete
  12. The scenes of the tornadoes that we have been seeing on the news here are truly heartbreaking, it is so difficult for us the begin to imagine anything like that.
    A few years back husband was driving home and saw a very shifty looking character lurking in one of the villages, then he realised it was John Nettles filming a long shot for Midsomer Murders!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Tracey,
      I really feel for all those affected by these storms...

      Your husband is so lucky! Hey! I once had Carroll O'Conner behind me at a traffic light and he waved at me! Thanks, you just made me remember that! :-) He used to film the TV show "In The Heat Of The Night" in the next little town over from us...

      Delete
  13. Hi Kay,

    Been a while since I caught up on your blog. Love all the pics of Arabia Mtn. Our yard is bursting in bloom as well and how can one complain that it is too early when everything is so beautiful. We have watched all of Downton Abbey and loved it, more please as Oliver said. Really like most all of the Brit's stuff. Thanks for Netflix, we can watch a lot of different things. Have you seen Larkrise to Candleford?

    As always you are one of my favorite folks. Love ya'.

    ReplyDelete