Downton Abbey

I know that I'm late to this party, but Downton Abbey really is as good as you've heard.  You can watch the entire first season on Netflix, and season 2 is available (until March 6th) at PBS.org.  I'm generally not a big fan of the Upstairs/Downstairs sort of thing, so I took awhile to try this show out.  That was a mistake.  What really makes this show great is the writing and acting; every single character (and there are a lot of them) is a complicated, troubled, messy, real human being with their own motivations, ethics, and beliefs.  In addition, the production values are very high, the sets and costumes are Edwardialicious.  A+ for Season 1.  I haven't finished season 2 yet.

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret is a weird little British show developed jointly with IFC starring that guy from Arrested Development with that other guy from Arrested Development.  It's about a bumbling nice guy who "accidentally" gets a job distributing a (possibly toxic and/or radioactive) Korean energy drink.  Wacky hijinks ensue.  The show starts in media res with Todd on trial for a litany of crimes, including terrorism, kiddie porn, and other horrible things.  Ove the six episodes that follow, we see just how a ridiculous series of increasingly poor decisions led to that predicament.  It's well written and acted, funny often, and stupid almost as often.  It wants to be Arrested Development, but it needs a more convincing straight man and to take itself much more seriously.  That being said, it's funny enough.  A solid B.

Survivors

Because of all the snow, I've had a lot of time off work lately, with not much to do.  Thus, the spate of post-apocalypse TV marathons in my living room.  Here's what I've watched lately:


Some of you might not know this, but I'm obsessed with thinking about how to survive/rebuild after an apocalypse. Seriosly, I'm one step away from hoarding antibiotics and beef jerky. I mean, I do hoard beef jerky, but I only have, like, 2 courses of antibiotics squirreled away. I in no way have a closet full of veterinary grade antibiotic powder. That would be crazy. :)

Due to this, I'm a huge fan of post-apocalypse fiction, both the sad, gritty kind (The Road) and the goofy kind (Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome). I just love the idea of people rebuilding civilization using nothing but their wits. I'm always on the lookout for new post-apocalypse movies and TV.


Survivors is a British TV show about the (few) survivors of a global flu pandemic.  The first season covers the usual post-apocalypse sorts of things....a group of strangers band together to make a place for themselves in the new world.  Each of the characters has an interesting back story, and, although sort of archetypal, they're all believable people with believable motivations.  (Mostly).  I did spend a non-trivial amount of time during the first few seasons yelling at them to be less traumatized and go raid a camping store, but that pretty much happens with all post-apocalyptic fiction and me.

Even though I imagine the show had quite a small budget (it's BBC, afterall), it doesn't have any of the cheesy low production values that you sometimes see on British shows.  It seems to be shot on location in the English countryside, and in London, and there are very few special effects.  The pacing is good, and the show is overall enjoyable. I personally, like the first season better.  In the second season, it starts to get all "big plot" with an evil conspiracy behind the plague.   I always like that less than small, tight stories about individual people surviving.  B+