Thank you, Hudson

Last weekend, I watched the final installment of UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS - the massive series from the 1970s. I was too young to watch it the first time around when it was shown here on Masterpiece Theater, and family lore has it that my mother refused to go to the hospital to deliver my brother until she had finished watching the latest episode regarding the lives of those at 165 Eaton Place, Belgravia.

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS, is a tale of all those who live in Eaton Place from the turn of the century through 1930. Upstairs, you follow the lives of the Bellamys - Lord and Lady Bellamy, and their children, James and Elizabeth. Downstairs, it's the lives of the servants we watch- Hudson, the butler, Mrs. Bridges, the cook, Rose, the head house parlormaid (and one of the creators of the show), along with many other servants.

The episodes are juicy and always incorporate historical facts of what was going on in Britain - especially politically and socially, as Lord Bellamy is a MP. Some are quite scandalous, but I never felt like I was watching a soap opera, and you see everyone warts and all - with their indiscretions, their prejudices, their snobbery. What's especially fascinating to me (and I'm a nerd) aside from all the british-ness of it and the historical stuff, is the production element of it. Scenes are filmed from beginning to end with one, sometimes two cameras, with no cuts in between. No one does that anymore.

I gorged myself and watched all 68 episodes over the course of 4-5 months (thank you, NetFlix). I am not saying you all should do the same thing - that's a lot - but rent one of the discs that has 4 or 5 episodes on it. You'll pick up on the plot in no time, and get sucked into the intrigue of 165. And I have never seen so much cooking and cleaning - who knew? I vote for upstairs- they are are always drinking something delicious.

The episodes from WWI (season 4) are particularly good, and the first two seasons are stunners.