Sophisticated Junkie

I have finally succumbed to peer pressure and tried Downton Abbey for the first time. They were right: once is all it takes and you're a junkie. Something tells me LA is gonna look a lot like early-20th-century British countryside this weekend.

I have a weak spot for Maggie Smith & gilded baroque interiors, especially together. They're a lot of people's girl-on-girl, actually. It's sort of surprising how many twenty- and thirtysomethings are super hot for Dame Smith in any setting, from the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to the lavishly appointed nursery of adult Peter Pan's children and the inner-city cathedral circuit of San Francisco. Maggie Smith is a sort of sex symbol, masturbatory fuel for the asexual within us all.

"Downtown Abbey" is "Revenge" in petticoats, and "Game of Thrones" is "Revenge" with dragons. So, watch them all and never will your life tire of melodramatic entertainment of the highest order.  I am currently triple-dipping in every variety available, and let me tell you what, the pleasures never cease & the comparisons are many.

They all feature delicious depictions of life-or-death stakes for the 1% of their individual worlds, a handsomely appointed estate standing tall & proud in the British countryside, the epic mythology spun by George R.R. Martin's thoroughly fantastic imagination, and the incestuous Hamptons elite among whom a femme fatale stalks her deserving prey. They also equilaterally feature scandalous political downfalls, secret gay sex lives, elaborate double-cross plots, and confidential incest.

As you can see, I may be addicted. Upstairs/downstairs rehab would make a great Portlandia sketch.