If you had told me a year ago that Downton Abbey would be one of the most globally celebrated shows on television, I would have asked you if it was even a real show, and followed up with a question about your experience with time-travel. As it turns out, Downton Abbey is a very real show with a very real following that only continues to build.
Finishing its North American run on PBS on Sunday, Downton Abbey’s Season Two finale attracted 5.4 million live viewers. Even before the results were tallied from web streams, replays, and DVRs, Downton Abbey surpassed the numbers brought in by Ken Burns’ National Parks premiere in September 2009.
Appropriately airing during PBS’s Masterpiece Classic broadcast, the show was minimally edited to fit the extended time allotment, though with ultimately no omissions. The period piece commences its first season just prior to WWI following the sinking of the Titanic, with its second season taking place during the Battle of the Somme and beyond, and its third season set to cover an eighteen-month period leading out of 1920. Filming has already commenced on the newest season, with its UK premiere date slated for September of this year.
I think that Downton Abbey's success -- and throw in hit AMC shows into this category as well -- are aided by positive Internet buzz.
I'm low brow enough to admit that I don't check in with PBS very often, but a nearly overwhelming wave of admonitions to check out Downton pushed me over the edge, and of course I was immediately entranced.
I'd like to think that we here at TVGA play some small role in helping to push deserving shows and help them to gain the audiences they deserve !