The British television series Downton Abbey is to be simplified and be shortened by two hours over fears that Americans will find it too complicated.
The eight part ITV show was 2010's TV hit and now it is to be shown on American network PBS next week.
However, there are fears that in the land of the short attention span, in which TV shows have to be much more faster paced than their British counterparts, Downton Abbey will leave Yanks baffled.
The historical drama, written by Julian Fellowes, set just before and during World War I, portrays the life of the very wealthy Crawley family and their servants who live in the magnificent Downton Abbey (which, in real life, is Highclere Castle in Hampshire). It is a very British programme.
Much of the drama revolves around challenges to the 'entail' - the legal device which determines how the estate should be divided up - after Lord Grantham's heirs perish on the Titanic.
Rebecca Eaton, an executive producer for the PBS network, said: 'We thought there might be too many references to the entail and they have been cut. It is not a concept people in the US are very familiar with.'
However, British viewers will still wonder what the fuss is all about because they are as equally unfamiliar with the entail as the Americans are.
PBS also believes its audiences will need an American to outline the key themes of the show.
So before the first episode, actress Laura Linney will explain the inheritance principle.
It seems that dumbed down Americans need to be treated like kids when they are to watch a brilliant British TV show with a plot much more intricate than what they are used to.
The first series cost an estimated £1 million an hour to film, making Downton Abbey the most expensive British TV show ever produced. It is also the most successful British period drama since Brideshead Revisited (1981), with UK ratings exceeding 10 million viewers.
And, despite Americans being shown a dumbed-down version, it looks like it may prove a hit there, too. One website described it as 'transcendent television, extraordinary and intoxicating'.
Downton downsized... by two hours because American TV executives fear its intricate plot will baffle U.S. viewers
By Chris Hastings
2nd January 2011
Daily Mail
Unsurprisingly, the lavish period drama has now been snapped up by an American network - although it seems the beautifully nuanced portrait of pre-First World War upper-class life could prove just a little too complex for the transatlantic audience.
For in the land of the notoriously short attention span, TV executives have taken a knife to the artfully crafted series, slashing its running time and simplifying the plotline for fear viewers will be left baffled.
Sumptuous series: Jessica Brown Findlay (left), Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael in Downton Abbey. TV executives in the U.S. have slashed its running time and simplified the plotline for fear viewers will be left baffled
Rebecca Eaton, an executive producer for the PBS network - which will be airing it from next week - admits that American audiences demand a 'different speed' to their shows.
As a result, Downton, which ran for eight hours on ITV, has been slashed to six for the States, while the storyline about the inheritance of the Abbey has been downplayed.
The show's ten million British viewers will be well aware that much of the drama revolves around challenges to the 'entail' - the legal device which determines how the estate should be divided up - after Lord Grantham's heirs perish on the Titanic.
But Ms Eaton said: 'We thought there might be too many references to the entail and they have been cut. It is not a concept people in the US are very familiar with.'
However, that did not seem to faze British viewers, who would have been similarly unaware of the term before watching the series.
PBS also believes its audiences will need an American to outline the key themes of the show.
So before the first episode, actress Laura Linney will explain the inheritance principle.
Let me explain: Actress Laura Linney will help U.S. viewers by explaining the inheritance principle - central to the plot - before the first show
She will also inform viewers that the idea of a wealthy American heiress such as the fictional Cora Countess of Grantham coming to the rescue of a hard-up aristocratic British family is rooted in fact.
On ITV, the series, which starred Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern, ran with advertisements, while PBS - the Public Broadcasting Service - is free of commercials.
Nonetheless, Ms Eaton admitted cuts had been made to fit Downton Abbey into four 90-minute episodes.
'American audiences are used to a different speed when it comes to television drama and you need to get into a story very quickly,' she said.
'We also wanted to get to the point where Matthew Crawley [the family's middle-class cousin and unlikely heir] arrives on the scene much faster than in the British version. He is a pivotal character and his arrival brings with it drama and conflict.
'In the British version he doesn't arrive until episode two. In our version he is there in episode one.'
Ms Eaton insisted that any changes were minor and did not affect the quality of the programme. It will, however, be released in its entirety in the States on DVD, billed as the British original.
That may not be enough to please some viewers, who have taken to the internet to register their displeasure. One wrote: 'Americans are getting the short end of the stick and PBS doesn't seem to care.'
Another said: 'It is not complete... I fear for the reputation of this [version] over in the States.'
Julian Fellowes, the show's Oscar-winning writer, refused to be drawn into the debate. 'This is not one for me,' he said last night.
He also declined to speculate about the show's likely reception in America, saying: 'I have been in this business long enough to know you should never try to predict the fate of anything.
'I do know Americans are very responsive to new drama and they have a powerful television drama tradition.'
The image of formal, refined English life has already won some fans in the States, with one website describing it as 'transcendent television, extraordinary and intoxicating'.
Need for speed: PBS presents Downton... but just a bit faster
No, my dear old popcorn guzzlers, the butler's pantry isn't where he keeps his trousers
A tongue-in-cheek guide for American viewers, by Julian Jolley-Goodfellowes*
Good evening. I am Julian Jolley-Goodfellowes. I am here to guide you American viewers, smilingly and patronisingly, through the intricacies of aristocratic life portrayed in Downton Abbey, for any popcorn guzzlers who think the butler's pantry is where he keeps his trousers.
dailymail.co.uk
The eight part ITV show was 2010's TV hit and now it is to be shown on American network PBS next week.
However, there are fears that in the land of the short attention span, in which TV shows have to be much more faster paced than their British counterparts, Downton Abbey will leave Yanks baffled.
The historical drama, written by Julian Fellowes, set just before and during World War I, portrays the life of the very wealthy Crawley family and their servants who live in the magnificent Downton Abbey (which, in real life, is Highclere Castle in Hampshire). It is a very British programme.
Much of the drama revolves around challenges to the 'entail' - the legal device which determines how the estate should be divided up - after Lord Grantham's heirs perish on the Titanic.
Rebecca Eaton, an executive producer for the PBS network, said: 'We thought there might be too many references to the entail and they have been cut. It is not a concept people in the US are very familiar with.'
However, British viewers will still wonder what the fuss is all about because they are as equally unfamiliar with the entail as the Americans are.
PBS also believes its audiences will need an American to outline the key themes of the show.
So before the first episode, actress Laura Linney will explain the inheritance principle.
It seems that dumbed down Americans need to be treated like kids when they are to watch a brilliant British TV show with a plot much more intricate than what they are used to.
The first series cost an estimated £1 million an hour to film, making Downton Abbey the most expensive British TV show ever produced. It is also the most successful British period drama since Brideshead Revisited (1981), with UK ratings exceeding 10 million viewers.
And, despite Americans being shown a dumbed-down version, it looks like it may prove a hit there, too. One website described it as 'transcendent television, extraordinary and intoxicating'.
Downton downsized... by two hours because American TV executives fear its intricate plot will baffle U.S. viewers
By Chris Hastings
2nd January 2011
Daily Mail
- Eight-hour ITV series slashed to six for the States
- Inheritance storyline simplified for Americans
Unsurprisingly, the lavish period drama has now been snapped up by an American network - although it seems the beautifully nuanced portrait of pre-First World War upper-class life could prove just a little too complex for the transatlantic audience.
For in the land of the notoriously short attention span, TV executives have taken a knife to the artfully crafted series, slashing its running time and simplifying the plotline for fear viewers will be left baffled.
Sumptuous series: Jessica Brown Findlay (left), Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael in Downton Abbey. TV executives in the U.S. have slashed its running time and simplified the plotline for fear viewers will be left baffled
Rebecca Eaton, an executive producer for the PBS network - which will be airing it from next week - admits that American audiences demand a 'different speed' to their shows.
As a result, Downton, which ran for eight hours on ITV, has been slashed to six for the States, while the storyline about the inheritance of the Abbey has been downplayed.
The show's ten million British viewers will be well aware that much of the drama revolves around challenges to the 'entail' - the legal device which determines how the estate should be divided up - after Lord Grantham's heirs perish on the Titanic.
But Ms Eaton said: 'We thought there might be too many references to the entail and they have been cut. It is not a concept people in the US are very familiar with.'
However, that did not seem to faze British viewers, who would have been similarly unaware of the term before watching the series.
PBS also believes its audiences will need an American to outline the key themes of the show.
So before the first episode, actress Laura Linney will explain the inheritance principle.
Let me explain: Actress Laura Linney will help U.S. viewers by explaining the inheritance principle - central to the plot - before the first show
She will also inform viewers that the idea of a wealthy American heiress such as the fictional Cora Countess of Grantham coming to the rescue of a hard-up aristocratic British family is rooted in fact.
On ITV, the series, which starred Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern, ran with advertisements, while PBS - the Public Broadcasting Service - is free of commercials.
Nonetheless, Ms Eaton admitted cuts had been made to fit Downton Abbey into four 90-minute episodes.
'American audiences are used to a different speed when it comes to television drama and you need to get into a story very quickly,' she said.
'We also wanted to get to the point where Matthew Crawley [the family's middle-class cousin and unlikely heir] arrives on the scene much faster than in the British version. He is a pivotal character and his arrival brings with it drama and conflict.
'In the British version he doesn't arrive until episode two. In our version he is there in episode one.'
Ms Eaton insisted that any changes were minor and did not affect the quality of the programme. It will, however, be released in its entirety in the States on DVD, billed as the British original.
That may not be enough to please some viewers, who have taken to the internet to register their displeasure. One wrote: 'Americans are getting the short end of the stick and PBS doesn't seem to care.'
Another said: 'It is not complete... I fear for the reputation of this [version] over in the States.'
Julian Fellowes, the show's Oscar-winning writer, refused to be drawn into the debate. 'This is not one for me,' he said last night.
He also declined to speculate about the show's likely reception in America, saying: 'I have been in this business long enough to know you should never try to predict the fate of anything.
'I do know Americans are very responsive to new drama and they have a powerful television drama tradition.'
The image of formal, refined English life has already won some fans in the States, with one website describing it as 'transcendent television, extraordinary and intoxicating'.
Need for speed: PBS presents Downton... but just a bit faster
No, my dear old popcorn guzzlers, the butler's pantry isn't where he keeps his trousers
A tongue-in-cheek guide for American viewers, by Julian Jolley-Goodfellowes*
Good evening. I am Julian Jolley-Goodfellowes. I am here to guide you American viewers, smilingly and patronisingly, through the intricacies of aristocratic life portrayed in Downton Abbey, for any popcorn guzzlers who think the butler's pantry is where he keeps his trousers.
- Each day in a stately home began not merely with servants grate-cleaning, stove-blacking and bed-making - but also, crucially, with SCOLDING. 'Hurry up with that fire, girl, before one of the ladyships sees you!' 'I thought I told you to take that kedgeree upstairs?' 'How dare you sit upon Lady Edith's counterpane!' A head housemaid such as Mrs Hughes would have been hired solely on the basis of her scolding technique.
- It was traditional for the eldest daughter to exclaim daily: 'He's the most hideous bore, he's about 100, and you want me to marry him, and I simply shan't!' When male dinner guests were not middle-aged bores, they were improbably good-looking Turkish emissaries who tended to die most indelicately in the eldest daughter's bedchamber. This would result in the daughter's wail: 'I shall be ruined, Mama!'
- It was important cooks be old and permanently on the edge of hysteria - especially when presented with fancy new pudding recipes.
- The role of a Dowager Countess is to disapprove of everything, expressing her views with disbelief and bulging eyes, eg: 'Manchester?' 'What, pray, is a "weekend"?' 'A job?'
- It was customary every few days for a young aristocrat or blundering middle-class gentleman to inadvertently mock a servant. 'I say, William, all that polishing and serving drinks, what a perfectly ludicrous job.' At this, it is traditional for the servant to flinch, look downwards, eyes sorrowful, and mumble: 'Yes, sir... though it has made my family very proud.' The closing stages of this ritual should then involve the gentleman making a stammering response. 'I say, I, er, I'm most awfully sorry, I didn't mean to...'
- All the very smartest stately homes employed at least one sinister young footman, with a penchant for blackmail and theft. Indeed, this is how the job was advertised at the time: 'Position Vacant: Malevolent footman. Must have ideas above station. Would suit "troubled soul".'
- The primary function of back stairs were not the transport of meals, but as a forum for malicious gossip and plotting.
- It was customary for butlers to have a shaming element from their past suddenly reappear and shatter their dignity. 'Ere, Carson, remember me? Your old music hall partner? From 1904? It's me! Brucie Forsyth!' Following this revelation, the butler is expected to tender his resignation to his master. The aristocrat would be expected to feign shock, but to twitch his lips signifying secret, heart-warming amusement, thus confirming that the aristocracy are all simply marvellous.
- Aristocrats often had an uncanny sense of precognition. 'Oh look, Dowager Countess, let's do try to be friends. After all, it's 1912 and there could be a First World War in two years' time.'
- Villagers would not have dreamed of saying a word, even to each other, without being spoken to by His Lordship first. And even then, their responses would have been limited to a terse 'Thank you, my Lord' and a sob of 'Oh, Your Ladyship, thank you!'
- It was traditional for young female aristocrats to reveal private details while sitting at a mirror, as their maids stood behind, rearranging their hair. Particularly prized were maids who could master the phrase: 'It's not my place to say, your Ladyship.'
- The phrase from a butler that would have filled an aristocrat with the most dread was: 'May I speak freely, sir?'
- Occasionally, aristocrats would use joltingly anachronistic terms, such as Cora calling her daughter 'damaged goods', going on to add: 'She's a total mare, do you get me? Do you? Do you, though?' Nor was it unusual for some homes in a village such as Downton in 1912 to have uPVC window frames.
dailymail.co.uk
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