“Downton Abbey” is the buzzy British drama that all your friends (and cousins in Nebraska) are probably talking about right now, but I encourage everyone to give “The Hour” a look.
The mini-series, which aired on BBC America last August/September follows the production of a news program in Cold War-era England. I’ve been watching the series this week (I still have one episode left), but I would highly recommend it. When it originally aired, it received a lot of comparisons to “Mad Men,” but I think that’s a lazy comparison. Wow! They are both period pieces! They’re not really that similar.
I’m still wondering how all the mysteries are going to be solved in just one more episode, but what I admire most about “The Hour” are the three leads/characters, portrayed by Ben Whishaw (who has a prime gig in the next James Bond movie), Romola Garai (one of the Brionys in “Atonement”) and Dominic West (known to most people as that evil Senate guy in “300″). These three characters are given amazing depth in just six episodes, and though the situations we see them in are familiar, the way they react to the situations and people around them are surprisingly different than you may think.
I don’t have anything against ”Downton Abbey,” but if you’re looking for a quick, quality mini-series, try “The Hour.” And yeah, I’ll eventually get around to watching “Downton Abbey.”
Even the series' posters are cool.
In the meantime, please bare with me as I experiment with different layouts for my blog. My post-grad job search has begun, and I want to make my blog as appealing as possible. Hire me! Yeah!
