This remarkable series has set history for public stations across America, becoming the most watched dramatic series in PBS history.  There is nothing like watching with a group of 250  fans.  And it’s free! 

The 90-minute finale starts at 9 pm, but you’ll want to arrive by 8:30 to be part of the WOSU Downton Abbey Trivia Contest. Come as you are or dress the part of Lady Mary or Carson.

You must register online (click here) to attend as we expect to fill the theater quickly.  Our thanks to the Gateway Film Center at 1550 North High Street for partnering with WOSU!

Downton Abbey is now the top rated PBS drama ever. Look for a gathering at a local Columbus theatre for the Downton Abbey 90-minute finale on February 17th.  We’ll be making an announcement soon!

Its always been my thought that watching a show like Downton Abbey is similar to a movie theater experience as people get larger HDTV television sets and there are no commercials to interfere with the flow.  No commercial station can match it. It was an actual theater experience last weekend as we gathered with about 600 of our friends to watch Downton’s first hour at the historic Southern Theatre.  It was a communal experience as people laughed, booed and cheered together throughout the program.  What fun!

We’re so pleased to see the New York Times and other coverage of this phenomenon.  The Times article pointed out that the premiere program of season three measured 10 times as much conversation on Twitter as the only two higher-rated shows on Sunday.  And if you ask around you will find that people old and young (including my 22-year old daughter) are hooked completely on Downton. If interested in a fun take on season three on Downton Abbey, you might want to read this blog from Lizzy Acker,  a contributor at KQED in San Francisco.  I like her writing!   There are twists and turns ahead, so keep watching on Sunday nights at 9 pm on WOSU TV.

The link to the Q & A panel chat on YouTube is below:

Shortly after the live event has completed, that same link will provide access to the archived version of the live event.

The latest case is the hiring by NBC of the creator of the highly successful Downton Abbey series on PBS. Julian Fellowes will be producing a new television drama called The Gilded Age set in the late 19th century in New York City. Wonder if some network execs have been watching the viewership numbers of Downton Abbey? This closely follows the CBS drama series Elementary, which is a commercial version of the Sherlock series airing on PBS. Sherlock is a modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes and, not surprisingly, so is Elementary.

The historic list is extensive dating back to 1963, when educational television stations started airing tennis matches, well before we had “Breakfast at Wimbledon.” Then you have Julia Child’s The French Chef that inspired so many other cooking shows and a whole network. Antiques Roadshow, still the number one program on PBS stations, has certainly inspired several cable knockoff shows.

Of course, what PBS stations like WOSU have to offer is something the commercial networks cannot emulate – commercial free programming. I submit that watching Downton Abbey, like watching a movie at the local AMC Theatre, is a wholly different, more immersive, more satisfying experience, simply because there are not commercials every 14 minutes of programming (or whatever the ratio today).  So enjoy continuing to watch PBS and know that the commercial television network programmers are watching too!