Day 7: Let's all talk in our 'Downton Abbey' voices

Ooh, aren't they pretty?

Whoo hoo, stiff upper lips, conniving servants and period costumes are back on PBS! Well, that's actually par for the course on public television, but in this case we're talking Downton Abbey, the monster hit that has returned to our shores. There was a time when I would likely have already seen the third season through, ahem, alternative means. I don't do that anymore, so I got to wait with the rest of the colonies.

It was mainly fun, in the show's signature soapy ways. There is financial, political and personal trouble up and down in the household, but all this likely won't make many changes, fundamentally at least, to the characters. In the time frame of the show, eight years have passed since the opening episode, but while there have been a lot of changes around them and to them, the people haven't grown that much. It's not really a show interested in delving seriously into the class divide of the age or the cracks in the class system. Those are mainly there to provide chances for frequent costume changes.

Oooh, and there are plenty of those -- and a wedding to boot. I'm only following a handful of shows into my entertainment divorce (Fringe, American Horror Story, Breaking Bad and Doctor Who are the others, mainly because they are either 1) nearly done with their runs or 2) Doctor Who) but in my circles, not watching Downton Abbey would leave nothing to talk about around the figurative water cooler.

Then again, considering my "divorce," the TV was on an awful lot Sunday. I managed to watch an English football match, two NFL playoff games, the Gophers basketball game and finally my two-hour date with the Abbey. I haven't thought too deeply on what to do with sports, but I'm thinking that some limits need to placed there as well. After all, I'm trying to avoid long stretches of passive watching - and I spent an awful long time on the couch.