PBS’s “Downton Abbey” grabs more stories than the USA’s White House. Hampshire, England’s 400-year-old Edwardian condo Highclere Castle and its 17th-century tapestries, ancient marble, swords, statues in armor, thousand acres and million rooms owned by family Carnarvon — enough already.
“Gosford Park” author Julian Fellowes, who apparently never met his country’s lower crust, seems mired in aristocratic Brit snobciety’s upstairs/downstairs servants, butlers and footmen.
How long did he take to create this series in which Dame Maggie magnificent Smith plays the stuffy snooty countess?
“Writers are always writing. Never stops. Things lodge in your head. You go back and forth. I started February and wrote it all, including the last episodes, under pressure because September we were already in production.
“These characters are in the air. Based on my experiences, I’m aided by an elephantine memory. And America helped.
“Although dealing with corsets and long dresses, our structure is like your ‘E.R.’ No kind of fat. Just keep furthering the story economically. Move forward. Like ‘NYPD Blue,’ things go fast. Miss a beat, too bad, go onward. The pace developed the American way. The old style now seems so slow.
“I don’t quite know how it’s done. I just somehow sit in front of a machine. No story board. You think, ‘Oh, that idea’s good, I think I’ll bring that in.’ You see or hear something then change the sex or color it somehow. I have pages of different ideas that can sometimes happen but, lest my memory disintegrates, I think I must start a booklet with notes.”
Of pull-cord toilets, decayed timbers, eighth Earl of Carnarvon (with giant ancestry and dwarf bank account) in Residence, he says: “The house is crumbling. Lady Carnarvon, keen to make it work, opens it to the public. People marry there.”
Six Emmys, Golden Globes, best miniseries, best writing, best supporting, best whatever, “Abbey” marches on.
Says Lord Julian: “America’s given us prizes for it. People, strangely addicted, adopted it with fervor. Series 3, nine episodes, starts shooting next week. We’ll keep going until the audience doesn’t want us.”
THE Yankees organizing for their first post-election series. I hear they plan to throw out the first Republican.
SO Great Barrington, Mass., has a Karen Allen Fiber Arts shop. So a customer tells the shopkeeper: “You look like that actress from my favorite movie ‘Animal House.’ ” So she says, “I am that Karen Allen.”
Jamie Foxx at Philippe in Hollywood with R&B singer Tank eating spicy prawns while his video played on a 25-foot screen. Last week I’m told he was also there. Also inhaling spicy prawns. Doesn’t he ever stay home or not eat spicy prawns?
HAIRDRESSERS: Michele Bachmann’s coif always great . . . Mrs. Gingrich, smart, tough, making lots of his decisions. Hair doesn’t move but she must — because she wiggled him off Wife No. 2.
FOUR things not in new upcoming American hotels. 1) Bathtubs. Take more space than showers. Harder to clean. Accidents from falls. 2) Mini-bars. Take staff too much time to monitor. Cause arguments with guests. 3) Wall-to-wall carpet. Harbors bugs. Bare floors easier, cheaper to maintain. 4) Bedspreads. Unnecessary. Because who knows what it’s experienced, that’s the first thing any savvy sensible traveller discards instantly.
CHEF Paula Deen’s admission of diabetes might’ve surprised her son, chef Bobby. Last month he told me: “Mother’s had a hard time. She once suffered from crippling agoraphobia. But I know to care for myself because of my Cooking Channel show ‘Not My Mama’s Meals.’
“Work with a trainer seven days a week. The gym daily. I’m active. Do jiujitsu, run, lift weights. Light lifestyle way of meals. Steamed dishes. Eat cleanly. No sweet tooth. Stuff myself with heart-healthy pecans, almonds. Remove all fat. It’s addition by subtraction. Plus lots of water.”
REALtynik Barbara Corcoran: “Multibillionaires like very expensive homes so’s to impress other multibillionaires.”. . . Meryl Streep: “Playing Mrs. Thatcher was exhausting. I needed daily massages because I had to show a curved spine like hers.”. . . Drew Barrymore: “Getting older, my dark circles now show. Fighting insomnia, I’m starting to look like ‘Night of the Living Dead.’ ”
SWEET comment from Veronica, Mrs. Ray Kelly, on relinquishing a Paris rental she enjoyed: “I don’t like to leave Ray that long.”. . . Smart comment from financier Alexandra Lebenthal: “I’m writing a book on this city’s scammers. People who snare opera tickets, go to the best parties, but are really nobodies. It’s a big thing in New York.”
MAN along West 14th Street in a battery-operated wheelchair. It bore the sign: “No passengers.”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.