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Arts & Entertainment

Instant Entertainment: A Tale Of Two Upstairs/Downstairs Dramas

By

Garth Johnston

Published Mar 1, 2011

Modified Mar 1, 2011

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Fans of upstairs/downstairs dramas have high- and low-brow takes on the form waiting for them on Netflix Watch Instantly right now. Both boast British accents and class concerns in a large house, carefully choreographed set pieces, deaths disguised and their consequences, token gays and loads of intricate intrigues inside and out. One is a PBS costume drama with ladies and maids in a giant manor in pre-World War I England and the other is a softcore Starz sand-and-sandals soap set in a Roman gladiator school. One has Maggie Smith, the other has Lucy Lawless. And depending on what you are in the mood for both, both Downton Abbey and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena are welcome ways to waste a weekend.Also? There is The Sandlot

 

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By

Garth Johnston

Published Mar 1, 2011

Modified Mar 1, 2011

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Tagged

downton abbey

lucy lawless

maggie smith

netflix

pbs

spartacus: gods of the arena

starz

Garth Johnston

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