Downton Abbey

It's a shame Gloria Gaynor wasn't making records back in 1920, because if anyone needs to drink about seven or eight bottles of wine, throw "I Will Survive" on the Victrola and belt out those lyrics from the bottom of her heart using Lady Mary's hairbrush as a microphone, it's poor old Edith. The middle Crawley sister has had more than her fair share of hard knocks and humiliations over the years, from her short-lived fling with the farmer down the road to her aborted flirtation with a (likely)

PBS has become a Sunday night ratings force with "Downton Abbey" and "Sherlock. " The most recent seasons of the British dramas were their highest-rated yet, according to final numbers released Wednesday by PBS outlet WGBH-TV. Season 4 of "Downton" -- detailing the life of a fictional aristocratic family and its servants a century ago -- averaged 13.2 million total viewers, according to Nielsen -- up 15% compared with the previous season. VIDEO: Interviews with the women of 'Downton Abbey' Meanwhile, the third season of "Sherlock" -- a modern retelling of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle -- averaged 6.6 million, for a whopping 50% gain compared with Season 2. "Downton" has been renewed for Season 5 via its U.K. maker, ITV, and will presumably re-appear in the U.S. early in 2015.

I would bet you shillings to cents that at least 90% of the people who watch “Downton Abbey,” which returns to these TV shores on Sunday, would rather be the “upstairs” folk, the titled Crawley family, than the “downstairs” population of the maid- and menservants. Who would want to be obligated to all that groveling and scraping, right? As it turned out, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, tens of thousands of people did. PHOTOS: 'Downton Abbey' -- Behind the Scenes Hollywood Backlot For all the subservience, the hand-and-foot tending of people whose birth and wealth evidently made them ill-suited to dress themselves, a life in “service” to a great British family like the Crawleys could be far better than the alternatives.

The greatest trick that director Bryan Singer ever pulled was to fool audiences with an unreliable narrator in "The Usual Suspects. " Singer is a producer on the new "Uwantme2killhim?" But this time the unreliable narrative seems to convince only the film's luckless protagonist. Based on a true story recounted by Vanity Fair in 2005, "Uwantme2killhim?" traces in flashback the steps of 16-year-old Mark (Jamie Blackley) leading up to him knifing his best friend, John (Toby Regbo)

Where is a dead Turkish diplomat when you need one? As we approach the midpoint of “Downton Abbey's” third season, I am increasingly concerned the show has lost its ability to surprise. I find myself nostalgic for the long-ago days when you never knew who might slip on an errant bar of soap, die from ingesting rat poison, or carry on a same-sex affair with closeted members of the nobility. What was so seductive about “Downton Abbey” the first time around was how it offered all the usual trappings of British costume drama, while also indulging the more prurient impulses of the contemporary viewer.

The third season of "Downton Abbey" premiered across the pond Sunday night, and the sky-high ratings suggest that fans haven't tired of the soapy period piece. Approximately 8.6 million viewers tuned into to ITV1, the network that airs "Downton Abbey" in Britain, to watch Shirley MacLaine make her first appearance as Martha Levinson, the wealthy American mother of Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern). Those numbers would be impressive stateside, but they're even more dazzling given the much smaller size of the British television audience.

The third season of "Downton Abbey" premiered across the pond Sunday night, and the sky-high ratings suggest that fans haven't tired of the soapy period piece. Approximately 8.6 million viewers tuned into to ITV1, the network that airs "Downton Abbey" in Britain, to watch Shirley MacLaine make her first appearance as Martha Levinson, the wealthy American mother of Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern). Those numbers would be impressive stateside, but they're even more dazzling given the much smaller size of the British television audience.

Oh, “Downton Abbey,” it's good to have you back. Fans - at least those with a healthy respect for copyright law -- have waited patiently since March for the return of the embattled Crawley family.  It's been a long hiatus, but on the bright side, this is not a show that wastes time getting into the action. True to form, Sunday's Season 3 premiere introduced close to  half a dozen new plot developments in less than the time it takes Mrs. Patmore to whip up one of her famed soufflés.

Editor's note: This interview was conducted in Britain last summer, before the fate of Stevens' character was known. Dan Stevens was a virtual unknown before "Downton Abbey" premiered on PBS two years ago. But between the launch of the series and the premiere of Season 3, a lot changed for Stevens; the Cambridge grad became a heartthrob across the globe in the role of Matthew Crawley, a middle-class lawyer sucked into the gilded cage that is...

As an Anglophile, I'm as pathetic as the next chap. My idea of a good time is to be in London, drinking at lunch with some well-lubricated British journalist friends, stumbling out when it's getting dark, tea at a fancy hotel and then theater in the evening. Then repeat. And yes, when I'm not in London (that is, almost all the time), I rarely miss an episode of "Downton Abbey. " But at least I have the decency to be ashamed about it. The shameless popularity of this blue-blood soap opera, which starts its third season in the U.S. next month, is astonishing.

Naomi Campbell walked the runway in German designer Philipp Plein's Dallas-themed show at Milan Fashion Week on Sunday, keeping her cool as fireworks exploded around her. [The Cut] Fergie is showing that she is back in shape after the birth of her 6-month-old baby Axl. She's modeling in Calvin Klein ads, wearing Calvin's undies and nothing else. [People] The Costume Designers Guild honored the films "12 Years a Slave," "Blue Jasmine" and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and television's "Downton Abbey," among others, at its annual awards ceremony Saturday in Los Angeles.

“Breaking Bad's” Walter White was not, as it seemed, the last gasp of the antihero tyrannical hold on TV, but HBO's “True Detective” may be. Although it is impossible not to admire the performances by Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, “True Detective's” fetishistic love of the sweaty messed up man, at the expense of every woman in a 10-mile radius, is drawing as much criticism as its premiere drew raves. Twitter has been serving up hilarious wish lists for Season 2 - the Olsen twins?

The most delightful moment in Sunday's season finale of “Downton Abbey” comes at the very end, as Carson and Mrs. Hughes, throw caution to the wind, grasp each other's hands and wade barefoot into the cold salty ocean water together. “You can always hold my hand if you need to feel steady,” Mrs. Hughes assures a nervous Carson. "I don't know how, but you managed to make that sound a little risque,” he replies. “And if I did? We're getting on, you and I -- we can afford to live a little," Mrs. Hughes replies, as millions of "Downton Abbey" viewers across the country squealed with delight and no doubt inspiring reams of fan fiction.  The image of Carson and Mrs. Hughes hand in hand is a wonderful, unexpected and quietly thrilling way to wind down the season, and it's certainly a more pleasant send-off  than this . While it's not exactly the sort of cliffhanger we've come to expect from this series, it also lays the groundwork for exciting developments next year.

"Downton Abbey" wrapped its fourth season -- again, this time in the U.S. -- with piggish ratings, bringing in 8.5 million viewers. The season ender was up about 300,000 viewers from last season's conclusion, which included the car crash death of Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), but was down significantly from the 10.2 million the season opener brought in January. The finale, which gave viewers an epic hand-holding moment between Carson and Mrs. Hughes, placed third for the night, behind the Winter Olympics and "The Walking Dead.

As Season 4 of PBS' " Downton Abbey" comes to a close this Sunday, U.S. fans of the British period drama won't have to wait another year to experience the opulent aristocratic life of the Crawley Family. They needn't even cross the pond. The exhibition " Costumes of Downton Abbey " at Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library in Wilmington, Del., is offering an up-close look at 40 wardrobe and accessory pieces worn by cast members. Drawn from the collection of British period costumier Cosprop, most of the elaborate costumes were selected from the first three seasons, which include Lady Sybil's unforgettable harem pants, Edith's wedding dress and the Dowager Countess' Victorian-era fashions.  One newer selection: the dress Lady Rose wears for her society debut in Sunday's finale.

"Ripper Street": The BBC's Victorian-era crime procedural set in London's East End during the years following the grisly Jack the Ripper murders returns to BBC America on Saturday. Detective Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) and Detective Sergeant Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn) are still prowling the grim and haunting streets of Whitechapel,  with only their wits and the rudimentary forensic expertise of  former U.S. Army surgeon and Pinkerton agent Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg)

The third season premiere of "Downton Abbey" was heralded by the sort of media blitz more in line with the Summer Olympics or a new Robert Downey Jr. franchise than anything appearing on PBS' "Masterpiece. " The public television network hosted a red-carpet preview screening for PBS SoCal members aboard the Queen Mary, for mercy's sake. And merchandising for "Downton" threatens to out-deluge that for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," with books and jewelry, mugs and calendars, and T-shirts identifying themselves with one of the Crawley sisters or demanding that authorities "Free John Bates.

Which folks will enliven your flat screen in 2013? Try the heroine of ABC's crime drama "Zero Hour," for starters. Or the comic who promises to go "Inside Amy Schumer. " Or the new footman on the PBS costume smash "Downton Abbey. " For all the details, please see the complete Faces to Watch section , which includes who to look for in film, video games, TV, theater, jazz, pop, classical music, comedy, architecture, dance and art. ALSO: Britney Spears reportedly dumped from 'X Factor' Appreciation: From 'Odd Couple' to 'Quincy,' the unique Jack Klugman Dan Stevens explains 'Downton Abbey' exit Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT  

"Downton Abbey" has become a regular AirBnB vacation home. It was announced Friday by the show's makers - Masterpiece on PBS and Carnival Films - that three new cast members are joining the show in Season 5. British actor Richard E. Grant will join the cast as Simon Bricker, who visits the wavering estate as a guest of the Crawleys. It's a world Grant is quite familiar with, demonstrating his footman skills in 2001's "Gosford Park," which was penned by "Downton Abbey" creator Julian Fellowes.

“Downton Abbey” continues to have sex on the brain. Change is the one constant on this series, and so far this season has been particularly focused on the loosening of interaction between the sexes in the Jazz Age. Two episodes back, just about everyone at Downton was feeling frisky. Now, with bodies ashiver over Rudolph Valentino in “The Sheik,” the Crawleys and their staff are beginning to understand the fallout from their frolicking. The most obvious example is Edith, who learns that she has “fallen pregnant,” as the Brits would put it. We all knew this was going to happen as soon as Rosamund warned her it might.