Judy Brick

Congrats to Natascha McElhone for bailing on this before Season 3. Her character was the Greek Chorus to a president trying to do his job, but she always had some whining complaint. You see her coming into the room, and you know she has something to ask or criticize. The worst was her irritation with her husband for not jumping on her bandwagon when her mother admitted to committing a federal crime (Sorry, but why and when are irrelevant, and has the Statute of Limitations REALLY run out?). She being the First Lady, however, she insulated herself and mama admirably by gathering all the White House staffers, including the general counsel (never mind that pesky recusal thing) to make it all go away. Fortunately, mama's crime wasn't the only thing to go away.... I'm toward the end of season 2, and would be making dates with AA if I took a tiny sip of alcoholic anything every time the prez says "Thank you," "I appreciate all you've done for our country," or "Family is the most important thing" (gag). I also got very tired of the wooden Emily character, who just got nastier as time went on. Kal Penn, as most would agree, was the best thing about this series. Season 3, no thanks! I've read too much about it.

Jakob is an excellent interviewer, never inserting himself into the interviewees' stream of words. More interviewers should take note. I found myself skipping through the frequent scenes of newbies looking at old albums and commenting about a time before they were born, and I wasn't a total fan of their performances. I really enjoyed the articulate analyses by the original 'canyoneers' of the special musical time they spearheaded.

I loved the series, OK? The movie was a huge disappointment. Despite all the sumptuous wrappings and trappings, it was baloney. Too much of everything was crammed into what was a hyper-glorified soap opera of the lowest sort. We have the king and queen's entourage consisting of dreadful downstairs snobs, we have the Abbey's downstairs workers sabotaging the K&Q's downstairs snobs by various implausible means, those K&Q downstairs snobs including a kleptomaniac, a narcissistic chef and a bully of a head butler, some of these characters come to blows; we have little Daisy opting in favor of a man overwhelmed with juvenile jealousy so extreme that he sabotages the K&Q's visit by breaking some of the Abbey's infrastructure (Daisy called that proving his love..Really, Daisy? I though you were better than that..). Then there's the wonderful Lady Edith, who was a successful newspaper reporter, now happily married. Her plotline - she needs something more fulfilling than being a wife and mother - is never pursued. There's comic relief, false dramas (the storekeeper whose life would be ruined if he didn't supply the groceries for the big dinner and the kitchen staff who bought them all so he wouldn't feel bad), a go-nowhere sideshow of Mr. Barrows' finally having a little manly fun, and a wealth of contrived, silly subplots . I found myself laughing at all the absurdities. I also wondered if Matthew Goode and Jim Carter didn't tell the producers something like, "Well, I have an hour free from my other acting duties next Thursday at 2, why don't you write me two lines of dialogue and five minutes of screen time." All in all, I loved the series. they should have left it the lovely thing it was and will always be. I pray they do not attempt a sequel series. I can just see t he handwriting on the wall.