Blandings: Series 1

Based on short stories written by P.G. Wodehouse (1881–1975), Blandings is the slapstick twin of PBS's Downton Abbey and a good alternative for the latter during the U.S. production hiatus. It gets as far as one can from the serious business of British aristocratic tradition and is a delight for American viewers entertained by the oddities of the British upper crust. Stars Timothy Spall, Jennifer Saunders, Mark Williams, Jack Farthing, and the rest of the splendid cast capture Wodehouse's hilarious spoofs beautifully. This "Downton run amok" deliciously portrays the wacky world of the lords and ladies, butlers and pigmen who inhabited English castles a century ago, give or take a few years. But it isn't all pratfalls in freshly manured rose beds. The injustices of male superiority and a society ruled by class can also be perceived within the overtly zany plots.