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It gets better proserpina! But you're going to have to slog through a long chapter about Brigadier Reid before you get to Daphne and Hari. I've read the books at the least three times and found that I enjoyed those chapters more in subsequent readings. They're not so much plot as flavor (and Paul Scott does like to wander off into the weeds at times). Like Daphne and Hari combine to form the rock that's thrown in the pond and continues to ripple throughout the rest of the books, Edwina is Barbie's rock (and the original owner of the allegorical Queen Victoria print). Miss Crane's and Brig. Reid's chapters give you the mindset of the missionaries and the British Army at the period, but, no, they aren't essential to the plot. I never fail to be surprised that the entire first book was condensed down to the first two-hour episode.

Speaking ugliness and insults, I thought the first two season of Veep were much meaner (and funnier) and that it's been dialed down a bit since. I miss the days when Selina called Jonah "jolly green jizzface." Not that Veep's not still enjoyable, of course. Ianucci's "The Thick of It" is the meanest, most blistering comedy I've ever seen. Here's just one random example (Warning: Language. Duh.): Malcolm Tucker: "And I would rain down on you so hard, you would have to be reassembled by fucking air crash investigators. [Phil tries to protest] DO NOT FUCKING interrupt me, son, ever! Now get this into the noggin, right? You breathe a word of this, to anyone, you mincing fucking CUNT, and I will tear your fucking skin off, I will wear it to your mother's birthday party, and I will rub your nuts up and down her leg whilst whistling Bohemian fucking Rhapsody, right!?"

I think I'd want to hang out with Lady Chatterjee at the McGregor House and go bashing off to places. Or I could help Mabel Layton with the deadheading in the garden at Rose Cottage (just for the view!) and slip inside to eavesdrop on all the smack Mildred and Nicky and Fenny are talking over bridge and gin fizzes.

While there was no logical way for the writers to get the characters of Sister Monica Joan and Mr. Newgarden in the same room, I hope Judy Parfitt and and Nicholas Farrell had a good time at craft services reminiscing about their time on The Jewel in the Crown. "It's just an old pocket in some apron that I'll never use." Sister Evangelina, Killing It.

Thanks for the terminology lesson, SophiaD. I noticed that when Amanda addressed the envelope for Sidney's invitation to her wedding she wrote 'Canon Sidney Chambers.' Which threw me, as I thought he was just a vicar. Words! Fun! Agreed, Attica, that was some bad production design for the jazz club (and in general the production design for the whole series has been top-notch). There seemed to be plenty of dancers -- where did they come from? The joint always seemed half-empty. And Gloria just seemed to swan around in her stage wear like the whole room was her dressing room. (Note to Glo: Love your singing voice. Please turn the Vamp in the your speaking voice down to 3. You are not Jessica Rabbit.) Only one more episode? Sigh... I've yet to watch Happy Valley (soon!), but what will I do without Dreamy McVicarson for another year or so? Scour the Interwebz for his red shirt and jacket, I guess.

Slightly OT: Sidney and Mrs. Maguire together again. (Hat tip to Norton and his Twitter account.)

I have the 25th anniversary DVDs, and they're well worth getting. As mentioned, there are actor commentaries and Alistair Cooke's original episode introductions (which you can turn off). The episodes have been remastered, and while not HD quality they're pretty close. Man, the money I've spent on this show. I bought the books in cheap paperbacks to read before the series first aired, then the VHS tapes, then the DVDs, then the trade paperback University of Chicago editions of the books and now the remastered DVDs. I watched the first episode of the new DVDs, and I'll be damned if it didn't send me back to book one. I always forget that the first episode is a masterful distillation of the *entire* first book, which is quite long. So many back stories -- Miss Crane, Sister Ludmila, Lady Chatterjee, Hari's father, Brigadier Reid -- were left by the wayside like, well, Miss Crane in the rain. Watching it, you don't miss them, but knowing them adds to the experience.

It's doing pretty well in San Francisco it seems. The first airing is Sunday night at 8:00, it repeats in the early a.m. hours of Monday morning and is shown once, if not twice more, mid-afternoon during the week. (Downton, by way of comparison, is only repeated early Monday morning.) Fingers crossed PBS pays to show earlier seasons -- it would be great to have it during the summer TV doldrums -- because I still can't believe it's five seasons/series in and we're only getting it now.

I know, I know! Pick me, pick me! "Shape" is blancmange. Read all about it here. (Slightly OT: The Jewel in the Crown has recently been remastered and re-released on DVD (with Alistair Cooke's episode introductions). I replaced my old DVDs with the new ones. I thought I'd just watch the first episode; I did, and it sent me straight back to the books for, I think, the fourth time. SO good. And the remastering looks significantly better, although it's not quite HD quality.

Clearly, Athena Knows All, Tells All. Merci a lot!

Season/Series 5?! Why are we in the US just getting this now? Gr. I have questions for those who've seen previous seasons: -- Why on earth are they baking in a tent? Even the clear plastic walls can't shield the bakers too much from the humidity and potential temperatures changes, both of which are anathema to baking. (Still, the outdoor setting leads to some nice interstitial shots.) -- I know "reality" "TV" plays fast and loose with time, but what's the time frame for each segment? It seems like each one takes place over a weekend and not one day. -- Do the bakers know in advance what they're going to be making? The opening Cake episode went missing from my PBS station, so I just watched it online. One baker mentioned practicing Swiss rolls, and another had her husband make a cutting implement, so I'm guessing they have the week between segments to practice and are told what generally to practice. -- Where can I get one of their ovens where the door slides under the oven and out of the way? Because I would clean my oven a lot more if I had one of those. It's kind of a delightful show, though. I do wish the two hosts would dial back the puns and the shoutiness, but I can live with them. And I do not mind looking at Paul H one bit.

Not that I don't enjoy watching him play, but please rest Sanchez for a week before he ends up injured and on the bench with, well, the other half of the team.

When NBC announced that they were following SOM with Peter Pan, a good friend and I looked at each other and said, "They should cast PInk, right?" Sadly, the Kabletown muckymucks did not hear us.

Excellent! The Pontiac Bandit was my favorite episode of S1. You cannot make me tell you how many times I watched it. If there's a return of Jake's Boyz II Men Easter-album triple-breasted suit I can die happy.

Am I the only one who misses watching school figures? I mean, I don't want to see hours of them, but I used to enjoy them. At least the dance pairs still have to replicate a set routine. (They still do, don't they? Or did that get thrown out when vocals brought in? I don't mind vocals, as long they're thought through and stick to the program's theme, a la Javier F's Barber of Seville.) Dear NBC/NBC Sports: I miss seeing the pairs and the ice dancers, thanks for nothing. (My version of Universal Sports has been skating-free.)

Where are her clothes coming from, though? Mrs. Fitz dressed Claire in her first period outfit, which she wore to dinner in the great hall (and clearly never sat down in it before arriving in the hall, as there was not one wrinkle in the tartan skirt). A bit later on (Jamie's taking-the-punishment scene, I believe), Claire has acquired drop earrings and a choker of some sort. Then in the final scene, when she's locked in the dispensary (except she's not locked in; the latch is on her side of the door), she's wearing the velvet dress fur cape-neck thingy. For a complete stranger among a mistrustful clan, she sure rates (clothes, a seat at the head table, her own well-appointed bedroom, a job, albeit a forced one). And when Claire was first transported, her dress had a crocodile belt. No doubt that came off in one of her tumbles into a gully, but she also had a wristwatch on, as well as a wedding ring. Where'd they go? Really, I'm just picking nits. I'm enjoying Outlander enormously. Love the men's kilts with that extra, um, flounce?, in the back. The scenery is almost as pretty as Jamie and Claire (who has the longest neck).

Not only is the choreography samey (So. Much. Flaily. Contemporary... Again. Some more), but so are many of the dancers, especially the women, whom, this season, I cannot tell apart. (The taped segments about their likes/dislikes and early years aren't helping.) Also getting in the way is that Ricky is clearly the presumptive winner, so the season is just a long death march, er, dance for all the others. Back to Choreo Complaints: Does every dance have to have a back story that needs to be explained to us? Can't they just dance and let us figure it out or make up our own story? If you go to see mixed bills by the Paul Taylor or Mark Morris dance companies, Mssrs. Taylor or Morris do not come out and explain what you're about to see. And can the ballroom numbers just be ballroom numbers and not have some story grafted on to them? Just let the smooth salsa be a smooth salsa with no businessman angst. C'mon, show, get it together. I'll still watch you, but right now it's just out of habit and Cat Deeley Love.

Alan's eulogy of Morris was lovely, both the simple writing and Jacobi's delivery of it. My eyes may have been leaking. Is it wrong that I considered winding it back and writing it down for possible future use? I didn't, because I'm not a completely horrible person. Oy, these people and their inability to keep their damn mouths shut. Still, if they did there would be no show, and I would miss the performances and the production values. Please book me a room at that swank hotel. A double room, please, *Caroline.*

So much of the show was appalling, I thought. And yet, like a car wreck, I couldn't look away. Why are Sirs McKellen and Jacobi shouting every line like they needed to heard in the balcony at the Theater Royal Drury Lane? How does the set look expensive and cheap at the same time? Wait, is this a parody of 70s Britcoms? Is this performance art? Do I smell ham? Still, I did laugh. Occasionally. Usually, at anything Frances de la Tour, Patron Saint of Impeccable Timing, said. And Iwan Rheon must have wet himself working with McKellen, Jacobi and de la Tour. I would have. Props to PBS for scheduling this after "Last Tango in Halifax," giving us the chance to see Jacobi shapeshift from gentle Yorkshire farmer to, well, Vicious Old Queen.

I like Paul Schneider, too, but the show never seemed to quite figure out what to do with Mark. But it was nice to have a character who wasn't a "character" (i.e., someone 'normal,' at least for a sitcom) around for the others to bounce off of. Here's hoping they figure out a way to give him a cameo or a little story arc in the final season.

The Mom Reveal made me laugh and roll my eyes at the same time. Which is more difficult than you'd imagine. Oh, show, you so crazy.

Mine (Comcast in San Francisco) used to have all of them. Now it just has the last five or six episodes of the season. Which I've seen. Way too many times. Can we go Full-Season Stylez, people? Because I need some Doug Judy back in my life (also Peralta's hilare Boyz II Men Easter Album -- "Is this triple-breasted?" -- suit, although I'm making do with Thrift Shop Ballroom Dancing duds).

Did anyone miss The Piv? I, for one, did not.

This episode strained my last good Credibility Nerve. When Leonardo made that little scuttling contraption of gears and wheels and catapult, all I could think was 1) What pocket did he pull that Erector set from? and 2) I'm sorry, Show, despite Tom Riley and a few others I don't mind inviting into my living room every week, I just can't with this nonsense anymore and deleted the episode mid-watch. Ciao, bello.

Somehow I managed to keep my eyes from leaking during this episode, although my throat felt tight during Sister E's jubilee tributes. That said, when Jacob was in the kitchen with... someone who was explaining to him why there were no treats and said that a mouse had run away with them and he murmured "Lucky mouse" I had to look away from the screen for a bit. Then I finally remembered that he was on an earlier episode and talked about how the local biscuit factory gave them all the broken biscuits. I have to go lie down now.