Downton Abbey…where to begin? I know that I am probably going to piss off a lot of Downton Abbey fans (my wife included) by saying that I simply hate that freaking show. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe it’s just too British? But then again I grew up on a steady diet of my Dad’s Benny Hill and Monty Python tapes, so it can’t really be that. Or maybe it’s that when my wife first mentioned the show to me I wrongly thought it was titled “Downtown Abby” and excitedly thought it might be about the misadventures of a snarky english hooker. Sadly, it was not. I don’t really know. What I do know is that when she puts that show on (yes she had all three seasons) I immediately become overwhelmed by the urge to go tune the riding mower.
Why then am I writing about this show that I do so detest? Well because (of course) there is now at Downton Abbey/zombie mash up and as I have admitted before, putting zombies in something will get me to watch just about anything…even Downton Abbey.
Rob Kutner (writer for Conan and The Daily Show) created a zombified version of the Abbey where Sybil and Matthew return from the dead…yes, I know their names, my wife was shouting about their deaths in season 3 so convincingly that I momentarily had to stop and ask myself who our friends named Sybil and Matthew were and how the hell did they die? Anyway, Kutner scripted this short video that’s now making its way around the internet. Tom Lennon (Lt. Jim Dangle from Reno 911) convincingly provides the voice talent for Lord Grantham. The other voice actors do a wonderful job capturing the ethos of the other Downton Abbey characters and I’m sure fans will appreciate the attention paid to the script, but what really drew me in was the artwork. The entire short is done in still frame drawings that are incredibly detailed and have a cool comic book feel to them. Add to that some sound effects circa the golden age of radio and you’ve created a Downton Abbey video that even I’ll watch.
So has Downton Abbey won a new fan? Well, no, not unless Lord Grantham is going to dress in drag or zombies really do show up, but somehow I think the show will survive without my support.
