PBS dives into reality again with "Manor House"

[gracie]

Yes, I would tape it. I watched it again when my local station replayed it at one in the morning. The voice over at the end said there is a servants' rebellion and the masters find out what the downstairs people are going through. I think the other thing that got me was how easily the masters saw the work of the servants as their due. It didn't take them long to get spoiled by the easier life.

It may have sounded like I didn't like the show, but I did. It was just hard to take being a 21st century kind of person and knowing they voluntarily put themselves in that position.

[CaliGirl]

Thank you BF for starting this thread!

This show is so incredible. It's unlike anything I have seen before although I must admit I missed the other two in the series, so I came into this not knowing what to expect.

The premise seems fairly straightforward but it is very complex indeed.

The staff has to work incredibly hard without any implements or conveniences beyond the turn of the 1900's. This means that there were no modern feminine hygiene products allowed, no shaving the armpits, a weekly bath and a chamberpot under the bed at night. No one was allowed to use the bathroom after hours so as not to wake the household.

I thought everyone was interesting and several people stood out as being downright admirable. The butler and the housekeeper held the highest ranks among the staff. Then came the footmen (2 young men), the ladies' maid, chambermaids (2 young women) and the kitchen maid. The hall boy and scullery maid completed the staff and were the two lowest ranking members. I almost forgot to mention a very cute stableboy, or "groom."

The people that had to perform their tasks dutifully were from all walks of life and their days were so difficult that two scullery maids just walked out of there after two days. Taking off your mask and stalking off in a snit (Mr. Personality) makes the people on Manor House look like Eco-challengers.

The family that lived "upstairs" was a middle class English family with 2 sons and an aunt. At first they were very sensitive to their staff and felt somewhat guilty that everything was done for them but after a while a subtle psychological shift took place and they seemed to fall into their roles more easily. This is especially true in the case of the younger son who made some very comical remarks about how much fun it was for him to get anything he asks for. Personally, I liked this kid (he was a child after all). He was clever and funny. My kind of kid.

So far I have only watched the first 2-hour episode. I am looking forward to seeing the other 4 segments and I sense that I will wish that there had been more.

[CaliGirl]

Since this thread has received so many "hits" I felt it imperative to add the following tidbit:

The most interesting character in the household is the French Chef. He is a cantankerous scrawny old goat who would rather squabble with the help than be friendly. While they are having a wild party in the nether regions of the house, he sits disdainfully in his kitchen poring over old recipes.

To see him hold court over his ancient range where he has to keep stoking the fire to maintain the heat while preparing lavish dishes is a delightful sight to behold.

[mierk]

Thanks for the welcome, BravoFan. I'm not a huge reality TV fan but I discovered this site when I fell in love with NBC's "Meet My Folks," so I had to see what kind of comment there was about Manor House.

I think the think I enjoyed about this show was that it wasn't manipulating people, attempting to tell a specific story, or setting them up against each other for some sort of prize -- it was just dropping these people into a very different environment and seeing what happened. These arent budding actors hoping for a break or people looking for Mr/Miss Right -- they're just everyday people who thought it'd be interesting to try something different. My random thoughts (it's 5:30 AM and I haven't slept, so random is as good as it's gonna get) after watching the whole thing:

1) While there weren't "types" cast in this group, everyone was mostly in the same class structure as in their real lives -- the upstairs family really was an upper middle class group who was used to living the good life, and the servants really were average working class people. It would have been interesting to see how they would have acted had the upper class people suddenly had to be downstairs.

2) Age played as big a part in how people reacted to the Edwardian era as anything else -- the older people all seemed to enjoy the experience of things much more than the younger ones did. Plus there was certainly a good bit of the usual "kids these days..." attitude from the older people as well.

3) Sir John was a jerk. His constant reminders that he had to "be truly Edwardian to make things fit" was hypocritical and rubbed me the wrong way. He definitely was picking and choosing what parts of the turn of the century lifestyle he wanted to deal with. Plus reading some of his comments from a chat he did on the PBS website, he's definitely a stuck up sort of guy who is used to being in charge and having people fetching and carrying for him. That being said, he handled the situation where the cook randomly went and insulted him at the servant's ball very well, I was surprised to see that sort of class out of him.

That's all for now...would love to see more comments from people on this great series!

Mark

[Feifer]

My favorite was the chef. he was lovable even through his gruffness. You could tell he really enjoyed the experience. He delt well with the staff at every level and treated them well, from what I saw. He had a great sense of humor and duty to sticking to the time period. He went so far as to refuse the dietary requests of Sir John since they would not have been acurate to the time and did so mockingly with a pig's head on a platter. Sir John was served a cheek of a pig that stared at him until the butler had the mercy to escort it from the dining hall. Le monsieur's efforts there were definately tongue-in-cheek. The only time I saw him be truely inappropriate was at the servants ball when he chose to speak to Sir John in such a poor display and refuse to shake his hand. That saddened me though he is still my favorite.

[Feifer]

The chef has his own site. It is fairly interesting. Check it out.

Chef's Site

[breathless4975]

This show sounds really good. I'll be sure to catch the marathon on May 4th since I never heard of it till now. Thanks for letting me know about it!!

[Deep Dish]

I'm about one-third of the way through the series and I love it! There's no prize to be won and the downstairs must actually perform hard labor.

So far, some people have quit! They didn't quit because of Mr. Personality-type nonsense, but because they couldn't handle it. Imagine if Shawna from Survivor: The Amazon was, in addition to complaining, required to scrub floors and wash dishes non-stop?

This project takes place over three months and already I've witnessed the emotion, particulary moving was Mr. Edgar the Butler.

I can't wait to watch the remaining four hours!

[colby_d]

I LOVED THE SHOW! I thought it was gonna be really boring, but I really got into it. I loved Antonia! Anywho, I'm glad I watched it. I sat and watched all 6 hours on Saturday and didn't get bored!

[CaliGirl]

I finished watching "Manor House" this evening and I felt the same way the participants in this wonderful project felt -- bittersweet about leaving.

I consider it more than a show. It was a brave and daring experiment that people volunteered to undertake for no personal gain other than the experience of living in another era and working very hard.

One character struck me as particularly sad. It was the tutor, Mr. Singh. He felt so apart from everyone and somehow I think that was his own doing. He didn't seem to be an especially genial man and said little but complain about his isolation. At first he appeared to be friends with Lady Oliff-Cooper's sister, but at the end he walked out the door alone.

Three months after the family and staff set foot in the house they left again to return to their 21st century lives but they were all considerably enriched by everything that they had learned during their time in the magnificent Edwardian Manor that they occupied.

True love blossomed for Kenny and Ellen and friendships were forged that will undoubtedly last a long long time. I ended up truly enjoying the eccentric chef M. Dubiard, Mrs. Davies (housekeeper), Antonia, the hard working but always good tempered kitchen maid and the footmen. Wish we'd seen more of Tristan the groom, hmmm.

Particularly touching was Mr. Edgar. He represented the loyal and faithful butler so very well that it was almost a shock to see him wearing his contemporary clothes and to find out that he is an architect by trade. It was obvious that he grew fond of all the staff that he was in charge of and even though he tried to be strict with them, he was also kind and relaxed the rules from time to time.

If you want to visit the site on PBS and see a slide show or view audition tapes here is the link: http://www.pbs.org/manorhouse/