Lost in Translation
Imagine for a moment that Michelle Dockery’s Lady Mary on Downton Abbey isn’t an entitled British royal, but an entitled young American. Think something from the Kardashian family or, really, almost any character on any Real Housewives show. That’s what Stephen Colbert has done by hosting this inspired bit where Dockery, Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham) and Allen Leech (Tom Branson) read a scene from a Season 5 Downton episode in American accents. Leech, a world-class voice mimic, makes the most of his two lines, while Bonneville – best known in the U.K. as a comic actor – plays straight man. And Dockery steals the show. It’s a gem for Downton fans, and makes it terrifyingly clear why an American version of Downton Abbey would have sunk faster than the Titanic.