Downton Abbey and Me

Earlier in my career, I helped create and run a new PBS station in Central Florida.

I had two huge assets that made the launch successful: 1) a small, but mighty, team of dedicated and creative colleagues and 2) Downton Abbey exploded into the popular culture, making PBS cool again.

So it was with a mix of happy nostalgia and sadness that Erin Heston and I watched the final entry in the Downton story.

The movie hit the right notes, mostly about the inevitability of change and how embracing it can open up worlds of possibility. It also reminded me of some of my favorite quotes from the late Maggie Smith who played Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess.

• Dowager: “What is a weekend?”

• Cora: “I take that as a compliment.”
  Dowager: “I must have said it wrong.”

• Sir Richard: “I doubt we'll meet again."
  Dowager: “Do you promise?”