There have always been attempts to take popular British shows and transform them onto American TV. Steptoe and Son successfully transformed into Sanford and Son. Unfortunately the transformation of Upstairs, Downstairs to Beacon Hill missed the mark and did so for two reasons: it brought 1970's morals and mores to the Roaring Twenties and almost as bad, it relied on standard soap opera clichés rather than a real storyline. Here's some examples of both: the Lassiter granddaughter is sleeping with the fired chauffeur (was that before or after he was fired?) The other Lassiter daughter is in a rather Bohemian and morally loose lifestyle. The one-armed son visits a black whorehouse. All a little hard to fathom for a supposedly well-to-do Roman Catholic family in Boston. Some other clichés: the new chauffeur falls for the homely Lassiter daughter. The embittered one-armed son hates his father who seems to be a decent fellow and the show never explains the estrangement.
The actors seemed to be well cast and quite memorable, so what's the problem? Again, soap opera clichés rather than an engaging story. In fact, the only ongoing storyline seems to be Prohibition and its effects on everyone. On the other hand, Upstairs, Downstairs had a much more durable storyline - the decline of the aristocracy - and perhaps that is why it seemed more believable to me and was around a lot longer. Still, if Beacon Hill came out in DVD, I might be tempted to purchase it.
The actors seemed to be well cast and quite memorable, so what's the problem? Again, soap opera clichés rather than an engaging story. In fact, the only ongoing storyline seems to be Prohibition and its effects on everyone. On the other hand, Upstairs, Downstairs had a much more durable storyline - the decline of the aristocracy - and perhaps that is why it seemed more believable to me and was around a lot longer. Still, if Beacon Hill came out in DVD, I might be tempted to purchase it.