Instead, I begin the week with "The People Vs. O.J. Simpson," an excellent mini-series that just won a Golden Globe. But it did not take me out of myself and plop me down in the English countryside. It did not transport me to a place of elegance and ease.
For six years, there was Christmas, there was New Year's — and there was Downton Abby. I don't know if the scheduling was intentional, but it always seemed the perfect show for easing into the new year. It took the sting out of reentry.
Luckily, we live in an era of such television bounty that I couldn't even be bothered to leave the house for a first-run film like "La La Land." I needed screen therapy, and I got it — without venturing outdoors. But I didn't have Downton. And that's what I needed.
(Photo: PBS.org)