MERCY STREET | Coming in January | PBS
As Downton Abbey goes off-air, PBS is hoping their new show Mercy Street would fill the void. At first glance, the two shows look very similar to each other. Its a PBS thing to present beautiful costumes and great characters. Theres also romance, issues of feminism, as well as intrigue with this new show. As what The Guardian described it, the two programs are cut from the same cloth.
However, there are a few reasons why Mercy Street wont be the next Dowton Abbey. Lets not forget that Mercy Street deals more about the civil war. Even its creator David Zabel knows the audience for the new show will be males. On the other hand, Downton has female audience because it hits the sweet spot.
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Its the networks first American-produced drama in a decade. It premieres on Sunday, January 17 at 10p.m. on PBS. Mercy Street actually refers to a road leading to Mansion House, a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia. Its a hotel where soldiers hurt as much as they did on the battleground. It was turned into a hospital for soldiers during the civil war.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays as Mary Phinney, said the comedy in the show is sort of unexpected like that of Downton. Theres certainly a lot of heavier subject matter on our show. But there are machinations that youll want to follow or want to root for or the opposite so in that sense there are similarities.
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Mercy Street actually has a feel of PBS docudrama. Lisa Wolfinger, one of the creators of the show, said she was looking for a way to tell a Civil War story from a fresh vantage point after the sesquicentennial. I realized there was a great story about the medical side of the Civil War, about the doctors and nurses, she added. As it goes, Mercy Street may be a perfect follow-up to Downton Abbey but the twos plot are poles apart.
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Source: http://www.movienewsguide.com/heres-pbs-new-show-mercy-street-will-never-next-downton-abbey/142962
