Downton Abbey, Season 3 Spoilers & TCA Press Tour (7/21/12)

(The characters are looking a wee bit crowded!)

Have you heard the latest news, fellow Downton Abbey fans?? There has been a lot of information on various blogs about the Television Critics Association press tour yesterday and the Downton Abbey panel. I have gathered the blog posts that I found most interesting and reposted them here in case you haven’t seen them yet. Warning, there are spoilers so if you don’t want to know, scroll down to the photos below instead!

From Blog.Zap2it.com: Downton Abbey’ Season 3 Spoilers: Mary and Matthew Do Not Have Solely Smooth Sailing

“Downton Abbey” premiered a trailer for Season 3 at the panel Saturday night (July 21).
Here are some highlights (don’t keep reading if you don’t want some Season 3 spoilers):
• “When I’m with her, I’m reminded of the virtues of the English” — Lady Violet
• We met O’Brien’s nephew, the new footman. He’s tall and rather Lurch-like.
• Bates feels that all efforts to get him out of prison are fruitless, but Anna says, “But one day something will occur to us and we’ll follow it up and the case against you will crumble.”
• Downton is into some money trouble. Lord Grantham: “Are you really telling me all the money is gone?” And he must reveal to Cora that her fortune is gone as well.
• Branson and Sybil come to visit and Branson at the dinner table is amazing. Also, Carson refuses to dress “a chauffeur.”
• IT is not all sunshine and roses for Mary and Matthew. Mary says to him, “But if we can disagree with something as fundamental as this, shouldn’t we just back away now?” Oh noes! What could it be? She also asks him, “God, Matthew, how can you be so disappointing.”
• Speaking of Matthew, Mr. Swire’s lawyer wants to see him. Dun dun dun.

From SFGate.com: Downton Abbey’ Sneak Peek: Matthew, Mary Quarrel

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — A “Downton Abbey” sneak peek at season three revealed that fireworks will fly between matriarchs played by Maggie Smith and newcomer Shirley MacLaine.
The aristocratic Crawley family endures a financial crisis. And, despite the engagement of Matthew and Mary at the end of last season, all is not well — gasp! — with the pair played by Dan Stevens and Michelle Dockery.
PBS showed brief clips from next season to the Television Critics Association on Saturday before a panel discussion with cast members and producers of the international hit. They took a break from taping in London to meet reporters in Beverly Hills.
Their visit followed a strong showing by “Downton Abbey” in Thursday’s Emmy nominations with 16 bids, including best drama series.
In one scene shared by PBS, Hugh Bonneville’s Robert Crawley, also known as Lord Grantham, is shown confessing to his wealthy American wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) about an investment gone wrong.
“Has some of my fortune been lost?” she asks.
“Almost all,” he replies, tearfully.
Matthew and Mary, who traveled a rocky road to what looked like blissful marriage, are shown in an angry confrontation in which she accuses him of disloyalty to the family.
Tart dialogue involving MacLaine’s Laura and Smith’s Violet, the dowager countess, also looks to be a hallmark of season three. It begins airing in September in the U.K. and next January on PBS.
“When I’m with her, I’m reminded of the virtues of the English,” Violet says of Laura.
“But isn’t she American?” asks a puzzled Matthew.
“Exactly,” Violet replies.
Series creator Julian Fellowes said the next season will encompass about two years at the start of the 1920s. Among the plot points to be resolved: What happens to John Bates, Lord Grantham’s valet who was convicted last season of murdering his wife and barely escaped the gallows.
Bonneville made his support for his loyal servant clear. At the panel’s conclusion, the actor jumped up, turned his back to the room while opening his jacket and dress shirt, and then wheeled around to reveal the T-shirt he wore underneath: “Free Bates,” it read.
“T-shirts are available in the foyer,” Brendan Coyle, who plays Bates, chimed in dryly.
MacLaine also proved a showstopper. The actress, who has said she believes in reincarnation, was asked if she and Smith had met before.
“Well, we were lovers in another life,” she said, smiling. Then she shared Smith’s recollection of their meeting some 40 years ago backstage at the Oscars, near a catering table, after MacLaine failed to take home a trophy.
“Do you know what you did, dear?” Smith reminded her. “You tucked right into that chocolate cake and said, ‘(Expletive), I don’t care if I’m thin ever again.'”
Also on hand for the panel were Dockery, McGovern, Joanne Froggatt and executive producers Gareth Neame and Rebecca Eaton. Stevens was among the cast members kept in London by filming, which continues through August.

From HitFlix.com: Press Tour 2012 Live-Blog: PBS’ ‘Downton Abbey’
I’ve saved the best for last. HitFlix.com has a live blog from the panel. It is too long to repost here so I’ll just give you a snippet and you can read the whole post here: Press Tour 2012 Live-Blog: PBS’ ‘Downton Abbey’

“Downton Abbey” was already a moderate-sized phenomenon last July when we got our Season 2-previewing Television Critics Association press tour panel last summer. That was a big deal, but it’s nothing compared to the build-up for Saturday’s (July 21) TCA panel, which is the centerpiece of PBS’ weekend, with a panel, an associated buffet dinner and a subsequent reception.
I already had a 10-minute sit-down with Brendan “Mr. Bates!” Coyle earlier this afternoon and I’ll post that soon. But here’s the live-blog from the panel, which features creator Julian Fellowes, as well as many of the show’s stars.
7:10 p.m. Dinner complete. This room has rarely been more packed. People are cuckoo for “Downton Abbey.”

7:11 p.m. TRAILER! Maggie Smith says something catty. Shirley MacLaine arrives. There’s a new tall serving man. The Plain Sister is flirting. Mr. Bates is in jail and Anna is visiting. Uh-oh! Money’s gone! Could the servants be in jeopardy? Hot Sister is back to visit and her hubby is being all political. The ladies play cards! Carson’s offended to be serving Hot Sister’s Common Hubby. Mary and Matthew are bickering. People are crying. More talk about missing money. Uh-oh. The Crawleys are not in good shape. And Hugh Bonneville’s earning his Emmy nomination for next year. There’s a wedding coming up. Will this be the End of an Era at Downton Abbey? Perchance! Dirty talk with Matthew and Mary. Shirley MacLaine again! Hugging Maggie Smith and being catty!
7:17 p.m. On the panel, we have Julian Fellowes, Michelle Dockery, Gareth Neame, Shirley MacLaine, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Joanne Froggatt and Brendan Coyle.
7:19 p.m. Our first question was about last season’s darkness, with the war. Will this season be brighter and more cheerful? “We like a few laughs. This season, in a way, is about the recover from the war,” Fellowes says. The theme is about whether or not the world is changed forever. He promises laughs and tears.

7:21 p.m. UGH. Questioner asks if the actors are more happy because Emmy recognition comes from Americans? Bonneville tips his hat to Jon Hamm and Damian Lewis by name and says he was “gobsmacked.” “Overwhelmed. It’s wonderful that the show has been recognized in so many categories,” Dockery says. Dockery is especially happy that their composer, overlooked last year, was nominated. Coyle told me this story earlier, but Froggatt and Coyle were shooting a scene and took a normal pause, found out they were nominated and then in the second half of the scene, they had a post-nominated glow. “It’ll be interesting to see if people spot that scenes,” Froggatt says.
7:24 p.m. “There’s a liberation in it being period, because you can go into areas that a period novel would not have done,” Fellowes says. “The discipline is to look at those subjects, but within the context of the period,” he emphasizes. The goal is to avoid having characters who seem like they’ve been parachuted in from 2012. “With ‘Downton’ the fun is that it looks like a classic period drama… but the energy is much more modern. I think that has worked for us,” Fellowes says.
Read the rest here: Press Tour 2012 Live-Blog: PBS’ ‘Downton Abbey’