Three Degrees of Downton Abbey

Spurred on by feeling of inadequacy when all the cool kids are talking about it -- by "cool kids," I mostly mean Patton Oswalt, Gillian Jacobs and Aimee Mann, and by "talking about it," I mean Twitter -- I caught myself up on Downton Abbey over the weekend.

As all the talk suggested, it's quite good.

What I found amusing was the degree of "hey, I know that actor" across the first season and a bit. Mostly because I seemed to get better at it over time. First -- in the first episode -- it was the Duke of Crowborough that I recognized, but I couldn't place him, or his name. Turns out Charlie Cox also plays Owen Slater on Boardwalk Empire, presumably because either he was upset the role of Irish revolutionary chauffeur was already taken, or had already been there and done that, depending on which show he joined first.

Next, it was nagging at me that I knew who Anna was, and once that had lodged in my head, I was able to pick out a familiar name from the credits -- Joanne Froggatt. Turns out she has a thing for unavailable men, whether it's the still-technically-married Mr. Bates or Robin Hood after he'd already lost Marian. But I still had to look it up.

Finally, I got one just on pure recognition and a thing for knighthood, apparently, as Iain Glen as Sir Richard Carlisle was immediately recognizable as the same actor who plays Ser Jorah Mormont in King of Thrones.

That's everybody so far in my little entertainment world. I know there are other actors who have been in other shows, just not ones that I watch. And all three seem related to their other roles.