a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This series was an Americanized version of Upstairs/Downstairs which had just become a huge hit in England and then the USA. It revolved around the wealthy Boston Lassiter family. It featured a superb cast -- Stephen Elliot, David Dukes, Paul Rudd, Maeve MacGuire, Edward Herrman, Nancy Marchand, Michael Nouri, George Rose, Beatrice Straight, Kathryn Walker....Another reviewer savaged this series, but I totally, entirely disagree. This was richly produced, had the distinctive 1920's flavor and each episode built on the previous. There was a smack of the early Kennedy money/Irish mob background which would have been great to build upon.David Dukes was outstanding as Rob Lassiter, the war-injured, somewhat bitter son of patriarch Benjamin Lassiter (Stephen Elliott), returned from WWI minus an arm. His sister, Fawn, was the flapper of the family, and was a fun, sexy character.I sure would like to see this series out on DVD! It's a shame it only ran 1/2 a season (13 episodes).Even after all these years, I recall what a well-produced, well-acted fun show this was. It was ahead of the times for prime-time soaps like Dallas, Dynasty and Knots Landing.

I saw the entire series when it originally ran and it was wonderful! David Dukes was excellent as the Lassiter son who'd lost his arm in WWI and was still despondent over it. Paul Rudd played the Irish chauffeur in love with the only Lassiter sister who wasn't considered "pretty", they had a nice, slowly blossoming romance. Linda Purl did an excellent job as the spoiled oldest grandchild. Nancy Marchand was memorable as the elegant Mrs. Lassiter. A great show!

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the greatest tv show in history, but I enjoyed it and it had a great group of actors, including the recently-deceased Nancy Marchand. It was just getting interesting (soap-story wise) when CBS pulled the plug. But I would like to know what happened to Paul Rudd, who was a fine actor. According to the database, his last credit was in the early 80's. He either died or quit, since there is another young actor named Paul Rudd, and SAG does not allow two people to register with the same name.

The great PBS series, Upstairs, Downstairs, magnificently wove rich characterizations of the upper and lower classes of one London household against the historical backdrop of England from 1903-1930. Social issues were brilliantly added to the personal dramas. The writing and acting were superb.Then someone got the bright idea of doing something of similar format in Boston about the same time period with servants and upper class family living their parallel lives in the same great house. Unfortunately, the acting even though by competent New York stage actors never jelled, and that was in large part because the writing was an atrocity. It reduced these peoples' lives to the most trite soap opera cliches. Silly people acted silly; pompous people acted pompous. It was all superficial and pointless. Highly touted and publicized before its first airing by a network that hoped to add ratings and prestige with a classy and popular show, "Beacon Hill" quickly was cancelled - after becoming one of the biggest bombs in TV history. If you want to see how such a show should be done, buy or rent some of the video tapes of Upstairs, Downstairs,