Mr. Right and I have been watching the 70s BBC series "Upstairs Downstairs," which we get from Netflix. Addicted. We can't get enough and tend to watch a whole DVD in one sitting, or would if our cat, Professor Boskowitz, didn't need to be fed occasionally.
I highly recommend this show. It depicts social situations of Edwardian England with great wit and insight. The wealthy scion impregnates a servant; the heiress beds her son's friend; the chauffeur and the parlor maid tease each other around the kitchen. The best thing about these characters is they're multidimensional. All are good and bad, cruel and humane. The head servant is named Hudson and if he were running my job search right now, by golly I'd have the best editing position Conde Nast had to offer!
We've added this series to our expanding obsession with old TV shows, which started with Brideshead Revisited about a year ago. From Bridey we moved on to The Office (hilarious), Freaks and Geeks (humbling), and Hill Street Blues (horrendous--we only watched one episode). How did that show get so much adulation? My theory is because it dealth, albeit from a chauvinist's perspective, with women's issues. Perhaps our fave was Law and Order. We watched about a million episodes, all for Michael Moriarty and Jerry Orbach. Moriarty doesn't have the trembling lip of Sam Waterston, thank goodness.
Let me know if you can suggest more shows...