Another Period

Another Period is as scintillating as it is irreverent in its blistering satire of both period dramas and reality shows. The show lives up to its likeness to a marriage of Downton Abbey and Keeping Up with the Kardashians, taking the uneven relationships between the elite and their servants to a new level of reliance and debauchery that would be disturbing if it wasn't so funny. The loathsome, self-indulgent Bellacourts -- and social-climbing dimwits Beatrice and Lillian in particular -- would be a distasteful bunch in real life (c'mon, they give their servants names such as "Chair" and "Mr. Peepers," for heaven's sake), but fortunately for viewers, they're fictional characters just begging to be laughed at.

This show's sharp writing and exceptional comedic cast rake in rapid-fire laughs with content that's heavy on shock value. Even with a setup, you're never quite prepared for the implications of Beatrice and Frederick's physical relationship, the characters' detailed oversharing about sex during confessionals, or their disparaging remarks about each other. No one is spared being the butt of a joke, from socially disengaged (and somewhat portly) Hortense to Helen Keller, and Beatrice and Lillian's vanity and intellectual shortcomings are oft-played themes. Another Period isn't the kind of show you'd want to share with your impressionable teens, but there's no denying it's a laugh-out-loud guilty pleasure adults will enjoy.