FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

wgranger There have always been attempts to take popular British shows and transform them onto American TV. Steptoe and Son successfully transformed into Sanford and Son. Unfortunately the transformation of Upstairs, Downstairs to Beacon Hill missed the mark and did so for two reasons: it brought 1970's morals and mores to the Roaring Twenties and almost as bad, it relied on standard soap opera clichés rather than a real storyline. Here's some examples of both: the Lassiter granddaughter is sleeping with the fired chauffeur (was that before or after he was fired?) The other Lassiter daughter is in a rather Bohemian and morally loose lifestyle. The one-armed son visits a black whorehouse. All a little hard to fathom for a supposedly well-to-do Roman Catholic family in Boston. Some other clichés: the new chauffeur falls for the homely Lassiter daughter. The embittered one-armed son hates his father who seems to be a decent fellow and the show never explains the estrangement.The actors seemed to be well cast and quite memorable, so what's the problem? Again, soap opera clichés rather than an engaging story. In fact, the only ongoing storyline seems to be Prohibition and its effects on everyone. On the other hand, Upstairs, Downstairs had a much more durable storyline - the decline of the aristocracy - and perhaps that is why it seemed more believable to me and was around a lot longer. Still, if Beacon Hill came out in DVD, I might be tempted to purchase it.

Valerie Wood 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.

veronica_jordan 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!

Kirasjeri 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,