Fans of “Downton Abbey” or anyone who’s ever vacationed out in Newport, Rhode Island, to see the mansions will get a kick out of “Another Period,” a costume drama parody with a stellar cast and some seriously biting laughs.
Set in 1902, the series follows the incredibly rich and aristocratic Bellacourt family, especially sisters Lillian (Natasha Leggero) and Beatrice (Riki Lindhome), and their countless servants in Newport.
Filmed in the faux-documentary style of “Parks and Recreation” and balancing its time between the servants and the family, “Another Period” wittily plays up to the reserved Gilded Age, with closeted gay men marrying women for a lucrative dowry (“It’s almost like a prize you get for enduring something horrible or something that makes you want to throw up,” says Lillian’s husband Victor, played by Brian Huskey), incestual relationships and frequent abuse of the help.
The cast is unbelievably loaded. The aristocrats include David Koechner, Paget Brewster, Jason Ritter and David Wain while the servants feature Christina Hendricks, playing a new worker named Celine, who is renamed Chair by Beatrice, because Celine isn’t a servants name, and Michael Ian Black as Peepers, the head butler.
Comedy Central has had a lot of success with comedies from female creators, including “Broad City” and “Inside Amy Schumer,” and with “Another Period” — created by Leggero and Lindhome — they have another triumph.
On TV: “Another Period” premieres Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central.
