I caught an episode of E!'s new reality show, Leave It To Lamas, the other night. All I could think was, 'Does anyone really care about these people?' Maybe that's the point. We don't care, and thus don't mind watching them all implode.

I'm betting that a lot of people have never even heard of the Lamas family. I remember Lorenzo from Falcon Crest; now he looks like a washed-up porn star. His daughter, Shayne, was recently proposed to by Matt Grant on The Bachelor: London Calling (the engagement is off -- I'm guessing it was all done for publicity for this show).

Before Dallas and Dynasty and Falcon Crest and Knots Landings captured the imaginations of American viewers, there was a British soap import that was even more compelling.

From 1971-75, PBS aired the British upper crust soap Upstairs Downstairs. And now Upstairs Downstairs is going to be remade. It'll be filmed and shown in England first before coming to America in 2011.

What made Upstairs Downstairs classic television – it won Emmys, BAFTAs and Golden Globes – was the way it depicted of the British class system. Upstairs you had the rich, privileged Bellamy family. Downstairs there were the servants who worked for them. The lives of all these characters intertwined in a well-written, brilliantly acted drama series.