Downton Abbey With American Accents Is Brilliantly Bizarre

We all have that annoying friend who, when she’s too drunk, tries to do a British accent. “You guys,” she says. “This is hilarious. They all think I’m British.” This while the group of people that’s been politely smiling at her sidles away. But what about when British people do American accents? Nothing more charming in the world, right? Some actors have made entire careers out of putting on an American accent. Stephen Colbert tested that theory last night when he asked Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, and Allen Leech to perform a scene from their show, Downton Abbey, with American accents. The results are hilarious and a little strange. Bonneville plays it pretty straight but Dockery and Leech’s choices are a bit further afield. Although they seemed to think that their show would be hurt by American accents, we couldn’t disagree more. Although Downton with American accents is basically Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Maybe that’s their secret. Downton Abbey returns for its final season January 3 on PBS.