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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 344010" data-attributes="member: 23"> <img src="https://api.rlje.net/acorn/artwork/size/upstairsdownstairs_avatar?w=1200&h=630" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 653px" /> First of all, the big question: To Comma, Or Not To Comma? Most sources seem to include one between the two words of the title but the onscreen title card doesn’t have one. IMDb and Wikipedia seem to agree that the 1971 series has a comma, differentiating it from the 21st Century continuation. The blurb on the back of the DVD also includes the comma. It still feels a bit wrong to me, and I may well slip up, but I'll attempt to go with the majority on this.I had to do a bit of research into the viewing order. At the back of my mind was a vague recollection of reading something about a pilot episode and I feared watching them out of order. Nothing throws off a chronological series watch like getting to the end of Series One and then discovering the actual first episode tucked away as a bonus feature on the last disc.As it turns out, the episodes are in the correct order on the disc, but the first episode still isn’t the first episode as originally shot and transmitted. Because the first five or six episodes were made in black and white due to that infamous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colour_Strike" target="_blank">ITV colour strike</a>, there was a fear that the series couldn’t be sold overseas (particularly to the lucrative American market), and might not be so appealing on repeats. To resolve this, when colour service resumed, the first episode was completely re-shot and two versions were produced from that re-shoot: one a perfect match for the black and white original (to lead into the black and white Episode Two), and another with a different ending so that the chronology matched up with the next colour episode (Episode Seven?) for those stations and markets that wished not to screen any black and white episodes at all.Sadly, it seems the original black and white first episode was wiped. I can understand that it would have seemed pointless to ITV to have THREE versions of a single episode, but it does mean that that historic document - the first episode as transmitted back in 1971 - is gone forever. But it could be far worse. At least the remaining black and white episodes weren’t also wiped.Watching the first two episodes back to back, the switch from colour back to black and white does indeed feel a little jarring. It does look less glossy and sumptuous, but I suspect there’s also the fact that the series was more broken in and perfected by the time they re-shot Episode One in colour. It shows in some little details. Lady Bellamy’s hair, for example, is enormous in the colour version of Episode One. In Episode Two - shot earlier in black and white - it’s still large, but not quite so grandiose. Could the growing hair be a sign of the production’s growing confidence once they got into stride?I am a complete newcomer to the series, not having watched a single episode before. Of course, the series’ reputation precedes it. I know it was hugely popular both at home and abroad, and successful enough to become the template for later series that would utilise this setup, from You Rang M’Lord to Downton Abbey (at least I suspect so. Downton has also eluded me to date). It’s part of pop culture enough to have been spoofed and satirised, as well as the title becoming a descriptive shorthand. Everyone knows what the title means, even if they’ve never watched the series. And I should know.It's past time for me to dive in...</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?