‘Downton’ abroad

Bet they’ll get to bypass Ellis Island: The executive producer of “Downton Abbey” says he’d love to bring the aristocratic Crowley family and their servants to the United States for an episode — budget constraints permitting, of course. The story line possibilities abound:

  • Lord Grantham squanders yet more of the family fortune when a confidence man posing as the Duke of Westminster’s American cousin sells him swampland in Florida.
  • Invited to a “casual soiree” at a Park Avenue mansion, a horrified Dowager Countess must navigate a buffet line for the first time.
  • A Kennedy family member turns up dead in Lady Mary’s bedroom.
  • And, of course, Bates kills somebody.

Thrones in the sky: The Boeing Co. is struggling with another 787 glitch: a subcontractor can’t produce $200,000 luxury seats for the first class cabin quickly enough (Page A10). There’s no shortage of chairs for coach, however — even after an unexpected order from the CIA for suitably uncomfortable detainee seating at its facility in Bulgaria. Wealth gap widens: Whites now have 13 dollars for every dollar held by African-Americans, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. Take LeBron James out of the equation, and the gap’s more like 17 to 1. — Mark Carlson, Herald staff

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