'Downton Abbey' parodies, tributes inspire series creator 'Downton Abbey' creator Julian Fellowes has seen some of the tributes to his series, and he's fond of one of them. Arby's, anyone?By Glenn Whipp, Special to the Los Angeles Times June 14, 2012 (LA TIMES)

JULIAN FELLOWES, "Downton Abbey's" creator, had his hands full at the Emmy Awards last year. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

"Downton Abbey"creator Julian Fellowes has watched all the parodies of his show — Jimmy Fallon's "Downton Sixbey," the "Saturday Night Live" skit re-imagining "Downton" as an obnoxious SpikeTV series, the dog website that pairs the program's characters with canine counterparts.

But one sketch has captured Fellowes' fancy more than any other.

"That fast-food chain you have with the name something like Arbus," Fellowes says, calling from his home in Dorset, England. Arby's? "That's it. 'Downton Arby's.' That one gave me so much pleasure. The gags display such an understanding of the characters. I loved watching [problem middle daughter] Edith getting it all wrong, being depressed and ripping open those packets of horseradish sauce with her teeth."

The ubiquity of the "Downton" tributes and parodies owes as much to Fellowes' well-defined characters as fan fervor. The stoic Mr. Bates, the sour-faced schemers O'Brien and Thomas, the bumbling Edith, the haughty Dowager Countess are all ripe for roasting, and the estate's heated rivalries and backbiting translate nicely into almost any workplace environment.




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