Tonight, Sunday, Feb. 19 marks the Season 2 finale of Downton Abbey. We're in for a 2-hour finale on PBS (!), so please check your local listings. 

And if you aren't able to catch the finale, you can also catch up online. The PBS Masterpiece website posts the episodes online for a limited time period after their original TV airing. There are lots more videos, excerpts, character guides, and interviews online, as well, for all things Downton Abbey!

Are you an admirer of Charles Dickens, as well? It's a great time to show our appreciation, as we enjoy the bicentenary of this influential English writer, born February 7, 1812.

If you are interested in joining a Charles DIckens Reading Discussion Group, to be held quarterly, please contact member Kelly Kirschner.

FYI, Masterpiece on PBS will be showcasing several TV adaptations of Dickens's works this spring, including The Old Curiosity Shop, Great Expectations, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Check out this spring schedule on the PBS web site for more details.

The second season of Downton Abbey -- an extraordinarily detailed and engrossing historical soap opera of Edwardian proportions -- is set to air in the U.S. on PBS, starting tonight, Sunday, January 8, 2012. (The British series originally aired in the U.K. this past fall.) Please check your local listings for details. Season 1 began with the sinking of the Titanic, and Season 2 starts off in World War I.

If you miss an episode, not to worry! For a limited time after episodes air on television, you can watch full episodes online at the PBS web site, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/index.html (click the "Watch Online" link). You can also watch previews of upcoming episodes and check out the Masterpiece spring schedule.