Quick Thoughts on the first episode of Mr. Selfridge

This past week my wife and I watched the first episode of ITV Studio's Mr. Selfridge.

I look forward to watching the second episode tomorrow night on PBS. Here are some first thoughts.

• Unless you're a Masterpiece Classics regular, I think it'd be hard to watch it without comparing/contrasting it to Downton Abbey.
  
• This is not a child of Downton Abbey, it sees to be it's own type of show, and if anything reminds me more in terms of content of AMC's Mad Men (period business/marketing film, strongly creative potentially personality) as opposed to Downton Abbey which seems to be similar only in that it's period British film that airs on PBS.
  
• The title character, Jeremy Piven as Mr. Harry Selfridge was certainly interesting, but I wonder if his strong personality will be interesting through multiple episodes or becoming tiring
  
• Truth is usually more interesting than fiction, but since Harry Gordon Selfridge is a historical person, I wonder if this series will meet a challenge (especially in terms of creating a multi-season show) with the limitation of being based on a true story?
  
• Since the show has already aired earlier this year in England, it would be tempting to cheat and see how things play out, but I'm going to watch this with fresh unspoiled eyes.
  
• The first episode introduced so many characters, I'm curious who's going to be the true supporting players, and really stand out. In episode 1 the standouts seemed to clearly be the supporting females, primarily Aisling Loftus as Agnes Towler (obviously some of the most striking scenes - the gloves, the house visit, the rose suggestion), and Katherine Kelly as Lady Mae Loxley (her dialogue always seemed well scripted to counter-balance Pivens strong over-the-top dialogue)
  
• There's so many great stories to tell, and I think a modern period serial of this type is an incredible way to tell the story of not just a life, but of a time. I'd love to see more projects like this hit prime time.
  
• Between the story, the presentation of the story (including fantastic production value) I hope this show is an enjoyable show to watch the remainder of the season.