The Gilded Age, a costume drama from Julian Fellowes, premieres on HBO Monday, January 24. There are nine episodes and the cast includes Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Denée Benton, Louisa Jacobson, Cynthia Nixon and Christine Baranski.
The series depicts the American Gilded Age, beginning in 1882.
Fellowes previously created Downton Abbey.
“The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, of great conflict between the old ways and brand-new systems, and of huge fortunes made and lost,” said HBO. “Against the backdrop of this transformation, HBO’s The Gilded Age begins in 1882 with young Marian Brook (Jacobson) moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her thoroughly old-money aunts Agnes van Rhijn (Baranski) and Ada Brook (Nixon). Accompanied by Peggy Scott (Benton), an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts, a scion of the old money set, and her stupendously rich neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George (Spector) and Bertha Russell (Coon). Exposed to a world on the brink of the modern age, will Marian follow the established rules of society, or forge her own path?”
Fellowes is the creator, writer and executive producer. Gareth Neame, also of Downton Abbey, executive produces with Michael Engler, David Crockett and Salli Richardson-Whitfield.
The Gilded Age is a co-production between HBO and Universal Television.
The show was initially an NBC project with HBO picking it up in 2019.
The Washington Post gave The Gilded Age a negative review. “If The Gilded Age isn’t a serious show, it’s not a reliably entertaining one, either. Sure, the sets and costumes and gewgaws are fun to look at. But it’s also dispiriting to watch so many talented stars get so little meat to chew on,” it read. ■
