“The Gilded Age” has scored an early Season 2 renewal at HBO, Variety has learned.
The series, which hails from “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes, has only aired three episodes to date, with the fourth set to debut tonight on the premium cabler and its streaming counterpart, HBO Max. The first season consists of nine episodes.
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Set in 1882 New York City, the series follows several interwoven storylines about the conflict between old and new money in the titular economic boom period. Among them, young Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) moves from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her thoroughly old money aunts Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) and Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon). Accompanied by Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts and her new money neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon).
“Julian Fellowes and the entire ‘Gilded Age’ family have thoroughly captivated us with their tale of late 19th century New York City extravagance,” said Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming. “Along with our partners at Universal Television, we couldn’t be prouder to embark on a season two journey with this extraordinarily talented team.”
Other cast members for Season 1 include Ben Ahlers, Michael Cerveris, Kelley Curran, Claybourne Elder, Linda Emond, Katie Finneran, Amy Forsyth, Michel Gill, Ward Horton, Bill Irwin, Sullivan Jones, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald, Debra Monk, Donna Murphy, Kristine Nielsen, Kelli O’Hara, Patrick Page, Taylor Richardson, Douglas Sills, John Douglas Thompson, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Erin Wilhelmi.
Fellowes created the series and serves as writer and executive producer. Sonja Warfield is also a writer and co-executive producer. Michael Engler directs and executive produces, as does Salli Richardson-Whitfield. Gareth Neame, David Crockett, and Bob Greenblatt also executive produce. Erica Dunbar is a co-executive producer. The series is co-produced by HBO and Universal Television.
“The first season of ‘The Gilded Age’ is the beginning of an epic story that introduced a fascinating world full of intriguing characters,” said Erin Underhill, president of Universal Television. “The scope of Julian’s vision is ambitious, and we’re thrilled to continue to explore the depths of this fascinating era with HBO.”
“The Gilded Age” has had a long path to the screen, with it first being reported that Fellowes was working on the show back in 2012. It was originally set up at NBC before moving over to HBO in 2019.
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