The Gilded Age

[forever1267]

Julian Fellowes (Emmy and Oscar winner for Downton Abbey and Gosford Park) returns to his wheelhouse with the HBO and HBOMAX show The Gilded Age. Set in 1882 in developing New York City, this is yet another Upstairs / Downstairs tale of the Super Rich, their Servants, and the many, many ways that subtle actions can cause huge scandals.

With the same attention to detail, and as reported, inside the same Universe as Downton Abbey, it stars Christine Baranski in the Maggie Smith role, Cynthia Nixon 180 degrees from the 2 Mirandas we met this year, plus Carrie Coon (The Leftovers, Gone Girl) Super hot Morgan Spector (The Plot Against America, The Mist, Homeland) and a slew of Familiar Faces (Debra Monk! Taissa Farmiga! Jack Gilpin!)

TomAndLorenzo are discussing the show and the fashions. If you liked Fellowes other work, you should love this, too.

And for those into Good Looking Men, My New Plaid Pants has some, er, Mature visuals from Morgan Spector's other works.

[luckylexie]

I just remembered that episode 3 aired last night. Looking forward to watching it tonight. So, I enjoyed the first two episodes. It's not Downton Abbey calibre -- they don't have Highclere Castle as a gorgeous backdrop, but it was fine. I really didn't like Mrs. Russell. I didn't care for the actress portraying her. Am I supposed to be rooting for her? Because I want her to fail. *shrug*

[granolamom]

I think the actress playing Mrs Russell is good, and her part is better written than most of the others, but no, I can't root for the character either. Especially after the most recent episode, neither of the Russell parents could be called sympathetic. The van Rijn side of the street doesn't have much to cheer for either. I think we are supposed to like Marian, but really only Peggy is likeable. I vote for more of Peggy, perhaps with her experiencing events alternating with Marian, so we could compare and contrast.

Overall I love the costumes and the sets, despise the dialogue, and have a hard time with some of the historical accuracy. How could Marian change her gown to go to the Russells' housewarming party without help from a servant? Doesn't Mrs van Rijn have anything to talk about other than someone else's social standing relative to her own?