NBC to launch The Gilded Age in 2019 from Downton Abbey creator

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

If six seasons of Downton Abbey didn't quite satisfy your desire for stories revolving around the wealthy elite during the turn of the century, then the news that NBC has finally picked up The Gilded Age from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes will likely please you.

NBC first approached Fellowes about the series, said to be a sweeping fictional epic of the millionaire titans of New York City in the 1880s, in 2012, but production kept getting pushed back as Downton Abbey took precedence. With Downton Abbey now having been concluded for several years, it's time for The Gilded Age to launch, and NBC has given a 10-episode order to the series which is expected to debut in 2019. "To write The Gilded Age’is the fulfillment of a personal dream," Julian Fellowes said. "I have been fascinated by this period of American history for many years and now NBC has given me the chance to bring it to a modern audience. I could not be more excited and thrilled. The truth is, America is a wonderful country with a rich and varied history, and nothing could give me more pleasure than be the person to bring that compelling history to the screen." President of NBC Entertainment, Jennifer Salke, added that "Julian Fellowes has the peerless ability to create complex characters and relationships set against a fantastic backdrop. We’re thrilled that NBC and Universal Television will bring you his delicious new take on both the emerging rich and the working class who were intricately entwined in opulent New York in 1882. It’s an addictive new universe of fabulous people with the same signature style, wit and emotional resonance for which Julian is famous." What will The Gilded Age be about? Take us away, official synopsis!

The Gilded Age in 1880s New York City was a period of immense social upheaval, of huge fortunes made and lost, and of palaces that spanned the length of Fifth Avenue. In the series, Marian Brook is the wide-eyed young scion of a conservative family who will embark on infiltrating the wealthy neighboring family dominated by ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell, his rakish and available son Larry, and his ambitious wife Bertha, whose “new money” is a barrier to acceptance by the Astor and Vanderbilt set. Marian is about to experience a whole new world springing up right outside her front door.

Are you up for another Downton Abbey-type series, or has that ship sailed?