Downton Abbey producer’s The Gilded Age moves from NBC to HBO
At one point, the show actually did receive a series order at NBC, which meant that we expected it at some point over 2019. However, that never materialized either and today, we’ve learned that The Gilded Age is officially moving from NBC to HBO, where it now has a ten-episode series order. This was confirmed by HBO bigwig Casey Bloys, who had the following to say on the subject in a new statement:
“Given the opulent scope and scale of this richly textured character drama, HBO is the perfect home for The Gilded Age … We’re all huge fans of Julian, and I know I speak for Bob Greenblatt — who was involved in the development of this series while at Universal Television — when I say we’re thrilled to bring his undeniable genius to our viewers.”
In moving The Gilded Age to HBO, what this does allow is for Fellowes to tell a story that is a little bit darker, more mature, and steeped perhaps in a larger sense of tragedy and despair than anything that we’ve seen him take on with Downton Abbey. (We do wonder if some of the delay on the production of this show was him working on Downton Abbey in movie form — after all, that project is coming out a little bit later this year.) We remain excited for the show mostly because of the people who are responsible for producing it — these are people who have clearly established a pattern already for delivering quality entertainment and finding a way to ensure that history is depicted as accurately as possible along the way.
In an additional statement, NBC Entertainment co-chairmen Paul Telegdy and George Cheeks said the following:
“As with all of our studio projects, our goal is to find them the home that is the best fit for the series … We love the ambition and scope of The Gilded Age, and after a highly competitive bidding process, ultimately came to the conclusion that HBO is the perfect network for this epic story. We can’t wait to partner with them to bring Julian’s majestic drama to audiences all over the globe.”
NBC will still be involved behind the scenes with this show via its Universal Production banner.
When will The Gilded Age actually come out?
Maybe 2020? At this point, we just hope that it’s over the course of the next few years! It’s going to be slightly crazy if it doesn’t come out until the ten-year anniversary of when it was first announced. Of course, that would make for a funny story in the process.
Are you glad that this show is finally getting close to coming on the air? Let us know some of your thoughts on the subject below! (Photo: HBO.)