The Gilded Age on HBO - News & Discussion Thread — Page 3

THE GILDED AGE is a heist show.

The heist being Julian Fellowes and the cast somehow keeping me engaged in this silliness and now jonesing for a new season and buying into the stakes of the scenarios completely (even the COMPLETELY out of left field plot lines like Doug Sills tonight).

All hail Carrie Coon!

Coon was simply stunning in Mary Jane, Off Broadway. One of the most haunting pieces -- and performances -- in the last decade. It should've moved.

I have moderately enjoyed the first season- it is not a great show- a pretty good one, I would say. The finale season episode was a bit silly- and these people seem obsessed with a lot of meaningless and superficial issues- but, I love watching the BWAY actors- many of whom I have seen in productions over the years- and some of the storylines are moderately interesting. my biggest criticism-- the show has absolutely no sense of humor or lightness. Except for some lightness added by Nathan Lane- the characters all take themselves too seriously- and no one ever cracks a joke- Baranski is dry and brittle and some of her comments evoke a smile from me- but she, like many of the characters on the show- is stuffy, snobby and lacking in much humanity. There are a few characters- Cynthia Nixon, the lady who is an outcast, Streep's daughter- who seem human- but most of these prigs are hopelessly superficial and lacking in positive traits.

fashionguru_23 said: "The father from "Fun Home" as the butler guy,Olive Ostrovskyas the maid, Debra Monk as the annoying racist maid, the tour Gomez Addams as the French cook, and the lady from "Vanya, Sonia, Masha, Spike, Greg, Peter, Bobby, and Alice"that isn't Sigourney Weaveras the German cook lady.

See, I can name them!"

I cackled.

Rentaholic2 said: "I have certainly liked the show more and more as it has gone on, and I finally feel invested in the characters. But it hasn't gripped me the way Downton did. Bertha Russell's storyline is the most interesting and "dramatic" - she knows what she wants, and there are many potent forces pushing against her goal, but she has the tools and cunning to potentially overcome those forces.

The show's biggest flaw is that there are just too many characters. Can anyone name even half of the "downstairs" folk? This is where the show should have departed from Downton rather than mimic it. The class struggle that is central to Gilded Age is between old money and new money, not upstairs and downstairs, and the downstairs characters are not given enough focus for any of their plotlines to resonate. As a result, they all come off as cheap knock-offs of better-developed Downton characters with somewhat serialized stories that don't put them in conflict or contact with the main characters enough and that don't otherwise have much impact on the central plot lines."

I felt that the Downton characters were more lovable and likable right from the start..even the cranky ones were presented with some humor and warmth. I mean just look at Maggie Smith’s character to Christine Baranski’s characters. Both heads of households. Loved Maggie from the beginning. I never felt any affection to the NY counterpart until maybe the last episode or so.


I think there was some charm in DA that was missing here. Plus we saw the British responding to a war and family death in an ocean liner. Here it was harder to get into basically a just a status war. It seemed like we really got to watch the “ugly Americans” for the most part. It’s taken me a much longer time to become invested in many of them.

I think there WERE so many characters I hope we get to see more depth to them in the second season. I certainly will still continue to watch

Rentaholic2 said: "...The show's biggest flaw is that there are just too many characters. Can anyone name even half of the "downstairs" folk? This is where the show should have departed from Downton rather than mimic it. The class struggle that is central to Gilded Age is between old money and new money, not upstairs and downstairs, and the downstairs characters are not given enough focus for any of their plotlines to resonate. As a result, they all come off as cheap knock-offs of better-developed Downton characters with somewhat serialized stories that don't put them in conflict or contact with the main characters enough and that don't otherwise have much impact on the central plot lines."

So very true. That ridiculous mini-crisis with the faux-French chef in the final episode was pointless filler, as has been the case anytime they've tried giving the servants something to do. Did the writers suddenly realize at the last minute that they hadn't given Sills anything the entire season?

Moving upstairs, I was so hoping Marion would pack her pack her bags and head home to PA to mend her broken heart. Jacobson is such a lifeless zero in the role that should be the spunky center of the show.

That said, I liked the series better and better as it went along and will definitely be tuning in when it returns.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Donna-Murphy-Kelli-OHara-More-Upped-to-Series-Regulars-For-THE-GILDED-AGE-Season-Two-20220415

Several faves have been upped to series regulars including Donna Murphy, Kelli O'Hara, Celia Keenan-Bolger...!

GoldDerby.com: Claybourne Elder (''Company'' ) says that working with so many fellow Broadway actors on ''The Gilded Age'' is like a ''f*cking family reunion.''

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPViN5pJ4To

Updated On: 4/16/22 at 05:17 PM

Have they hired a special understudy for Benanti yet.

Call_me_jorge said: "spicemonkey said: "Have they hired a special understudy for Benanti yet."

What is the context behind this?"

Just some snarkiness due to Benanti missing numerous Broadway performances many years ago which we now know we’re due to sustained and untreated injuries she incurred on past shows. We’re talking about over a decade ago.

Season 3! https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/the-gilded-age-season-3-hbo-1235849122/