TV Watching

When I learned that Alejandro has a subscription to HBO, I found a series that I had wanted to watch... "The Gilded Age".  It's already on its third season, but back in Ohio I never had HBO.

(image taken from the internet)

The series takes place in New York City in the late 19th century... an era of rapid industrial growth in the United States when the "robber barons" amassed enormous fortunes.  The focus is on two fictitious families... the van Rhijn family, "old money" that traced their ancestry back to the Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam, and the Russells, a "new money" family loosely based on the Vanderbilts.  There was great rivalry between the "old money" and the "new", and much of the story revolves around Mrs. Russell's attempts to be accepted in New York society.  There are also story lines dealing with the "downstairs" servants of both households, as well as Peggy, a young African-American women trying to establish a career as a journalist and novelist.  Numerous historical characters pop in and out, such as Clara Barton and President Chester Arthur.  Mrs. Astor, who was the arbiter of who was accepted into the top level of New York society, is a frequent character.

The series was created and written by Julian Fellowes, the producer who brought us the popular "Downton Abbey" series and movies, and it bears many resemblances to the British series.  Both of them are "soap operas" disguised as costume dramas.  However, they are very high quality "soap operas".  I do think that "Downton" is the better of the two.  What attracts me to "The Gilded Age" are the performances of two actresses that I like very much... Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon.  Baranski plays the widowed Agnes von Rhijn, and Nixon is her meek, spinster sister Ada.  Barnaski's role could be compared to Maggie Smith's role as the Dowager Countess.  She is a snob who looks down her nose at those flashy "nouveau riche", especially her neighbors, the Russells.  But just like the Dowager Countess, Agnes has a good-hearted side as well.

I am hooked on "The Gilded Age", and I am already well into the third season.  I look forward to the fourth season which is expected to premiere in August of this year.