Scene - Blogs - Get ready for an American version of Downton Abbey

Get ready for an American version of 'Downton Abbey'
Published: 11/28/2012 10:40 AM
Last Modified: 11/29/2012 12:38 PM

You know you’re a nerd when you’re prone to say “I was a fan BEFORE it was popular,” and so you can call me a “Downton Abbey” nerd. I was streaming the first season of the hit show from its British network, ITV, before Masterpiece Classic made it available to American audiences.

As its popularity grew, its creator, Julian Fellowes, has become a bit of a TV-writer rock star and built quite a cachet.

Now, NBC wants some of Fellowes’ fairy dust. The network released the news Tuesday that it is tapping the “Downton Abbey” creator for a new series titled “The Gilded Age.” According to NBC, it will be set in 19th-century New York and focus on “the princes of the American Renaissance.”

“This was a vivid time,” Fellowes said in a statement, “with dizzying, brilliant ascents and calamitous falls, of record-breaking ostentation and savage rivalry ... a time when money was king.”

Fellowes will write and produce the new show, which sounds like it could become the American version of “Downton,” with soap-opera-like stories of the rich and powerful, and the people they step on.

NBC hasn’t had the best luck in recent years introducing new series (Remember “The Event”? How about “The Cape”? Yeah, me neither.), so we’ll see if Fellowes’ magic is enough to give the network a winner for a change.

The third season of “Downton Abbey” is scheduled to start in the U.S. Jan. 6 on PBS. Fellowes will continue on the series as he begins work on “The Gilded Age” with NBC.

Written by
Anna Codutti
Scene Writer

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Brad (3 months ago)

I have to admit that Downton Abbey is one of my "guilty pleasures". I've never liked soap operas. Yet, it comes across as one and I like it anyway. I'll probably check out "The Gilded Age". I haven't seen season (series) 2 of Downton, but probably will on Blu Ray.

-Brad

Tulsa World Staff Writer Althea Peterson (3 months ago)

British version: Downton Abbey
American version: Downtown Abbey

Bart78 (3 months ago)

I love DA and have always enjoyed Julian Fellowes who has also appeared in front of the camera as a character in one of his creations, Monarch of the Glen. His sense of the surrounding cultural and historical events greatly appeals to me so I look forward to how he treats The Gilded Age. It certainly is rich with characters, drama, and history.

Jim Bay (3 months ago)

Noooooooo.......

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Matt Clayton floats between being a nerd, geek or a dork. Has an extensive collection of toys, comics and video games that would make any adult feel ashamed to call themselves a parent. Unlike most nerds, he does enjoy sports, but his favorite sport is soccer, so that really doesn't count as a sport anyway. Can quote "Clerks" at the drop of a hat and owns a soft-coated Wheaten Terrier named Will Wheaton. And no, Ewoks could not have possibly taken down the Empire with just sticks and rocks.

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Anna Codutti has been a card-carrying nerd since high school and the beloved academic team. Now merely a pub-trivia ringer, her refined nerd tastes have focused on Buffy (yep, she's still going!), Doctor Who and anything Felicia Day does. Her childhood crush was "TNG's" Wesley Crusher, but now she wants to marry "The Big Bang Theory's" evil Wil Wheaton.

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