A lot of what I initially adored about "The Gilded Age" remains in the second season, which kicks off at 8 p.m. Sunday on HBO. There's the rich attention to detail that instantly transports you back to 1880s New York City. You get the sense that the set designer went the extra mile to get just the right teacups.
Creator Julian Fellowes continues to incorporate real-life events — the rise of unions, the campaign to open the Metropolitan Opera House — and justify appearances by Booker T. Washington and Oscar Wilde. The cast, which includes Broadway favorites such as Donna Murphy, Audra McDonald and Christine Baranski, is still terrific.
But the series is starting to show its flaws. Fellowes' most celebrated work, "Downton Abbey," also relied on history and lavish touches, but it never forgot to put family first. The Crawleys and their domestic servants seemed to genuinely care about one another. In "Gilded," the main characters are too busy monitoring their spots on the social ladder to make time for a hug.
Fellowes tries to garner more sympathy in the second season by focusing a bit more on the "downstairs" help. But they may have arrived too late to the ball.
Also this week
'Everyone Else Burns'
The CW's decision to borrow the best of Canadian and British sitcoms continues to pay off with the stateside premiere of this series about a Manchester family convinced that the best way to prepare for Armageddon is to alienate everyone around them. Simon Bird is hilarious as the father so dedicated to his cult that he's unaware his haircut and buffoonish behavior make him look like the Fourth Stooge. 8:30 p.m. Thursday, CW
'Would You Kill for Me? The Mary Bailey Story'
