Gilded Age

'Downtown Abbey' creator Julian Fellowes helmed HBO Max's 'The Gilded Age,' which premiered in January 2022 — read more.

And I think that was emerging now as they define the new way of being rich, a new way of having society, a new way of living life.” “I’m very interested in American history, which I think is very rich, and I think the Gilded Age period in many ways was a precursor of 20th century America [and] the very high-gloss, high-glamour, high-consumerist America that would flower with Hollywood and all these various other aspects was really being laid and rooted in the Gilded Age, in those super-prosperous years after [the] end of the Civil War,” Fellowes told The Hollywood Reporter of his TV inspiration in March 2022. The TV series, created by Downton Abbey showrunner Julian Fellowes, is set against the backdrop of 1880s America amid the “Gilded Age,” a historical period of immense economic change.