Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes' The Gilded Age is moving from NBC to HBO

The Hollywood Reporter

As NBC Entertainment president, Robert Greenblatt greenlighted Fellowes' 1880s-set drama in January 2018. Now that he oversees HBO, Greenblatt is bringing the long-gestating period drama to the pay cable network. The Gilded Age has been in the works at NBC since 2012. But despite last year's greenlight, NBC executives felt the script was better suited for a streaming or premium cable network, resulting in a bidding war. As The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg points out, "The Gilded Age's move is reminiscent of when Greenblatt left his role atop premium cable network Showtime for NBC and brought with him the script for what would become the network's Broadway drama Smash. That script was picked up and developed by Greenblatt for Showtime and wound up being ordered to series and airing for two seasons on the broadcast network." HBO president Casey Bloys said in a statement on picking up The Gilded Age: "Given the opulent scope and scale of this richly textured character drama, HBO is the perfect home for The Gilded Age. We’re all huge fans of Julian and I know I speak for Bob Greenblatt — who was involved in the development of this series while at Universal Television — when I say we’re thrilled to bring his undeniable genius to our viewers."