The Gilded Age: Season Two Ratings

(Photo: HBO)

Series creator Julian Fellowes had a big hit with Downton Abbey on PBS, but the ratings for his recent HBO series, The Gilded Age, have been more moderate. Will they pick up in season two or hit a sophomore slump? Will The Gilded Age be cancelled or renewed for season three? Stay tuned. *Status Update Below.

A period drama series, The Gilded Age TV show stars Carrie Coon, Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, Ben Ahlers, Michael Cerveris, Kelley Curran, Taissa Farmiga, Jack Gilpin, Simon Jones, Sullivan Jones, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Debra Monk, Donna Murphy, Kristine Nielsen, Kelli O’Hara, Patrick Page, Harry Richardson, Taylor Richardson, Blake Ritson, Douglas Sills, Erin Wilhelmi, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald, John Douglas Thompson, Ashlie Atkinson, Laura Benanti, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Christopher Denham, David Furr, Ward Horton, Matilda Lawler and Robert Sean Leonard. The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, of great conflict between the old ways and brand-new systems, and of huge fortunes made and lost. Against the backdrop of this transformation, this show’s story begins in 1882 with young Marian Brook (Jacobson) moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City. After the death of her father, she goes to live with her thoroughly old money aunts, Agnes van Rhijn (Baranski) and Ada Brook (Nixon). Accompanied by Peggy Scott (Benton), an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her old money aunts and her stupendously rich neighbors — a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George (Spector) and Bertha Russell (Coon). In season two, the story picks up on Easter morning, 1883, with the news that Bertha’s bid for a box at the Academy of Music has been rejected. Bertha challenges Mrs. Astor and the old system and works to not only gain a foothold in Society but to potentially take a leading role in it. George takes on his own battle with a growing union at his steel plant in Pittsburgh. In the Brook House, Marian continues her journey to find her way in the world, secretly teaching at a girls’ school while, much to everyone’s surprise, Ada begins a new courtship. Of course, Agnes approves of none of it. In Brooklyn, the Scott family begins to heal from a shocking discovery, and Peggy taps into her activist spirit through her work with T. Thomas Fortune at the NY Globe.

The ratings are typically the best indication of a show’s chances of staying on the air. The higher the ratings, the better the chances of survival. This chart will be updated as new ratings data becomes available.

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For comparisons: Season one of The Gilded Age on HBO averaged a 0.05 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 643,000 viewers.

Note: These are the final national ratings, including all live+same day viewing and DVR playback (through 3:00 AM). Early fast affiliate ratings (estimates) are indicated with an “*”. While these numbers don’t include further delayed or streaming viewing, they are a very good indicator of how a show is performing, especially when compared to others on the same channel. There can be other economic factors involved in a show’s fate, but typically the higher-rated series are renewed and the lower-rated ones are cancelled.

What do you think? Do you like The Gilded Age TV series on HBO? Should it be cancelled or renewed for a third season?

*12/22/23 update: The Gilded Age has been renewed for a third season.