Julian Fellowes Thanks HBO's Casey Bloys as The Gilded Age Season 4 Nears Its Debut

Julian Fellowes, the writer and creator of The Gilded Age, has thanked HBO's Casey Bloys for backing the show "from the very, very early days." He made the remarks at the Season 4 premiere at the Plaza Hotel in New York, as Deadline reported.

Fellowes called Bloys "our protector, our gladiator, our defender." He said anyone who enjoys the series owes Bloys a great deal. Bloys is chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, the group that makes shows for HBO and its streaming service, HBO Max.

The show's route to HBO was not a straight line. It was first ordered by NBC. Universal TV then shopped it around, and it landed at HBO after Fellowes's plans proved too ambitious for broadcast television, according to the same Deadline report. Fellowes praised NBCU's Pearlena Igbokwe as "one of the first to recognize" what was special about the series. He also credited former NBC and WarnerMedia executive Bob Greenblatt for not letting the project drop, and called HBO's Francesca Orsi "wonderful" for bringing the show to HBO.

The Gilded Age premiered in 2022. It follows the Russell family, who arrive in New York's high society during the 1880s. Season 4 has eight episodes. Warner Bros. Discovery's press site describes the season's premise as "Bertha Russell changed Society at a cost."

The new season is set to debut on HBO and stream on HBO Max on Sunday, November 1. Episodes will arrive weekly on Sundays, so viewers will get one new episode each week until the finale.

Fellowes also created Downton Abbey, and the two period dramas have drawn comparisons since the early days of The Gilded Age. For viewers, the practical news is simple: a new season, a set of eight episodes, and a fixed weekly slot. The show's long run on a streaming service, after a broadcast network decided not to keep it, is the reason the season exists at all.