HBO's star-studded period drama The Gilded Age is finally here
Also tonight: ABC's Promised Land kicks off, TNT's Snowpiercer is back, and Netflix adds moving short film Three Songs For Benazir
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Monday, January 24. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
The Gilded Age (HBO, 9 p.m., series premiere): Created by Downton Abbey showrunner Julian Fellowes, The Gilded Age is a period drama set in New York City in 1882. A young Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) moves from Pennsylvania to live with her old money aunts, played by Christine Baranksi and Cynthia Nixon. Marian becomes enmeshed in a social war during a period of immense economic change. Carrie Coon stars as Bertha Russell, the ambitious wife of ruthless railroad tycoon George (Morgan Spector).
The impressive cast includes Audra McDonald, Taissa Farmiga, Amy Forsythe, and Nathan Lane. Ani Bundel will recap every episode for the next nine weeks, starting with tonight’s premiere, titled “Never The New.”
Regular coverage
Wild cards
Promised Land (ABC, 10 p.m., series premiere): Matt Lopez’ soapy new drama attempts to subvert stereotypes while following two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley. The cast includes John Ortiz, Christina Ochoa, and Bellamy Young.
In her review, Cristina Escobar writes: “Promised Land is steeped in the kind of American exceptionalism that comforts many Anglos and Latinxs alike—that immigrants are better off here; that despite punitive laws and rampant discrimination, on balance, the U.S. is better than the homelands they’ve left. The show contrasts these recent, young immigrants’ experiences with the multigenerational Sandoval family, owners of one of the largest wineries in California, the fictional Heritage House.”
Snowpiercer (TNT, 9 p.m., season three premiere): This post-apocalyptic thriller, based on Bong Joon-ho’s 2013 film of the same name, returns for its third season. It picks up with Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) commanding a small pirate train in search of Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly), and finding a possible warm location to restart civilization. The returning cast includes Sean Bean and Alison Wright, with Archie Panjabi joining the show. Snowpiercer has already been renewed for season four.
Three Songs For Benazir (Netflix, 3:01 a.m.): Directed by Gulistan and Elizabeth Mirzaei, the short film tells the story of Shaista, a newly married young man living in a displacement camp in Kabul, Afghanistan. He struggles to balance his dreams of being the first from his tribe to join the Afghan National Army against the responsibilities of starting a family.