HBO’s The Gilded Age is coming of age on the awards circuit with a surprise SAG-AFTRA nomination. Julian Fellowes’ period piece has landed a nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, SAG-AFTRA Awards‘ equivalent of Outstanding Drama Series.
It is the first major awards recognition for The Gilded Age, which had an inauspicious HBO start on Monday nights in Season 1 and was facing a possible cancellation after Season 2 in light of the high costs associated with a high-end period costume drama but recently earned a Season 3 renewal with solid viewership.
The cast of The Gilded Age includes a number of well know actors with awards pedigree, including Christine Baranski, who loved the project so much, she found a way to juggle it with The Good Fight for the first season, Carrie Coon, Cynthia Nixon, Audra McDonald and Nathan Lane. Still, this is considered an upset.
The nomination extends’ Fellowes’ strong record at the SAG-AFTRA Awards with his previous drama Downton Abbey, which won the Drama Ensemble trophy three times.
Speaking of SAG-AFTRA Award streaks streaks, Tony Shalhoub was nominated seven times for his starring role in Monk during the USA Network detective dramedy’s eight-season run, winning in 2004 and 2005.
His peers love him in the character, and Shalhoub is back with a Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series nomination for Peacock’s Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie. (Shalhoub also has been nominated twice individually and twice as an ensemble for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, winning once in each category.)
Overall, there were no major surprises in the SAG-AFTRA TV nominations, with Succession leading the way, scoring five nominations, and The Bear, The Last Of Us and Abbott Elementary all making strong showings. (Though awards perennial Meryl Streep did not get an individual nomination beyond the ensemble mention for Hulu’s Only Murders In the Building and breakout Jury Duty got snubbed.)
The Gilded Age has its work cut out for it as it faces fellow HBO series, juggernauts Succession and The Last Of Us in the top drama category, along with Netflix’s The Crown and Apple TV+’s The Morning SHow.