PITTSBURGH — Before "The Unofficial Gilded Age After Show" was a web series available on The Frick Pittsburgh's YouTube channel, it was an idea bouncing around Melanie Groves' head — for almost the last decade.
Groves, The Frick's manager of exhibitions and registrar, is a huge "Downton Abbey" fan and was delighted in 2012 when creator Julian Fellowes announced that his next series would be set in the United States, during the late-19th-century period known as the Gilded Age. Considering her workplace's Gilded-Age bona fides, Groves figured there would be plenty of opportunities for The Frick to capitalize on Fellowes' new endeavor.
That show languished in development hell for years before it eventually jumped from NBC to HBO. Groves kept tabs on it via Google alerts, and she was delighted upon finding out it would finally be premiering in January. "The Unofficial Gilded Age After Show" launched the Friday after the show debuted, and has continued to feature Gilded Age experts providing context on what the show is getting right and wrong about New York City high society during the era.
