TV review: 'The Gilded Age' is losing some of its luster

A lot of what I initially adored about "The Gilded Age" remains in the second season, which kicks off at 8 p.m. Sunday on HBO. There's the rich attention to detail that instantly transports you back to 1880s New York City. You get the sense that the set designer went the extra mile to get just the right teacups.

Creator Julian Fellowes continues to incorporate real-life events — the rise of unions, the campaign to open the Metropolitan Opera House — and justify appearances by Booker T. Washington and Oscar Wilde. The cast, which includes Broadway favorites such as Donna Murphy, Audra McDonald and Christine Baranski, is still terrific.

But the series is starting to show its flaws. Fellowes' most celebrated work, "Downton Abbey," also relied on history and lavish touches, but it never forgot to put family first. The Crawleys and their domestic servants seemed to genuinely care about one another. In "Gilded," the main characters are too busy monitoring their spots on the social ladder to make time for a hug.

Fellowes tries to garner more sympathy in the second season by focusing a bit more on the "downstairs" help. But they may have arrived too late to the ball.

Also this week

'Everyone Else Burns'

The CW's decision to borrow the best of Canadian and British sitcoms continues to pay off with the stateside premiere of this series about a Manchester family convinced that the best way to prepare for Armageddon is to alienate everyone around them. Simon Bird is hilarious as the father so dedicated to his cult that he's unaware his haircut and buffoonish behavior make him look like the Fourth Stooge. 8:30 p.m. Thursday, CW

'Would You Kill for Me? The Mary Bailey Story'

You've got to admire Lifetime for sticking to its women-in-peril movies after all these years. Its latest effort dramatizes the real-life murder of an abusive father in 1984 and the subsequent investigation into whether or not he was killed by his 11-year-old stepdaughter. It's a compelling story, but you may get distracted by the fact that "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" star Melissa Joan Hart is now old enough to play the suspect's grandmother. 7 p.m. Saturday, Lifetime

'Life on Our Planet'

If you don't think having Steven Spielberg as an executive producer and Morgan Freeman as the narrator makes a difference, check out this riveting docuseries that covers 4 billion years of evolution. Even the role of jellyfish can be exciting when you have top talent at the helm. The first hour serves as an overview while the remaining seven episodes take a deeper dive into the pivotal moments that set the table for the arrival of humans. Netflix

'Three's Company'

Suzanne Somers, who died Oct. 15, enjoyed a long, lucrative career that included cabaret shows, bestselling books and the ThighMaster. But she never topped her work in this hit sitcom. Labeling Chrissy Snow as just the "dumb blonde" overlooks all the smart touches Somers brought to the role (did anyone on TV ever have a funnier snort?). Somers was fired from the series after complaining about her salary. The show was never the same without her. The network should have paid up. Pluto