NEED TO KNOW
- The Artist, starring Mandy Patinkin and Janet McTeer, premieres on Nov. 27 on The Network, and PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the trailer
- The Gilded Age-set series also features Patti LuPone, Zachary Quinto, Katharine McPhee and many others
- The second half of the season debuts on the free streamer on Christmas Day
Fans of The Gilded Age won’t have to wait another year for a season of bickering tycoons. The Network is delivering The Artist — complete with a fresh set of fancy A-list feuders — next month.
In the exclusive trailer below, junkyard baron Norman Henry (Mandy Patinkin) and his wife Marian (Janet McTeer) sit down to dinner for two in their country home. “God, I miss the city,” Marian mutters.
“No one misses the city. We’re in the country. It’s an enviable location,” Norman responds. Marian snips back, “There is no one in the country here to envy us.”
But eventually, there must be, because this cast is stacked — and the Henrys face numerous visitors — including Patti LuPone, Danny Huston, Zachary Quinto, Hank Azaria, Clark Gregg, Katharine McPhee and Ever Anderson.
In the trailer’s voiceover, Marian explains, “This story is not a story in the conventional sense. This story is a bit more complex than sinister. This story is a cautionary tale. You see, nothing is neat and tidy. This is not a tale of murder. This is a tale of rebirth.”
The Network
In between, she trades barbs with LuPone’s Rosie Morsch, her sister who questions Maran’s word choice.
“You must be creating something meaningful to declare a renaissance. Otherwise, you’re just blissful,” Rosie insists.
Meanwhile, The Artist (Huston) questions Norman’s ability to pay him as he makes eyes at Marian and Norman appreciates actress and model Evelyn Nesbit (Anderson) up close.
There’s also a bunch of name-calling: attorney Delphin Delmas calls himself “friendly,” Marian calls Delphin “a liar,” and Norman calls Marian “a cow of a woman.”
The clip concludes meta meeting of musical icons as Vaudeville star Nora Bayes (McPhee) sings — and Rosie cuts her down. “Do you even know what a diaphragm is?!” she shouts as Norman shakes his head.
The show’s official logline reads: “In the twilight of the Gilded Age, murder strikes the estate of an eccentric and failing tycoon. As he hosts the era’s biggest celebrities including Thomas Edison, Edgar Degas and Evelyn Nesbit, lies, mystery and ambition collide as the truth is shockingly revealed.”
The series is partly inspired by the true story of architect Stanford White’s public murder at Madison Square Garden in 1906 by Harry Thaw, the jealous husband of model Evelyn Nesbit.
The first three episodes of The Artist premieres on the free streamer The Network — which can be found at TheNetwork.Stream — on Nov. 27. The second half of the season debuts on Christmas Day.
