Posted Oct 8th 2008 9:03AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Cancellations, The Riches, Reality-Free
The Riches was one of those shows that suffered from the p-word: potential. With an interesting story -- a family of Travelers settle into a stolen life as an upper-middle-class suburban family -- and excellent acting performances from Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver, the show had the same breakout potential as any of FX's other dramas.
But the show's potential was never realized, either creatively or in the ratings. The show always had trouble balancing dark comedy and intense drama, and it strained to make the audience care about the Malloys, who were dealing with the consequences of stealing the American Dream. At the end of its aborted second season, FX had not committed either way to bringing the show back. Well, now we know: Mike Ausiello of
EW confirmed yesterday that
The Riches has been cancelled.Continue reading FX cancels The Riches
Posted May 1st 2008 12:20PM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, House, Rescue Me, Retro Squad, TV Squad Lists, The Riches, Casting, Reality-Free
As AOL Television continues their look at the 50 Best TV Comedies -- Ever with their Top 10, we here at TV Squad are also looking at television comedy, but with a slightly skewed difference. Last week, we took a look at the Saturday Night Live cast members from 1996 to 2006 that made it to the big time. This week, we get a bit more serious.
There are those in the industry who say that it is easier to go from acting in a drama to acting in a comedy than it is the other way around. Yet, as you will see from the list we've compiled after the jump, there are plenty of comedic actors who have jumped from the world of comedy films, stand-up comedy, and television sitcoms into the more serious world of drama. In many cases they have had even greater success than they did on the other side of the tracks. There have even been instances where they stayed in the drama genre and never went back to being funny.
Continue reading 17 comedic actors who moved into dramatic television roles
Posted Apr 30th 2008 8:22AM by Brett Love
Filed under: The Riches, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E07) I debated whether or not I should follow that post title up with a "kind of" or an "unfortunately." Because really, it is unfortunate that season two was cut short by the strike. If we were gearing up to watch the next six episodes of season two, this would have been a pivotal episode.
With Dahlia's breakdown, Didi rebelling against her father, and the growing tension between Wayne and Quinn, things are building nicely. As a season finale though, I'm left feeling disappointed. Still, "The Lying King" did offer up some good bits to the story. More on that, after the jump.
Continue reading The Riches: The Lying King (season finale)
Posted Apr 23rd 2008 8:43AM by Brett Love
Filed under: The Riches, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E06) Here we are, with the next to last episode of the season, and I found it just a little strange. Perhaps I was reading too much into the fact that there is only one more episode to go. Or, perhaps the strike just did more damage to the flow of the season than I am giving credit for. But this didn't feel like an episode setting us up for a big conclusion/cliff hanger. I'm left thinking there are a whole lot of irons in that fire that need to be dealt with next week. While it wasn't what I expected, there were some very interesting developments in Eden Falls this week.
Continue reading The Riches: Dead Caelm
Posted Apr 21st 2008 10:43AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, The Riches, Reality-Free
I guess in a world where a wrestler and an action hero can both be a governors, anything is possible. Eddie Izzard, cross-dressing stand-up comedian who's currently playing Traveler Wayne Malloy on
The Riches, is thinking that in ten years or so, he might want to go into politics. Yes, you heard me.
In an interview with Newsweek.com, Izzard feels that
he might want to participate in European Union politics. What's his big issue? "People are very worried about sovereignty and the loss of sovereignty. I think the stakes are if we don't make the European Union work, then the world is screwed. End of story."
Continue reading Eddie Izzard: Cross-dresser, Traveler... politician?
Posted Apr 16th 2008 8:39AM by Brett Love
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E05) Right about now, some of the Malloys should probably be having some second thoughts about returning to Eden Falls. The lure of big money is hard to resist, but it's certainly not going to be easy money. The dark turn to their adventure continues in episode five as we find Dahlia continuing to struggle with her new triple life, Pete causing more trouble for Wayne, and young Cael striking out and getting some story all his own.
Continue reading The Riches: Trust Never Sleeps
Posted Apr 8th 2008 11:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E04) Use any cliché you want: this is the episode where the chickens come home to roost, the shit hits the fan, the bill comes due, the Malloys have to pay the piper, etc. etc. What we do know at the end of this episode is that Wayne is starting to get in over his head, and even he knows that his conning skills are only going to get him so far. He's been able to dig himself and his family out of the messes they've created to this point, but this one is a doozy. Not only is he going up against a guy that's probably an even bigger con artist than he is, but also this guy doesn't have any semblance of a conscience. Talk about a deadly combination.
Continue reading The Riches: Slums of Bayou Hills
Posted Apr 1st 2008 11:06PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: The Riches, Episode Reviews
(S02E03) Well, the Malloys are back in Eden Falls, living life as the Riches. And all hell's about to break loose.
That's the situation we have in this episode. Wayne's trying to keep the big deal Hugh brokered alive while Hugh searches for his mojo. Dale is stalking around Panco looking for a job so he can be in on the deal. Only we know that the lummox has some information and a hell of a lot of muscle behind him. And Dahlia is having yet another crisis involving her sense of place in the world. Oh, and then we have the kids: Cael wants out, DiDi wants to fit in, and Sam wonders why there's blood stains on the stairs.
Looks like we're entering the darkest part of the tunnel in this show, aren't we?
Continue reading The Riches: Field of Dreams
Posted Mar 25th 2008 11:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode Reviews
(S02E02) For the second week in a row, Wayne spends most of the episode separated from the rest of his family, cleaning up the messes he got in at the end of the first season. In fact, we're pretty much where we left off in last week's
season premiere, with Wayne trying to figure out what to do with Hugh and Dale while also trying to figure out how to dispose of poor Pete. Meanwhile, Dahlia, Nina, and the kids try to steal a van but are caught by a stressed out man with a big gun and an itchy trigger finger.
What this sets up is, in a lot of ways, a "scam of the week" episode, something we saw a lot of last season. But I get the feeling this might be the last one we see for a while, mainly because the "big scam," which is Hugh's massive development deal, is going to swallow up not only the Malloys, but everyone around them.
Continue reading The Riches: Friday Night Lights
Posted Mar 18th 2008 11:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode Reviews
(S02E01) As much as I liked the first season of
The Riches, I thought the show had a couple of basic flaws. First, it seemed like too many episodes were about the con of the week rather than the "big con," which was the Malloys trying to pass for the Riches. But the most fundamental flaw of the entire first season was that, well... we just didn't find enough of a reason to like the Malloys. As despicable as the characters around them in Eden Falls were, we still felt that they were the victims of this family of Irish Travelers stealing the American Dream.
I think Dimitry Lipkin realized this, as the abbreviated second season of
The Riches brings us a number of seedy characters that are so heinous that it makes the Malloys look like heroes. The season premiere just sets the table for what's to come.
Continue reading The Riches: The Last Temptation of Wayne (season premiere)
Posted Feb 7th 2008 10:02AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Dirt, The Riches, WGA Strike
Ever since we heard that the writers' strike
is close to being settled, we started wondering whether networks were going to restart production on all the shows that stopped or if they were going to call it a season and wait until next year. In the case of FX, at least, we know the answer: they're going to call it a season.
According to
The Hollywood Reporter, FX's spring series
Dirt and
The Riches will both have shortened second seasons, airing only the seven episodes each series made before running out of scripts. The network is citing economic realities in the decision; I'd imagine rebuilding sets and getting new permits, etc. is a pretty expensive thing to do, especially for a cable network.
Continue reading This season of Dirt and The Riches will seem a bit short
Posted Jan 10th 2008 3:00PM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, The Closer, Brothers and Sisters, Awards, The Riches, Damages
With award shows upon us,
even canceled ones, it behooves us to take a few minutes to recognize the extraordinary performances of the talented actresses in television dramas. This year, all of the nominees had their starts in film, including Academy Award winners Holly Hunter and Sally Field, and nominee Glenn Close. Field has won multiple Academy Awards, and last year won an Emmy for her performance on ABC's drama
Brothers and Sisters. This is not a group of beginners, and there isn't a sloppy or undeserving nominee in the bunch. The nominees are:
Continue reading The Golden Globes: Best Actress - Drama
Posted Jul 11th 2007 10:30AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: OpEd, 24, Gilmore Girls, Law and Order, Rescue Me, Scrubs, The Shield, Grey's Anatomy, Entourage, The Office, The Sopranos, The Closer, Psych, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, 30 Rock, Dexter, Friday Night Lights, Awards, The Riches
Let me take a look at my trusty calendar. Okay, tomorrow I take the kids to the doctor. On Thursday I get that bikini wax. Friday? Well, I do the same think as I do every Friday -- try to take over the world (Snarf!). Now, for next week . . .
Sweet Niblets! Next week (July 19th, to be exact) they announce the nominees for the 59th Emmy awards to honor achievements for what has gone on previously rather than what is going on now. Which is opposite of the Golden Globes or the SAG awards, which honor achievements that are going on both presently and in the past. Wait, let me read that again . . . yep, that makes sense!
So, in preparation for the television wonk's biggest night of the year I have asked the humongous staff over here at TV Squad to give me a hand in picking out who will be the likely nominees and winners in the Best Actor/Actress/Drama/Comedy categories. Of course, your opinions may differ. But, hey, what fun would it be if we picked the same things you did?
Continue reading TV Squad picks their choices for Emmy nominees and winners
Posted Jun 13th 2007 1:24PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Programming, Battlestar Galactica, The Shield, Stargate, Veronica Mars, Eureka, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Jericho, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Dirt, The Black Donnellys, The Riches
The folks over at iTunes have created
this handy list for people who want to spend some time this summer catching up on the television shows that don't get as much buzz (anything that's not
Lost,
Grey's Anatomy,
24). The list includes full seasons of
Friday Night Lights,
Jericho,
30 Rock,
The Shield,
Battlestar Galactica,
Stargate,
The Riches,
Dirt and
Eureka. Also? You can bask in the glory of hastily canceled shows like
Andy Barker, P.I.,
Veronica Mars, and
The Black Donnellys. Oh, and
Studio 60 is on there, but I wouldn't call that a "hastily" canceled show. (The current--and final--season of
The Loop is also on iTunes, though it's not on the 'Missed' list)
This is a great idea. Many of the shows listed get a lot of buzz on sites like ours (because our readers know good television), but the general population doesn't seem to catch on. If only
How I Met Your Mother would get on iTunes... it could definitely use some more fans as it heads into season 3.
Posted Jun 5th 2007 7:08AM by Brett Love
Filed under: The Riches, Episode Reviews
(
S01E13) Well, there you have it. The big finale for the first season of
The Riches. The thing that strikes me about the season is how much it was not what I was expecting. What we ended up seeing was very different than what the promotion FX tossed out all those months ago led one to expect. And I think that was a good thing.
This was a much darker show than those voiced over commercials with Wayne and Dahlia walking down the staircase hinted at. The Malloy family has some serious issues. But at the end of the day, they are a family, and that drives everything they do.
Continue reading The Riches: Waiting for Dogot (season finale)
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