The Riches: A Wealth of Headline Puns

FX ran a marathon of the first four episodes of The Riches last Friday and I figured I'd have the TiVo grab them. We weren't sure we'd be too interested, but could spare one hour for the pilot and have the rest around just in case. Four hours later...

Okay. I'm coming way late to the Eddie Izzard party, I know, but damn why didn't anyone tell me he's a frickin' genius?! Or did I just not listen?

Izzard plays Wayne Malloy: father; husband; Traveller. The ever-appealing (and sexier by the year) Minnie Driver stars as his wife and mother to their three children. Fortunately, I had enough secondhand knowledge of Izzard's career to appreciate his cross-dressing youngest son. From my limited exposure so far, the artist of whom Izzard most reminds me is Ricky Gervais. Like Gervais, there's a real pathos underlying even his zaniest moments and great intelligence in all his choices. Wayne is a "half-breed" - abandoned by his mother when his father died, left to be raised by Jesuits and bandits - on the run from his extended family and sociopathic cousin Dale, the new Malloy patriarch. He pines for his lost, idealized youth amongst the "buffers" and thinks he's found a way to steal that life back.

Some mighty bad driving by a tool in a Beemer lets Wayne, Dahlia, and their children steal the lives of Doug and Cherien Rich. While Wayne does have some big shoes to fill (literally: Izzard's stature is always a visual element and he is filmed to make his 5'7" frame seem much smaller) a lifetime of conning and conniving have well-prepared him for his new role of lawyer. A quick 18 holes here, some Russian roulette there, and Doug Rich has a nice, cushy gig as in-house council. Well, not cushy or there wouldn't be much story here, would there?

Dale's still tracking Wayne, crazy Ginny Dannegan wants to marry her...slightly slow...cousin to Wayne's daughter to forge an alliance with the Malloys, new boss Hugh Panetta is a gun-toting asshole, Dahlia's got some bad habits left over from her time in the stir, and the kids aren't sold on the notion of school. Life might have been easier in their RV.

Special kudos to Dmitry Lipkin who created this original and brilliant show. It's pretty rare for someone to become a show runner without any television experience, but he's made the transition from the stage seamlessly.

Watch this show. Catch up quickly, here, then watch this show.