Filthy Rich

For some strange reason, I always remembered this show. Maybe it was the outrageousness of it all or the fact that parodied Dallas. Anyway, I loved Dixie Carter, Ann Wedgeworth, Nedra Volz, and Delta Burke here more than I liked Dixie and Delta on Designing Women. I love parodies and this show should have been huge but again the demographics probably did not meet with network requirements like they did with Mama's Family and other shows that never made the cut. After all, they wanted a younger, hipper audiences. Now who is getting the last laugh since Blue Collar Comedy is back and in demand more than ever. That was the appeal of Filthy Rich was all the outrageousness about money and social classes. Too bad there were only fifteen episodes, we could have had more.

There were so many hilarious quotes on Filthy Rich but one of my favorites that didn't make the quote list was: "For a moment there I had an overwhelming sensation of total desolation and utter futility, but I'm okay now." The episode with Bootsie and her "fantasy fur" was hilarious. Bootsie said something like "it's soft, it enhances trash cans and hair spray" the Carlotta says; " a lot of brightly colored monkeys had to die for that." Another favorite was when Carlotta got a job on Mud Island in Memphis. She apparently fell into the Mississippi River. When she came home, Marshal asked her something like what was she wearing. She said it was a Souther Belle outfit. He said, you look like you've been rung. I've literally been looking for this series to come out on tape or DVD. I'd love to have it and add it to my collection of favorite TV shows. Come on, it's only 15 episodes!

I saw this series some time ago and absolutely loved it. I believe it ended with the untimely death of Slim Pickens. I would love to see this in reruns or as rentals. If they found the right actors and resurrected this, I would definitely tune in.

This show was utterly hilarious--one look at the cast list alone shows how much talent they had at their fingertips: Dixie Carter, Delta Burke (pre-"Designing Women") Forrest Tucker, Ann Wedgeworth, Slim Pickens, etc. The knives-and-dagger dialog between Carlotta (Dixie) and Kathleen (Delta) was some of the funniest and most quotable I've ever heard, including my favorite shot of all time (which happens to be missing from the IMDb quotes list): (Carlotta)"Yes, Kathleen has beautiful skin. It's from all that fresh air she gets on those early mornin' cab rides home." The style and characters remind me of other camp-filled projects, like Del Shore's play/film "Sordid Lives," or even BBC's series "Absolutely Fabulous." Maybe it was just ahead of its time. This show well deserves to be brought back on Nick at Nite or on Trio's Brilliant But Cancelled, or even DVD.

While I would be hesitant to name 'Filthy Rich' as one of the funniest sitcoms of all time, it is most definitely one of the funniest series of the 1980's. Some consider it a shame that it never found it's audience. Actually, that may be its saving grace because thankfully it never had a chance to go downhill. The episodes that were made are total gems. The acting is hysterically funny; Ann Wedgeworth being at her absolute best and, in my opinion, robbed of an Emmy nomination. Nedra Volz is also a standout, along with Dixie Carter and Delta Burke in their pre-'Designing Women' days. If this ever becomes available, buy it on the spot! You won't be disappointed. I WANT MY DVD!!