Dirty Sexy Money

In all honesty, I didn't even know what channel ABC was on before I sought out this show, but it made me look! I missed the initial airing so I caught up via "OnDemand" and was hooked--I ended up watching all the episodes twice. I love everybody in it, although Peter Krause alone would have been enough for me. It's apt that he's the designated voice of reason: he always brings such a sense of realness & believability to whatever he's in. Although some of it is over-the-top, I think it'll be like peering in on how the other half live. (I remember reading that one of the Kennedy in-laws--maybe Shriver?--was the go-to guy for all the Kennedys--they didn't even know how to renew a drivers' license without him.) The rich are like you and me in that neither of us has a clue how the other lives (e.g., Paris Hilton asking if WalMart was where you go to get anything you need for your walls). I'm looking forward to finding out how/why the evil Brian became a priest -- I find that more amazing than the fact that he's a father. I also like that Donald Sutherland doesn't seem intrinsically bad--just clueless about child-rearing. This show will only get more interesting, & will probably almost write itself. With Bryan Singer and so many other heavy-hitters behind it, I can't imagine it doing poorly unless it the audience doesn't have the attention span to absorb it all.

Nick George (Peter Krause) follows his late father's footstep as the legal fixer for the scandal ridden New York Darling family. Tripp (Donald Sutherland) and Tish (Jill Clayburgh) are the heads of the family. Their son Patrick (William Baldwin) is the reluctant politician with closeted secrets. Karen (Natalie Zea) is the jet setting daughter who has a lifelong crush on Nick despite his marriage to Lisa (Zoe McLellan). Juliet (Samaire Armstrong) is struggling with issues (including real-life ones) along with twin Jeremy. Brian has an illegitimate son. Simon Elder (Blair Underwood) is Tripp's rival.

The concept is promising but it's reliant on the likability of the characters. They can't be all be douches and mostly they're not. Mostly they're just damaged by the secrets they're keeping. There are probably a few too many characters. The show lasted two seasons. The first season does well. It has a nice balance of comedy and darker revelations. The second season gets weighted down by too much revelations. Sadly it's the usual way for a failing TV show to ramp up the drama.

This has become my favorite show on television. It has its own special charm to it. I love the characters in the Darling family. The acting is superb for nearly all of them. Donald Sutherland is incredible as always in the role of Tripp, the tactful businessman. Then you have Glenn Fitzgerald as Brian, the flawed priest; William Baldwin as Patrick, the spineless politician; Samaire Armstrong as Juliet, the spoiled daughter; Seth Gabel as Jeremy, the reluctant playboy; Natalie Zea as Karen, the impetuous harlot; and Jill Clayburgh as Letitia, the spaced-out mother.

The character of Brian is the one I find the most entertaining. He perfectly pulls off being a complete jerk, which makes his contrasting moments of humanity that much more impressive. His relationship with his son brought some of the funniest and most heartfelt moments of the season, which is really saying something considering the strength of the rest of the show. The character of Jeremy is intriguing as well, as he's somewhat of a security blanket for Juliet. Fitzgerald and Gabel show off their acting talents in these roles, but it's Sutherland that steals the show.

The well-acted characters don't stop there, though. Peter Krause nails the role of Nick, the lawyer/babysitter for the family. Will Shadley is adorable as Brian Jr. Blair Underwood adds mystery as the rival billionaire. Daniel Cosgrove gave a memorable performance as Karen's boytoy Freddy. Shawn Michael Patrick adds even more talent as the obedient limo driver. Zoe McLellan is stuck in that middle as Nick's wife Lisa, along with fascinated-by-rich-life daughter Kiki, portrayed by Chloe Moretz.

There are precious few flaws with this show. Leticia, Patrick, Juliet, and Karen can grow tiresome, partly because their characters are sometimes intended to annoy the viewers with their actions. However, the truth is that Clayburgh, Baldwin, Armstrong, and Zea simply don't possess the acting talent of the rest of the cast. I can hate and love Brian at the same time, and I can't say that for the rest of these characters who are supposed to elicit similar feelings.

The only reason I gave it a 9 instead of a 10 is because the latest episodes haven't been quite as good as the early ones. Still, I think that speaks more to the excellence of the show's beginning more than anything else. There's plenty of potential to develop all the characters much further, as you could make a lesser series based on any one of the characters. I don't know what the future holds for this show, but I can only hope that we haven't seen the last of it. If they give this enough of a chance, I think it will be truly great.

I worry, though, because nearly everyone I try to talk to about it hasn't heard of it, and we're going on a few weeks now without a new episode. It seems pretty high-budget as well. I think a little more promotion or patience could save the show. I fear the worst, but I'll breathe a sigh of relief if I see another new episode in the new year.

Please, ABC, keep this show going. If it disappears, it will be sorely missed.

I said it in the title & I'll say it again, "The 1st season Excellent, the 2nd awful." It is amazing how a fun although quite Soap Opera-y show the first year could turn to such garbage the 2nd year. I really can't compare the two seasons because the are completely different shows! If you have a chance to see both seasons, DO NOT WATCH SEASON 2! I'm not sure who left or who started working on the show in the second season but they killed it. The whole casting of Lucy Liu was stupid & her character was utterly useless. They also got rid of Samaire Armstrong which was a good character & she was good but w/out any sort of explanation or what happened to his twin sister? C'mon now! 8/10 for the 1st year 4/10 for the ridiculously dumb Second season.

Started out well, but drifted away into a complete chaos at the end. For example, the characters. Take Nick George. At first he is so opposed to the wealth etc. of the Darlings, then he lets himself be seduced by it. It would be interesting to watch him sink in more and more into this shallow and cruel world.. then emerge out of it with a changed personality and a learned lesson (or not, and that would be a message to the viewers). Instead what happens is that we are first supposed to believe he is following the wrong path, succumbing to all this money, etc., then turns out that actually it's OK, he's a nice guy helping this family and that's it. There is no more drama or character development, it just stops. His marriage with Lisa falls apart, he does exactly what his daddy, who he hated, did to him, but that's all OK! In addition to this completely illogical and incoherent "turn" we find out that in fact he was always in love with Karen and is now glad he separated from Lisa. Why? Why fall in love with this shallow, rich woman who has absolutely nothing in her? Seems like the original Nick shown in the first series would never fall for that kind of person, but no, apparently he always was secretly in love with her. It's hard to believe for us as viewers not only because it's so out of the blue but also because Krauss just can't act this, perhaps because he doesn't understand why his character would do this (all in all I have to say that Krauss was really not the right person to portray supposed complexity of the character Nick). All in all the show starts as one thing, kind of a comment on the life of the rich, supposedly satire, etc. and it's good in that way. But then it loses the focus. The other flaws include complete and unexplained disappearance of Juliet who at first was shown as a very close part of her twin brother Jeremy, who then seems to forget all about her in 3 episodes. Jeremy's character is actually played well and is more or less consistent. So is Lisa's.

Some major things just happen "in passing", like Karen's miscarriage, as if the there was not enough air time to properly play the scene out. Some scenes are just forgotten, like the arrest of Patrick (accusation of murdering his wife) is just forgotten in the next episode. Not to mention the completely crumbled and unsatisfactory ending (not really an ending at all but not a invitation to watch further episodes either, just something in between.) Also there is this theme of Tripp always pressurizing his children and each one of them being secretly unhappy in their own way - Jeremy takes up a job, Juliet takes pills etc) that is also just dropped at some point and the kids seem to be actually fine. Basically the whole thing is very inconsistent. It's well done and not thought through thoroughly.