THE RICHES

'''The Riches''' (also spelled ''The Rı¢hes'' in promotional material) is an Emmy Award-nominated FX television series starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. Originally named ''Low Life'', the show was created by Dmitry Lipkin for Maverick Television and FX Networks. The one-hour pilot was written by Lipkin and Eddie Izzard, and directed by Carl Franklin. It first aired on March 12, 2007, with plans for a further 12 episodes.^[1] Additionally, the first two episodes were made available on the Internet prior to their television air dates. FX President John Landgraf described ''The Riches'' as a 'family show,' albeit one featuring "a family unlike any television viewers have seen before." FX Amasses New 'Riches'. 7 September, 2006. Retrieved 10 January, 2007
Virgin 1 will show The Riches in the United Kingdom.
FX announced on May 8, 2007 that ''The Riches'' will return for a second season.^[2]

Contents

Plot synopsis

Characters

Lexicon

Episodes

Ratings

Critical reception

International broadcasts

References

External links

Plot synopsis

The show features Izzard and Driver as Wayne and Dahlia Malloy; they, along with their family, are Irish Traveller con artists and thieves. They travel with their children Di Di (Dehliah), Sam and Cael.
As the series begins Dahlia has just been paroled from prison. During her two-year sentence, she has developed various drug addictions. In her absence, Wayne and the children have been continuing to act as con artists across the US. After a brief reunion with their Traveller clan, the family flees to avoid an arranged marriage for Di Di. Wayne steals a large amount of money from the clan's hoard of cash, and the family runs off. After getting into an altercation and RV chase with another Traveller family, the Malloys are involved in a car accident that kills a very wealthy couple (the eponymous Riches). Choosing not to return to their clan camp and to pursue a "better life", they instead adopt the Riches' identity in an affluent gated community in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and live as ''buffers'', as they call mundane, law abiding people.

Characters

Main articles: List of characters in The Riches

	Name	Portrayed by	Description
	'Wayne Malloy'	Eddie Izzard	Wayne is the paternal head of the Malloy family (not to be confused with the extended Malloy 'clan'). He is a consummate, intelligent grifter and thief who experienced an 'existential crisis' while his wife was serving time in prison. He has become disillusioned with the nomadic, scamming lifestyle of the Travellers; it was his idea to steal the identities of deceased Doug and Cherien Rich and settle down into a normal life. Dahlia has referred to him as a 'halfbreed' or 'half buffer', because he did not grow up a traveler.
	'Dahlia Malloy'	Minnie Driver	Dahlia is Wayne's wife. Newly out on parole, Dahlia's behavior is erratic and unpredictable, possibly exacerbated by drug habits picked up in prison. A recovering methamphetamine addict, we've seen Dahlia take a wide array of legal and illegal drugs since her parole, but recently she appears to be trying to get clean. Dahlia is considered 'royalty' in their Traveller clan, and her connection to the clan (both by blood and ideology) appears to be much stronger than Wayne's. She was initially very skeptical of Wayne's plan to leave their old lifestyle and impersonate the Riches, but has helped him work the con and done her part to assume the identity of Cherien Rich.
	'Cael Malloy'	Noel Fisher	Cael is the eldest Malloy son. He appears rather quiet and shady, yet is very intelligent. His skills include carrying out petty cash-register cons ("I gave you a twenty!"), faking epileptic seizures, picking locks, creating fake ID's, and disabling alarm systems. While his sister Di Di seems to be more loyal to their father, Cael is more supportive of their mother and the traditional Traveller lifestyle and beliefs. Likewise, his reception to the "Rich" lifestyle is not quite as enthusiastic as that of his ambitious father. Shortly after assuming the identities of the Riches and enrolling in preparatory school, Cael continues his criminal ways after he decides to assist two wayward classmates in breaking into the school to change the grade-records (episode 4).
	'Di Di Malloy'	Shannon Marie Woodward	Di Di is the adolescent daughter of Wayne and Dahlia. Like the other Malloy children, she is intelligent and crafty, and is adept at various scams and thievery. In the opening scene of the pilot she is seen pickpocketing people at a high school class reunion while Wayne distracts them. On Dahlia's first night out of prison, Di Di is the one who finds her mother passed out, cough syrup bottle in hand, with needle marks showing on her arm. Di Di's relationship with her mother appears to be strained; when it temporarily seemed the family would split up, Di Di chose to stay with her father (Wayne). As of episode 3, she has struck up a relationship with classmate and Edenfalls local Erick (see: ''The Rosemere Academy'').
	'Sam Malloy'	Aidan Mitchell	Sam is the youngest Malloy child and frequently dresses in girls' clothing. The idea for Sam's cross-dressing came about before Izzard, a cross-dressing (and heterosexual) comedian, joined the show.[3] The first night they spend in the Rich home, Sam draws a large mural on a wall in the house depicting their recent adventures, including the car accident and Dahlia's release from prison. In addition to his artistic endeavors, he also speaks French. Like the rest of his family, Sam appears to be very clever and adept at trickery. In episode 3, Sam is the key player in an elaborate con of Dahlia's to get the Malloy children into Rosemere Academy.

Lexicon

The Travellers use a variety of terminology. In addition to slang, some of the vocabulary is taken from Shelta (also known as "the Cant"), which is sometimes used as a code by Travellers.
; Buffer : An ordinary person, a non-Traveller. Possibly a corruption of "buffoon," i.e., a potential mark.
; Half Breed : A Traveller not born into the clan, but associated through, for example, marriage or one of two parents.
; Kale : Money.
; Koosh : Money or other valuables, particularly ones the Travellers can steal.
; Skaal Krush: Pertaining to the end of the con. ''Krush'' means "clear out; run away" in Shelta.

Episodes

Main articles: List of The Riches episodes

Ratings

The pilot episode of ''The Riches'' drew 3.8 million viewers.^[4] With 2.5 million of those viewers in the 18-49 demographic, ''The Riches'' scored second only to the premiere of ''The Shield'', thus beating out the premieres of other FX dramas such as ''Rescue Me'', ''Over There'', and ''Dirt''. The pilot was also FX's first-ever Monday night premiere of an original series, and more than doubled the channel's highest-ever ratings for the Monday 10pm slot.^[5] The show averaged 5.9 million cumulative viewers per week in the USA, sufficient for FX to commission a second season to be shown in 2008. ^[6]

Critical reception

Television critics were generally favorable in their reviews of ''The Riches''.^[7] ''The Baltimore Sun'' described it as "the kind of TV drama that makes one think while being entertained."^[8] and ''The Boston Globe'' lauded a "layered drama" full of "unexpectedly soulful pleasures".^[9] Some critics thought the show "lacks originality," ^[10] but there was unanimous praise for the principal actors, with ''The New York Times'' reporting "together, [Izzard and Driver] are superb."^[11]

International broadcasts

Country	TV Network(s)
	Telecine Light
	Showcase
	Virgin 1
	Viasat 4

References

1. FX set premiere date for new series The Riches. 26 January, 2007. Retrieved 7 February, 2007
2. FX Turns More 'Dirt,' Reaps 'Riches' 8 May, 2007. Retrieved 8 May, 2007.
3. FX's The Riches will try to con you. ''Houston Chronicle'', 11 March, 2007. Retrieved 15 March, 2007
4. FX Cashes Strong 'Riches' Ratings. ''Zap2it'', 14 March, 2007. Retrieved 17 March, 2007
5. The Riches Premiere on FX Scores Solid Ratings. ''Broadcasting & Cable'', 13 March, 2007. Retrieved 17 March, 2007
6. 'Dirt' and 'Riches' get a second season. ''Newsday'', 1o May, 2007. Retrieved 18 May, 2007
7. Rave reviews for Izzard's US show. ''BBC News'', 13 March, 2007. Retrieved 15 March, 2007
8. On The Money. ''The Baltimore Sun'', 13 March, 2007. Retrieved 13 March, 2007
9. Stealing the American dream is a family affair. ''The Boston Globe'', 13 March, 2007. Retrieved 13 March, 2007
10. FX's 'Riches' lacks originality. ''The Los Angeles Times'', 13 March, 2007. Retrieved 13 March, 2007
11. For This Family of Pros, the Con Is Everything. ''The New York Times'', 13 March, 2007. Retrieved 13 March, 2007. Minnie Driver has been nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Dramatic Series for her performance.

External links

★ Official site

★ The Riches @ Showcase (Canadian Broadcaster)

★ The Riches on IMDb