The Riches
Encyclopedia
The Riches is an FX television series, which originally ran from March 15, 2007 to April 29, 2008, and starred Eddie Izzard
and Minnie Driver
.
by Dmitry Lipkin
for Maverick Films
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, followed by a further 12 episodes. Additionally, the first two episodes were made available on the Internet prior to their television air dates. FX announced on May 8, 2007 that The Riches would return for a second season, the first episode of which aired on March 18, 2008. The second season ran for 7 episodes.
FX President John Landgraf
described The Riches as a "family show", albeit one featuring "a family unlike any television viewers have seen before".
Todd Stashwick
, one of the actors, announced on his blog
that the show was canceled on September 25, 2008, almost five months after season two ended. The series was officially canceled by the network a few days later.
One suggested reason for the show's cancellation was the delay caused by the writers' strike
.
con artists and thieves. They travel with their children Di Di (Delilah), 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 U.S. 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). In the hopes of pursuing a "better life", they adopt the Riches' identities in an affluent gated community in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
. They struggle to adjust to their new lives as buffers, as they call non-Travellers, while attempting to avoid having their deception exposed by characters from both their past and the Riches'.
. 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.
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.
Sajick : Police officer or law enforcement official.
Skaal Krush : Pertaining to the end of the con. Krush means "clear out; run away" in Shelta
.
, 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. The show averaged 5.9 million cumulative viewers per week in the USA, sufficient for FX to commission a second season. The Riches has gained popularity through online resources, such as Hulu
and iTunes
' "What We Are Watching" for April 2008.
described it as "the kind of TV drama that makes one think while being entertained". and The Boston Globe
lauded a "layered drama" full of "unexpectedly soulful pleasures". Some critics thought the show "lacks originality", but there was praise for the principal actors, with The New York Times
reporting "together, [Izzard and Driver] are superb".
Time
magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 New TV Series of 2007, ranking it at #7, while Minnie Driver was nominated for an Emmy Award
for Best Actress in a Dramatic Series for her performance.
The second season garnered similarly positive reviews. The Hollywood Reporter
review said that "Izzard and Driver remain a joy to watch in this odd but fascinating series that is derivative of nothing on TV", while the San Francisco Chronicle
described it as "gloriously inventive, daring and provocative".
): The Riches (Virgin 1
): The Riches (Showcase
, 7TWO
): The Riches (Showcase, Télé-Québec
): The Riches (FX
): Izmuzljivci (HRT1): Gazdagék (Cool TV
)
Eddie Izzard
Edward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...
and Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.- Early life...
.
History
Originally named Low Life, the show was created and head writtenHead writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
by Dmitry Lipkin
Dmitry Lipkin
Dmitry Lipkin is a television writer and playwright. He is the creator and head writer of The Riches. Lipkin is a Russian-born Jew who immigrated to Baton Rouge when he was 10 years old....
for Maverick Films
Maverick Films
Maverick Films is an American film production company which was founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann and Ronnie Dashev. It is the film division of entertainment company, Maverick and owned by Warner Music Group...
and FX Networks. The one-hour pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
was written by Lipkin and Eddie Izzard, and directed by Carl Franklin
Carl Franklin
Carl Franklin is an American actor, screenwriter and film and television director. Franklin is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley and continued his education at the AFI Conservatory, where he graduated with an M.F.A. degree in directing in 1986...
. It first aired on March 12, 2007, followed by a further 12 episodes. Additionally, the first two episodes were made available on the Internet prior to their television air dates. FX announced on May 8, 2007 that The Riches would return for a second season, the first episode of which aired on March 18, 2008. The second season ran for 7 episodes.
FX President John Landgraf
John Landgraf
John Landgraf is the FX Network president and executive producer of the show 30 Days.-Producing credits:*30 Days*Reno 911!*Reno 911!: Miami *Karen Sisco*Other People's Business*UC: Undercover*The American Embassy...
described The Riches as a "family show", albeit one featuring "a family unlike any television viewers have seen before".
Todd Stashwick
Todd Stashwick
Todd Stashwick is an American film and TV actor. He played the role of Dale Malloy on The Riches until its cancellation. Stashwick actually preempted the official announcement that the show was canceled when he announced the cancellation on his MySpace blog on September 25, 2008...
, one of the actors, announced on his blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
that the show was canceled on September 25, 2008, almost five months after season two ended. The series was officially canceled by the network a few days later.
One suggested reason for the show's cancellation was the delay caused by the writers' strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
.
Plot
The show features Izzard and Driver as Wayne and Dahlia Malloy; they, along with their family, are Irish TravellerIrish Traveller
Irish Travellers are a traditionally nomadic people of ethnic Irish origin, who maintain a separate language and set of traditions. They live predominantly in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.-Etymology:...
con artists and thieves. They travel with their children Di Di (Delilah), 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 U.S. 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). In the hopes of pursuing a "better life", they adopt the Riches' identities in an affluent gated community in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. They struggle to adjust to their new lives as buffers, as they call non-Travellers, while attempting to avoid having their deception exposed by characters from both their past and the Riches'.
Characters
| Name | Portrayed by | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Wayne Malloy | Eddie Izzard Eddie Izzard Edward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime... |
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 Existential crisis An existential crisis is a stage of development at which an individual questions the very foundations of his or her life: whether his or her life has any meaning, purpose or value... ' 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 come from a Traveller bloodline. |
| Dahlia Malloy | Minnie Driver Minnie Driver Minnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.- Early life... |
Dahlia is Wayne's wife. Newly out on parole, Dahlia's behavior is erratic and unpredictable, exacerbated by drug habits picked up in prison. A recovering methamphetamine addict, Dahlia imbibed 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 and has struggled to live as Cherien Rich. |
| Cael Malloy | Noel Fisher | Cael is the eldest Malloy son. He is quiet and intelligent. His skills include carrying out petty cash-register cons, faking epileptic seizures, picking locks, creating fake identity documents, disabling alarm systems, and stealing cars. While his sister Di Di is more supportive of their father, Cael is more supportive of their mother and the traditional Traveller lifestyle and beliefs. Likewise, his reception to the "Rich" lifestyle is less enthusiastic than that of his ambitious father and siblings. |
| Delilah "Di Di" Malloy | Shannon Marie Woodward Shannon Marie Woodward Shannon Woodward is an American actress known for playing Sabrina on Raising Hope and Di Di Malloy on The Riches.-Personal life:... |
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 Pickpocketing Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person of a victim without their noticing the theft at the time. It requires considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection... people at a high school class reunion while Wayne distracts them. Di Di's relationship with her mother appears to be strained; at one point when angered, she lies to her mother about sleeping with her boyfriend Erick. When it temporarily seemed the family would split up, Di Di chose to stay with her father. She embraced the Riches' way of life, and does not seem to be interested in the traveller lifestyle any more. |
| Sam Malloy | Aidan Mitchell Aidan Mitchell Aidan Daley Mitchell is an American film and TV actor.Mitchell spent his first few years in Massachusetts, but when he was 3½ years his family relocated to his father's birthplace of Galway, Ireland where he spent the next 7 years... |
Sam is the youngest Malloy child and frequently dresses in girls' clothing. The idea for Sam's cross-dressing Cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser... came about before Izzard—a cross-dressing heterosexual comedian—joined the show. 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. During the season 1 finale, Sam expresses reluctance and even denial in leaving Eden Falls. |
| Dale Malloy | Todd Stashwick Todd Stashwick Todd Stashwick is an American film and TV actor. He played the role of Dale Malloy on The Riches until its cancellation. Stashwick actually preempted the official announcement that the show was canceled when he announced the cancellation on his MySpace blog on September 25, 2008... |
Dale is cousin to Dahlia. He and Wayne were raised like brothers in the Malloy clan. Within the code of the family Dale expected that one day he would marry Dahlia and take his rightful place as head of the family once his father, Earl, died. A borderline sociopath whose life becomes slowly unhinged. Feeling wronged many times over by Wayne he is hell bent on revenge against Wayne and his family. Feeling the pain of his unrequited love and the fact that his father was going to pass the reins of the clan on to Wayne, Dale goes to murderous lengths to protect his legacy. Eventually discovering the Riches' secret, he now finds himself in an unholy alliance with Wayne, leveraging the truth to his selfish needs. |
Lexicon
The Travellers use a variety of terminologyTerminology
Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that in specific contexts are given specific meanings, meanings that may deviate from the meaning the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language. The discipline Terminology studies among other...
. In addition to slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
, some of the vocabulary is taken from Shelta
Shelta language
Shelta is a language spoken by travelling communities, particularly in Ireland, but also parts of Great Britain. It is widely known as the Cant, to its native speakers in Ireland as Gammon and to the linguistic community as Shelta...
(also known as "the Cant"), which is sometimes used as a code by Travellers.
Buffer : An ordinary person, a non-Traveller.
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.
Sajick : Police officer or law enforcement official.
Skaal Krush : Pertaining to the end of the con. Krush means "clear out; run away" in Shelta
Shelta language
Shelta is a language spoken by travelling communities, particularly in Ireland, but also parts of Great Britain. It is widely known as the Cant, to its native speakers in Ireland as Gammon and to the linguistic community as Shelta...
.
Ratings
The pilot episode of The Riches drew 3.8 million viewers. With 2.5 million of those viewers in the 18-49 demographic, The Riches scored second only to the premiere of The ShieldThe Shield
The Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...
, thus beating out the premieres of other FX dramas such as Rescue Me
Rescue Me (TV series)
Rescue Me is an American television drama series that premiered on the FX Network on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters in the fictitious Ladder 62 / Engine 99 firehouse.The show...
, Over There
Over There (TV series)
Over There is an action / drama / war television series that aired on FX. It premiered in the United States on July 27, 2005 and premiered in Canada on September 6, 2005 on the History Television channel. The series was presented in 16:9 widescreen format in the U.S...
, and Dirt
Dirt (TV series)
Dirt is an American television serial broadcast on the FX network. It premiered on January 2, 2007 and starred Courteney Cox as Lucy Spiller, the editor-in-chief of the first-of-its-kind "glossy tabloid" magazine DirtNow, which was previously two separate publications: drrt and Now Dirt (styled...
. 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. The show averaged 5.9 million cumulative viewers per week in the USA, sufficient for FX to commission a second season. The Riches has gained popularity through online resources, such as Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
and iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
' "What We Are Watching" for April 2008.
Critical reception
Television critics were generally favorable in their reviews of The Riches. The Baltimore SunThe Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
described it as "the kind of TV drama that makes one think while being entertained". and The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
lauded a "layered drama" full of "unexpectedly soulful pleasures". Some critics thought the show "lacks originality", but there was praise for the principal actors, with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reporting "together, [Izzard and Driver] are superb".
Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 New TV Series of 2007, ranking it at #7, while Minnie Driver was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Best Actress in a Dramatic Series for her performance.
The second season garnered similarly positive reviews. The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
review said that "Izzard and Driver remain a joy to watch in this odd but fascinating series that is derivative of nothing on TV", while the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
described it as "gloriously inventive, daring and provocative".
DVD releases
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Film
Eddie Izzard said in an interview that he is currently putting together a script for a movie as a conclusion. He said the plan is to "pick up exactly where we left off, and we think we're going to make a film of the next bit". As of October 25, 2011 there are no indications that this film will ever be made, leaving The Riches without a conclusion.Syndication
: The Riches (FXFX
- Entertainment :* FX , an international cable/satellite television network * F/X, a movie set in the world of special effects* F/X: The Series, a television program based on the movie...
): The Riches (Virgin 1
Virgin 1
Channel One was a television channel owned and operated by British Sky Broadcasting. The channel was launched on 1 October 2007 at 21:00 on Freeview, Virgin Media and Sky as Virgin1, replacing Ftn...
): The Riches (Showcase
Showtime Australia
For the American service, see ShowtimeShowtime Movie Channels is an Australian pay-TV movie service, available on the Foxtel, Optus and Austar TV platforms, the service consists of five original channels , three HD simulcasts For the American service, see ShowtimeShowtime Movie Channels is an...
, 7TWO
7Two
7TWO is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel which was launched by the Seven Network on Sunday 1 November 2009 at 12pm....
): The Riches (Showcase, Télé-Québec
Télé-Québec
Télé-Québec is a French language public educational television network in the Canadian province of Quebec. Known legally as Société de télédiffusion du Québec , it is a provincial crown corporation owned by the Government of Quebec...
): The Riches (FX
FX
- Entertainment :* FX , an international cable/satellite television network * F/X, a movie set in the world of special effects* F/X: The Series, a television program based on the movie...
): Izmuzljivci (HRT1): Gazdagék (Cool TV
Cool TV
Cool TV is a Hungarian television channel, which migrated to Romania after being threatened with closure by Hungarian authorities. The channel was launched in 2004 in the Hungarian language, and in 2005 it also started broadcasting cool stuff....
)