The Riches was a very well written, produced, and acted series. The program offered us a moral delimma each episode and gave us enough perspective to understand why some people may do bad things when faced with unresolvable circumstances.
Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard were outstanding in their roles. Their characters were social outcasts that pretended to live by the rules of society all the while looking for ways to feather their nest and not get plucked! The plots have been extremely well developed and perhaps the combination of excellent writing, acting, and directing was the reason for the show's success. I would love to see more episodes developed for the next year and hope that FX will be able to pull the same cast together for another season or two at the very least.
The new series, Sons of Anarchy, has tremendous potential to woo audiences young and old with its generational storyline. Elder biker "parents" played by Katey Sagal and Ron Perlman bring depth to the program, conjuring images of the sixties accompanied by the song, "Born to be Wild". The younger biker, Jax, played by Charlie Hunnam, is the heir apparent to the bike "club" leadership and all its illegal activities including gun running and warring with rival biker gangs.
Molded into the FX original series model of featuring characters who do bad things, but not without reason, we find the SAMCRO bike club "protecting" the citizens of Charming by keeping drugs and the other bike gangs that deal drugs out of their fair city. The Sons of Anarchy might symbolize freedom from organized government; but their purpose is to subvert authority in Charming in order to run the town vicariously. Based on the quality of the first two episodes, the Anarchists might also end up ruling their time slot.
The first season was extremely well-promoted and undoubtedly garnered an audience based on the star power of Glenn Close and Ted Danson; but the series scripts have been painfully twisted and slow.
The naive young attorney was more simpering than sympathetic; and it was difficult to determine whether Glenn Close's character possessed a minutia more integrity or conscience than Ted Danson's character. After viewing the same scenes repeatedly from episode to episode, the story line began to lose appeal, particularly with little explanation to audience questions about what was transpiring. One plot twist lead to another plot twist, creating a never-ending web of confusion about "who's on first?" with no resolution.
If season two is to maintain momentum, the characters must be more likeable and/or hateable; and the sub-plot lines must be more succinct with some semblance of episodal finality. Promotion can't sustain mediocrity; so patch it up and apply some bandages to help heal what's wrong with Damages.
With the rumored cancellation of Dirt and the uncertainty of a new season of the Riches, these two gaping holes in the original series line-up leave only the flashy Nip/Tuck and the irreverent Rescue Me to keep the viewership afloat. Why would FX cancel Dirt? Courtney Cox gave the role an intelligent, sexy, and business-minded editor of Dirt magazine. The tabloid setting with papparazzi photographers and reporters gave us just enough of a love/hate relationship with the other characters to make each of us question our own ethical beliefs. Do we like Don or hate Don because of the way he makes his living? Is Lucy a real journalist or just a mud-slinger trying to sell issues (or both)? The plot lines were just current enough to keep us coming back for more characatures of contemporary celebrities and their antics. Given the Hollywood crowd, there would be enough plot lines to keep Dirt in business forever.
So why dump Dirt? Some possible reasons might be financial, creative, or talent. My hope is that Courtney Cox and David Arquette are going on to bigger and better opportunites because even though Dirt might be dumped, real talent like theirs can't be buried.
