Question: I just read a report about how DirecTV was thisclose to picking up Season 3 of The Riches with FX Networks in a deal similar to NBC and Friday Night Lights. However, it seems that the deal fell through. Do you have any further information on this? Is The Riches doomed for a Season 3? I am really dismayed that FX has chosen to delay any announcement, and it's unfortunate because this show is phenomenal. Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver and incredible and Emmy-worthy, as is the show itself. I don't think I've read a review from you, but what is your critique of the show? Kevin M.
Matt Roush: The way I read the situation: DirecTV's experiment with Friday Night Lights is going to give producers and no doubt fans of any number of endangered shows false hope that this could be their salvation. Friday Night Lights is probably the perfect show to test these waters, with its Americana sports milieu as an entry point for beautifully observed small-town character studies. It's a brand-enhancing "get," regardless of its impact in new subscribers. The Riches is a much riskier proposition, and I would feel that way even if I were a fan of the show, which I'm not. (I like the actors, especially Minnie Driver, but I never bought this show's *****eyed premise and wasn't especially compelled to revisit the world of these unpleasant characters, all of which I found even less appealing in the second season.) I'm not surprised that DirecTV didn't go forward with this one, and while I as always empathize with fans who are sweating out the fate of a favorite show, I am frustrated that FX is leaving everyone hanging on this one and not simply conceding that it didn't work this time.