For whatever reason, Jenny and I have been obsessed with Irish Travelers, ever since Madelyne Toogood got busted at Kohl's. Not surprisingly, we dropped everything to catch the premiere of The Riches, FX's new Irish Traveler drama Monday night. More surprisingly, given our track record with FX shows, we kind of liked it. It was a really good pilot: a lot of exposition handled pretty gracefully, excellent performance by star Eddie Izzard, some really promising story directions and, maybe best of all, Gregg Henry as one of those assholes he always plays very well.
I have one problem, though. While I was watching it, I kept thinking about Diana Vreeland's famous advice for dressing: before you walk out the door, remove one item. I think she was talking about jewelry and other accessories, but it seems you can apply the advice to high-concept television pilots as well, and I don't think Dmitry Lipkin, the show's creator, followed it. Maybe we should wait and see, but right now, matriarch Dahlia (Minnie Driver)'s secret heroin addiction feels like one storyline too many. Driver's performance is so big -- I don't want to say showy -- yet -- that it throws the entire show off balance. It's going to seriously strain my suspension of disbelief abilities if the rest of the family does not catch onto Dahlia's poorly-kept secret within an episode or two.
I think her daughter Delilah is onto Dahlia's heroin problem. Remember her fussing with the frilly sleeve to hide her trackmarks? Did you laugh or cry when Minnie Driver appeared with her prison hair-do? I loved the show and I'm worried sick that it's just a little too good for tv.
Posted by: CQ | March 15, 2007 at 07:44 AM