The Riches

The Riches
Series logo
Genre	Serial drama
Created by	Dmitry Lipkin
Starring	Eddie Izzard Minnie Driver Shannon Woodward Noel Fisher Aidan Mitchell Todd Stashwick Gregg Henry
Theme music composer	Toby Chu
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	15 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Dmitry Lipkin Dawn Prestwich Nicole Yorkin Peter O'Fallon Eddie Izzard
Producers	Paul Kurta Sara E. Morrow
Production locations	Marrero, LA New Orleans, LA Santa Clarita, CA
Camera setup	Single-camera setup
Running time	approx 45 minutes
Original release
Network	FX Networks
Release	March 12 2007 – present

The Riches (styled as 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, 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.

FX President John Landgraf described The Riches as a "family show," albeit one featuring "a family unlike any television viewers have seen before."

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 (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 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. They struggle to adjust to their new lives as a buffers, as they call law abiding people, while attempting to avoid their deception from being exposed by characters from both their, and the Riches, past.

Characters

Main article: 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. He seems to be an almost pathological liar and appears to get a kind of high from escalating deception. Dahlia has referred to him as a 'halfbreed' or 'half buffer', because he did not come from a Traveller bloodline.
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 IDs, disabling alarm systems, and stealing cars. 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). Di Di embraced the new upper class way of life, and does not seem to be interested in the traveller lifestyle anymore. As of episode 3, she has struck up a relationship with classmate and Edenfalls local Erick.
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. 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.

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.

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.

The Malloys (clockwise from left): Dahlia, Cael, Di Di, Wayne, and Sam

Episodes

Main article: List of The Riches episodes

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 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. The show averaged 5.9 million cumulative viewers per week in the USA, sufficient for FX to commission a second season.

Critical reception

Television critics were generally favorable in their reviews of The Riches. The Baltimore Sun 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 unanimous 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.

DVD Releases

Season Releases

The First Season
Set details			Special features
13 Episodes 4-Disc Set 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio 616 Minutes Languages: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) Subtitles: English French Spanish			Audio Commentary Pilot Waiting For Dogot Casting Session World Premiere Gag Reel 7 Webisodes from FX.com
Release dates
United States	United Kingdom
January 8, 2008

International broadcasts

Country	TV Network(s)
Australia	Showcase
Brazil	Telecine Light
Canada	Showcase
Sweden	TV3 (Cancelled)
Turkey	TNT
Thailand	True Series
United Kingdom	Virgin 1
Norway	Viasat 4
South Africa	M-Net
Philippines	ETC 2nd Avenue
Belgium	Be TV
Israel	yes
France	Jimmy

External links

• Official site
• The Riches @ Showcase (Canadian Broadcaster)
• The Riches at IMDb
• Template:TV.com show
• The Riches @ The Cake or Death Site