The Riches: Season 1

I originally started watching this only because Eddie Izzard was in it, simply because I find him to be amazing. However, the show in itself is just phenomenal. It's very quirky, off beat and definitely filled with a dark comedy aspect. I don't know if everybody will like it, but if that's your style, you should definitely check it out. And even those who may not like it, have to at least respect how clever and original the show is.

The Riches are really the Malloys, a family of Travelers (Irish gypsies) who have stumbled on the con of a lifetime. Things have not been going well for the Malloys lately. Dad, Wayne Malloy (Eddie Izzard) has been trying to keep the family going while Mom, Dahlia (Minnie Driver) has been serving time for a con gone wrong but hasn't been doing so well. While at the Travelers' camp the family gets into even more trouble putting the whole family on the run in their battered, old RV and causing them to cross paths with the Riches, Doug and Sherene and end up taking over their lives. At first the Malloys are planning to run a quick con but soon they fall into the 'buffer' lifestyle they had always scorned. The parents decide to enroll their three kids, son Cael, daughter Didi and ...er...Sam into school. As time passes and the family finds they can survive in the buffer world and realize that the Traveler world is not the safe haven they had always found it. As Season One ends the Malloys are in danger of losing both in a cliffhanger episode that will certainly draw the viewer back for Season Two.

The style of this series is part comedy, part drama, even melodrama, and at times borders on farce. Things usually begin realistically enough but then one slightly unlikely over the top thing happens and then another taking the viewer from feeling the anguish of the family attempts to cope with Dahlia's drug addiction to laughter as they manage to con their way out of yet another problem.

This is a truly ensemble performance, not only are the leads (Izzard and Driver) convincing in the roles but all the roles are well written and well played. The three children, Cael, the oldest son who misses the Traveler life he understood so well, Didi, the teenage daughter who quickly realizes that life in the buffer world offers her an alternative to an early arranged marriage and Sam, the cross dressing youngest who is just looking a place to fit in anywhere are all especially well written and well acted.

First off let me say The Riches really is one of the best shows in TV history as far as I am concerned. It is fresh and original which is a rare these days. Eddie Izzard is a freakin' genius. Until now I have kept every episode on my Tivo and now I can just buy the DVD. Kudos also go to Minnie Driver for some of the best acting of her career. The story lines of The Riches have more twists and turns than a twisty turny thing.
A bargain at double the price. I can't wait.