It’s odd that primetime has been lacking a sudsy drama to lampoon America’s privileged class of tabloid fodder. TV has always been quick to deliver scripted incarnations of mainstream cultural happenings, yet the socialite/celebutante epidemic of the early 21st century has remained oddly immune. I wouldn’t say that we’re overdue, because that would imply necessity; you just think that something like Dirty Sexy Money would have come along a couple years ago.
DSM is the story of Nick George (Peter Krause), a second-generation lawyer who takes up his father’s clients upon his death – the wildly wealthy and infamous Darling family. Having grown up in their shadow his whole life, his job is complicated by the unusual history he shares with each of the Darlings. Nick thinks that all he can accomplish with the hefty salary they pay him will make up for the frustrations and pitfalls of working for the morally bankrupt clan. Obviously, he is wrong, and this becomes even clearer when he learns of the suspicious circumstances around his father’s death.
One would imagine Krause to be the show’s strongest suit – this being the second ABC series in just as many years to throw an amazing Six Feet Under alum into a mediocre ensemble drama. But just like Brothers & Sisters before it, DSM is surprisingly fun to watch and for more reasons than just the actor many will tune in for.
The Darlings, for the most part, have been perfectly cast and written better than you’d expect. They supply the bulk of the show’s drama and all of its comic relief. Donald Sutherland is perfect as the sinister patriarch, Patrick “Tripp” Darling III, and Jill Clayburgh (who was born to play an aging moneyed WASP) is even better as his philandering wife. Juliet Darling, the obligatory Paris of the family, is played by Samaire Armstrong (The OC). She’s a much more sympathetic character than you’d expect, as her stupidity seems to come from a place of naiveté – not ignorance.
My personal favorite among the group is the Reverend Brian Darling (Glenn Fitzgerald), who hates Nick with such hysterical immaturity, it’s impossible not to laugh when the two share a scene. A crooked man of god (with an illegitimate child to boot!), Brian should be too much of a cliché to be remotely interesting, but Fitzgerald’s decision to approach the role as if he were Will Ferrell is an appreciated shot of camp in a show that could easily take itself too seriously.
If you’re at all curious as to what life would be like for a confidant to the Hilton family (and they were twice as large, wealthy and interesting), DSM will defiantly sate that hunger. Even if the mere thought of any time spent with folks like that brings chunks of partially digested food heaving up your esophagus, you still might be strangely interested. Like most of ABC’s highest rated shows, Dirty Sexy Money is not raising any bars for quality programming, but it is possibly this fall’s greatest guilty pleasure.
