Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Isn't it rich?

I seem to be taking a little Spring Break around here! With Easter and a lot of other stuff to keep me busy this week, I haven't been consuming much culture, but I didn't want you to think I'd abandoned you.

Last night I watched another great episode of The Riches, and by now I'm well and truly hooked. If you're not watching, you might want to do something about that before it gets too hard to catch up, because there is an awful lot of plot in each episode. Right now they're still spending a good 3 minutes at the top of every show catching you up on what's been established previously, so it's still a good time to join in, plus they're running the whole series from the beginning sometime soon. (I fast-forwarded through most of that ad, and FX isn't paying me to pass on the word, so you'll just have to look it up for yourself.) Join us! You won't regret it!

Why am I hooked? Well, aside from the screwball premise, and the generally sharp writing, and the hurdles the writers keep setting up for themselves, I'm loving the excellent casting. I always thought Minnie Driver was cute -- she's the only thing I remember from Good Will Hunting -- but now I am ready to join the fan club, because she is a hoot on this show. Eddie Izzard's fun to watch, too, but you already knew that. And my very favorite member of the cast might just be Margo Martindale, who gave far and away the best performance in the tedious 2003 Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Of all the tantalizing mysteries and hinted-at future complications that have popped up in the show so far, the character of Nina might be the most fascinating of all. And it's all, or at least mostly, due to the depth of Martindale's performance. That twinkle in her eye is part menace, part warmth, and all intrigue.

Are you watching? If not, what are you watching instead?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've heard many good things about The Riches but unfortunately won't be able to watch it myself until a) I get a raise and find myself able to afford cable again, or b) it becomes available on Netflix. Until then, I'll get my Eddie Izzard fix from the DVD of Dressed to Kill and various YouTube clips. Sigh.
~Buckshot

Susan Rose Francois, CSJP said...

I stay up late here in the Novitiate on Mondays to watch it, except I forgot last night!

I LOVE the Riches, although there have been so many plot twists it's a little hard to follow.

Mollie said...

I think they repeat it on Saturdays, Susan, so you have another chance to see this one! It is pretty twisty. I keep pausing the DVR to say, "So let me see if I get what just happened..."

Buckshot, I am sad to hear you're cable-less! I hope you haven't been reduced to buying paper towels with no pictures on them. I think you'd love this show, so hold out for the DVD...