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Riches, The
SERIES: FX, Monday 10:00p (60 minutes)
Starring
Eddie Izzard,
Minnie Driver,
Noel Fisher,
Shannon Marie Woodward,
Aidan Mitchell,
Todd Stashwick,
Margo Martindale,
and
Bruce French
A family of Irish gypsies in Louisiana goes on the lam after a big score, taking on the identity of a wealthy family after the real Riches are killed in an accident.
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy,
Drama
|
| CREATED BY: |
Dmitry Lipkin
|
| FIRST AIR DATE: |
March 12, 2007 |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
"The Riches" is both unique and intoxicating -- and plenty more.
100
Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm
The best new TV show of the 2006-07 season.
91
Entertainment Weekly Clark Collis
Think Big Love-meets-Carnivale and you're in the ballpark, but The Riches boasts its own weird, violent, druggy, hilarious mix. [16 Mar 2007, p.63]
90
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
It’s so compelling it deserves to be a hit.
88
People Weekly Tom Gliatto
[Driver's] tone gets under the skin. As does the show. [19 Mar 2007, p.39]
88
New York Daily News David Hinckley
Though the overall tone is light, there's enough darkness in "The Riches," and enough depth in the performances, to make you care about these people - even when you don't totally buy the premise.
88
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
Monday's opening hour is a bit disjointed stylistically. But the individual pieces are so compelling that you're still going to be sucked into the saga. And the show gets far more consistent in future episodes.
80
LA Weekly Robert Abele
This is a meaty show about the complex allure of easy wealth and the traps it sets for one’s personal morality.
80
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
Lipkin demonstrates a keen eye for nuances of class and social structure and a unique perspective on how to attain the American dream.
80
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
The Riches has the makings of a bracing, provocative series.
80
Time James Poniewozik
It's far-fetched. It's outlandish. You will think you are too smart to get suckered in by it, but give it a few minutes and you will be proved wrong.
80
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
Izzard is a great surprise in FX's "The Riches," and just one of this fascinating new series' unexpectedly soulful pleasures.
75
USA Today Robert Bianco
The Riches most often treats this family and their mad attempt to steal a new identity with a delightfully light comic touch bolstered by an underpinning of yearning.... The show stumbles whenever it tries to become dark or serious.
75
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
The show's first three episodes don't always land their punches. But "The Riches" takes daring swings. And the acting, especially in Monday's debut, is as good as it gets on TV.
75
Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy
Laced with profanity, amoral behavior and fine performances, "The Riches" adheres to its own maverick set of family drama values ... infused with secrets and lies, twisted laughs and lots of love.
70
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
The dangers for the mostly engrossing “Riches” is that it occasionally hits the “we’re stealing the American Dream” theme a little too hard, and it remains to be seen whether it will coast on the taut, engaging performances of Izzard and Driver.
70
Miami Herald Glenn Garvin
Funny and intriguing.
70
Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart
"The Riches" reminds me a bit of "Big Love" the first time I saw it. I wasn’t sure whether to like these people or despise them, whether I bought the premise or not. And yet, at the end of the hour, I wanted to see more.
70
Baltimore Sun David Zurawik
Viewers who can get past the uncertain dialects and a few cartoonish supporting characters are in for a real treat.
63
New York Post Linda Stasi
Izzard and Driver are so good that you may be able to overlook a lot - like a plot to believe in.
60
The New Yorker Nancy Franklin
While the ideas behind “The Riches” are often satisfyingly satirical, Izzard’s role—he plays Wayne Malloy, a husband and a father of three, eager to escape the marginal life that he and his family have been living—is stagy and overblown.
60
New York Magazine John Leonard
I suppose some of it is funny, as in a Kafka/Beckett/Pinter soft-shoe shuffle of grotesques. Still, what’s so far much more mesmerizing about The Riches is class war and caste hate.
60
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
[It] vacillates between riveting and middling.
50
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
"The Riches" certainly has some rich elements -- there's even a little dark humor, just not enough of it -- but in early episodes, the show remains wobbly as it tries to find its footing.
50
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
There are more than a few problems here.
40
Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall
Despite two fine leading performances by Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver and a premise that's not like anything else on television, there's something missing in the execution.
40
TV Guide Matt Roush
The Riches is hard to believe and not much easier to embrace.
40
Newsday Diane Werts
There's greatness begging to be grasped here, and nobody has a handle on it.
30
Variety Brian Lowry
Although not the mess that "Dirt" is, the series is conceptually problematic, and seemingly ill-equipped to go the episodic distance.
20
Salon Heather Havrilesky
My guess is that lots of people are going to rave about how deliciously dark and weird this drama is, but before you believe them, take a minute and imagine Minnie Driver with a fake Southern accent. Now imagine Eddie Izzard with an American accent that's so bad, it makes his voice sound almost computerized. Next, throw in some demonic rednecks straight out of "Deliverance." Are you getting hot yet?
 The average user rating for this tv show is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 55 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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