The Remote Island : The Riches

Crush of the Day: Eddie Izzard

Olivia Purnell — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:40:00 GMT

We know it’s weird. Despite the genius of Cake or Death, we know. Feel free to tell us all about our strange taste in short stocky effeminate tiara-wearing Brit comics who do terrible American accents. Feel free. It’s cool. We’re actually in the business of odd crushes. Have you heard about our thing for Donald Sutherland?

Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. You’ll crush on Eddie too after you hear about his impending sainthood . . .

Apparently, Eddie heard about Will Pike, a tourist who broke three vertebrae, both arms, and shattered his pelvis while fleeing the terrorist attacks in Mumbai this November. Because of his massive injuries, Will missed Eddie’s stand up set in London. Eddie came to Will’s bedside and performed a full 90-minute show in homeboy’s hospital room (ccinsider.com). Take that Patch Adams.

Isn’t he just too sweet? Will you join us in our crush now? Still no? Is it because of The Riches? Listen, you can’t hold that weird accent and Minnie Driver against him. Close your eyes. Imagine Eddie bedside in eyeliner and pleather blithely babbling about the stoned Olympics . . . .That’s better.

Minnie Driver Gets a Baby, Loses a TV Show

Ben Kallen — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:20:00 GMT

Minnie Driver is getting plaudits in the media for posting a sweet, unposed photo of herself with adorable new son Henry on MySpace, instead of creating a tabloid bidding war for the first baby pics.

And she seems awfully happy -- so it probably doesn't matter so much to her that The Riches has been canceled.

Ironically, word of the show's demise also came from MySpace, when actor Tod Stashwick posted it on his blog.

We can't say we're surprised. While the FX drama -- which also starred comedian Eddie Izzard as the head of a con-artist clan that takes over a wealthy family's lives -- started strong, its second season was a little dull. As with so many shows based on a unique concept, it must have been hard for the writers to keep things going without repeating themselves.

So, anyway, sorry, Minnie -- and congratulations!

Previously:
Angelina Jolie Enters Hospital

"Nip/Tuck" Cancelled (If You Live Two-And-A-Half Years Into The Future), Fate Of "The Riches" Uncertain

Bryan Christian — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:26:00 GMT

TV Guide reports that FX has apparently cancelled Nip/Tuck, its racy and occasionally buzzy plastic surgery soap -- but episodes are scheduled well into the year 2011, meaning that we have no idea why this would qualify as a "cancellation" since there are three more seasons to go. Hey, you know what? We're cancelling our thirties in six or seven years; just not enough viewers.

Seriously, is there a subtlety of the language or The Business that we're missing here? Or did Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy have to suffer the indignity of a "cancellation" for some unrevealed but truly heinous crime? Dude, how bad was that Joseph Feinnes show?

In other FX news, network President John Landgraf won't commit to a third season of The Riches. Which means we expect the matter to be resolved sometime in 2019.

PREVIOUSLY:
"Pretty/Handsome": Sample the Show You'll Never See

Sounds Like They're Freaking Out Over At HBO Original Programming

Bryan Christian — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:28:00 GMT

The story so far... After the demise of its most prestigious and successful original programs -- and with few successes to show for itself (but a couple might have beens) in the intervening months -- HBO has seemed for some time poised to lose its reputation as "more than TV" to rival pay cable network Showtime. To our mind, that hasn't quite happened yet. No matter how navelgazing/boring In Treatment or Tell Me You Love Me were, Showtime didn't overcome HBO in the last year or so so much as supply an alternative to it. They don't have any comedies as idiosyncratic as Curb Your Enthusiasm, nor do any of their hour-long shows acheive the grandeur of The Sopranos or even HBO's misfires, like Carnivàle. (Possible exception: This American Life, which since it's a doc we're thinking doesn't count.)

Still, HBO knows they've got a title to defend. And it looks to us like their solution is to throw lots and lots of money around developing new shows. None of which sound particularly great.

Just in the past couple days, we've heard of their developing a comedy club-based show for comedienne Lisa Lampanelli, with Jim Carrey exec-producing; an adaptation of Sloane Crosley's humorous essay collection I Was Told There Would Be Cake; and Bored to Death, which sounds an awful lot like The Singing Detective as written by Jonathan Lethem but is, in fact, from the very funny New York writer and performance artist Jonathan Ames. Previously reported shows being developed by the net include that vampire show from Six Feet Under's Alan Ball; Hung, from Election's Alexander Payne and The Riches' Dmitry Lipkin, which is about a guy whose "superpower" in life is his humongous cock and balls; and, according to the New York Observer, "a Darren Star adaptation of Tracy Quan’s Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and Surburban Shootout, based on a U.K. series, about a woman in the suburbs stuck between two housewife gangs."

Anything there tickle your fancy? Yeah, we not so sure either. Nor are we so optimistic about David Simon's New Orleans show, but that may just be because we thought that show's theme song got progressively way worse each season and figure that doesn't bode well for a show about musicians. (Generation Kill, on the other hand, we await with baited breath -- but that's a miniseries.)

The one show that we'd heard about being developed by HBO that we were hardcore excited about was Preacher, an adaptation of Garth Ennis' epic and deeply profane comic book about God, vampires, and rednecks. And that project is apparently stalled, even though HBO and DC/Vertigo (which published Preacher in the '90's) are part of the same company and you'd think they could share a few resources getting it right. (BTW, there's a big hubbub about trouble at DC here and here, which may shed light on that situation. Don't skip the comments.)

So, what do we do? Wait for HBO to get it right again -- or for Showtime to finally put together an hour-long drama that knocks it out of the park? Or are we just gonna have to rely on a diet of Mad Men and Damages for a while?