Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Money makes the new season go ‘round

Today's All TV column looks at three new shows about the filthy rich: "Dirty Sexy Money," "Big Shots" and "Life":
"The love of money is the root of all evil," explains Nick George, hero of the new soap "Dirty Sexy Money" (10 p.m., Ch. 7). "That’s what they say, anyway. Money makes everything go wrong."

Money happens to be the root of a lot of new TV this fall. We’ve already seen the CW’s "Gossip Girl," about the children of Manhattan’s elite, and CBS’ "Cane," about a Miami sugar and rum dynasty. Now comes "Dirty Sexy Money," in which Nick (Peter Krause) goes to work for a filthy rich and powerful Manhattan family; plus tomorrow night’s debut of "Big Shots" (Thursday at 10, Ch. 7), about four Master of the Universe types who get together to play golf and moan about how tough their lives are.

But where the money — among other things — makes everything on "Big Shots" go wrong, "Dirty Sexy Money" finds so many ways to tackle this world the right way.
To read the full thing, click here.

14 comments:

KaveDweller said...

I almost hope you (and every other critic) is wrong about Big Shots. However, from the previews I have seen I know you are not. However, Dylan McDermott and Michael Vartan on the same show? I know this is shallow, but they are both too gorgeous to not be in the public eye.

Alan Sepinwall said...

You make the call yourself tomorrow night, but the first episode features more skin from Joshua Malina than McDermott and Vartan combined.

Anonymous said...

I watched preview DVDs of each show's pilot last week, and came to the same conclusions. And how is it that when Crews was in federal prison, he had access to fresh fruit, but not to the many, many news sources that would have told him about new technological advances.

Alan Sepinwall said...

I think the fruit thing is actually supposed to suggest that he really missed that stuff while surviving on prison slop for 12 years.

Anonymous said...

That makes sense. I was wondering if you'd seen anything beyond the pilot. If so, does the mystery of who set Crews up play a larger role? That was the only really interesting thing about the show.

Anonymous said...

I also wasn't too big a fan of the Life pilot and these house/closer-esque shows are getting a bit tiring. But I guess with both Shark and Saving Grace picked up for second seasons there really is no end in site.

Alan, do you see this sub-genre coming to an end anytime soon?

Beckylooo said...

Ooh. Glad you're positive about DSM. I dug the script and was hoping it turned out all right. I'm a sucker for fancy soap operas.

Alan Sepinwall said...

I was wondering if you'd seen anything beyond the pilot. If so, does the mystery of who set Crews up play a larger role?

Like the review said, I've seen two episodes, and Crews search for the real killers (or whatever) gets its own subplot in show two.

Alan, do you see this sub-genre coming to an end anytime soon?

The "eccentric, lone-wolf mystery solver" show is pretty ancient, going at least back to all those mystery wheel shows from the '70s like "Columbo" and "McCloud." And given the ratings for both "House" and "The Closer," I expect to keep seeing more imitators for a while. It took the networks a really long time to figure out that they wouldn't be able to duplicate "Friends" (until, that is, the HIMYM people came as close as anyone will, only nobody cares because it's on CBS).

Anonymous said...

I'm not going to bet against you regarding Big Shots, Alan, but the idea of my beloved Josh Malina as an unbearable tool does not compute. Sigh. I'll watch, but I have very low expectations.

Damn you, Aaron Sorkin. If Studio 60 hadn't sucked and come back for a second season, JM would have inevitably been brought on board in a second season.

Anonymous said...

I probably could have done without that second "second season."

dark tyler said...

Speaking of Greg Berlanti, Alan, do you watch Brothers & Sisters? I had a season 1 marathon this weekend and I found it surprisingly good. Never been a fan of Everwood, by the way, I just randomly decided to give this show a chance because, okay, the cast is phenomenal. And, yeah, I liked. If DSM is half as good, I'll be watching.

Alan Sepinwall said...

Speaking of Greg Berlanti, Alan, do you watch Brothers & Sisters?

Periodically. Berlanti's an interesting producer for me, in that he always does work I admire and often quite like -- I rarely regretted watching an episode of "Everwood," for instance -- yet I tend to fade in and out of his shows for long stretches. It's not even that I'm opposed to family shows, as I was addicted to "Gilmore Girls" over the same period. Still haven't figured out what the issue is.

dark tyler said...

Yeah, I see what you're saying. I'm curious to see if I'll be able to follow Brothers & Sisters on a weekly basis rather than a marathon/one and out, where there are essentially no distractions and no other shows to offer themselves up for comparison.

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