Dirty Sexy Money was an
American television series created by
Craig Wright, which ran on the
American Broadcasting Company from September 26, 2007 to August 8, 2009. The series revolves around lawyer and family man Nick George, portrayed by
Peter Krause. When Nick's father mysteriously dies in a plane crash, he agrees to take his position as the Darling family's lawyer, while trying to discover who committed the murder. The Darlings, the richest family in New York, constantly rely on Nick to solve their problems. Nick struggles to balance his morals and family life while dealing with the demands of the Darlings. The series is produced by
ABC Studios,
Bad Hat Harry Productions, Berlanti Television and Gross Entertainment. Wright serves as an
executive producer alongside
Greg Berlanti,
Bryan Singer, Matthew Gross,
Peter Horton and Josh Reims, with Melissa Berman
producing.
[www.thefutoncritic.com/devwatch.aspx?id=dirty_sexy_money The Futon Critic]
Cast
Principal characters
Recurring cast
Plot
The series revolves around Nick George, whose whole life has been lived in the shadow of the Darling family, but as an adult he's leading a simple life as an idealistic lawyer, until his father's suspicious death. The wealthy Darlings of
New York have asked him to take over his father's job as their personal lawyer, but the money that will allow him the freedom to be an
altruistic do-gooder is only part of the picture. That same money pulls him into the dubious doings of the Darling clan. However due to the cancellation of the show, the running plot line of the mystery of Dutch George will never be solved as it is revealed in the final episode that he is in fact alive and well and is puppeteering Simon Elder.
Production
Conception
The pilot script, written by creator, executive producer and
Emmy-nominated playwright
Craig Wright, made its first step towards production when
ABC committed to it in July 2006. The project, which is set up at Berlanti Television, is also executive produced by
Everwood creator
Greg Berlanti, who at the time had recently parted ways with his producing partner,
Mickey Liddell. Liddell was replaced by former
Sony Pictures Television executive
Melissa Berman, who consequently became a
producer on the series.
The project was named "Dirty Sexy Money" in January 2007 when it received a pilot order from the network.
Staffing began in the same month when
Emmy-nominated director,
Peter Horton, agreed to direct the first hour of the show.
The series received an early pick-up and a thirteen-episode order prior to the 2007
Upfronts in
New York on May 11, 2007.
also joined the production crew as an executive producer in the same month.
The first season went into production on July 17, 2007.
The
James B. Duke House (now home to
New York University's
Institute of Fine Arts) was the original set for the Darlings' townhouse in the
pilot; however, after ABC ordered the first season, several scenes had to be reshot to adjust to the new LA sets that would be used for the rest of the season's production. It is for this reason that, in the pilot, the interiors of the Darlings' house jump somewhat incongruously from ornate marble and wood (Duke House) to extremely modern and low-ceilinged (LA sets).
Casting
Casting for all but one of the principal roles on the show took place in February 2007.
Seth Gabel was the first actor to land a role on the series and was cast as Jeremy Darling, the hard-living youngest son.
Gabel had originally auditioned for Greg Berlanti's other television drama,
Eli Stone, but didn't receive the part. He left a big impression on the producer nonetheless who recommended him for
Dirty Sexy Money instead.
The producers found their leading man in Emmy-nominated
Six Feet Under alumnus,
Peter Krause, when he was chosen to play the role of Nick George, the beleaguered new Darling family attorney. The series reunites Krause with creator Craig Wright, who also worked on
Six Feet Under.
read for the role of Reverend Brian Darling and received the part.
-nominated actress,
Jill Clayburgh, and former
Passions co-star,
Natalie Zea, made their way onto the show when they were cast as the family matriarch Letitia Darling, and the eldest thrice-divorced daughter Karen Darling, respectively.
, known mostly to audiences for her recurring role on
The O.C., landed her first regular television role when she was chosen to portray the youngest Darling child, the spoiled aspiring actress Juliet Darling.
Zoe McLellan and
William Baldwin were also cast in the roles of Lisa George, Nick's loving wife, and New York State Attorney General Patrick Darling, a rising star in politics harboring a scandalous secret.
winner,
Donald Sutherland, rounded out the principal cast when he was chosen for the role of family patriarch, Patrick "Tripp" Darling III.
In 2008, after pitching that
Lucy Liu was interested in being part of the series, the producers immediately created a role for her as a series regular. She plays the role of Nola Lyons, a powerful attorney that faces Nick George (played by
Peter Krause).
["Lucy Liu Talks Dirty". AsianWeek. Retrieved on 2008-09-08.]
On November 10, 2008,
TV Guide reported that
Rena Sofer will guest-star as an intrepid reporter on the November 26th episode.
[Shhh! Rena Sofer Has a Dirty Sexy Little Secret!" TV Guide. November 10, 2008. Retrieved on November 12, 2008.]
Main crew
Jon Harmon Feldman acts as the
showrunner,
[www.variety.com/article/VR1117987636.html?categoryid=14&cs=1] He replaced
Daniel Cerone.
[Breaking News - Development Update: February 26-28 | TheFutonCritic.com] Other crew members are
Craig Wright,
Josh Reims,
Yahlin Chang,
Sallie Patrick,
Greg Berlanti,
Melissa Berman,
Matthew Gross,
Jill Soloway, and
Bryan Singer.
[www.variety.com/article/VR1117946763.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2565][216.109.125.130/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=%22Josh+Reims%22&y=Search&rd=r1&meta=vc%3Dca&fr=yfp-t-501&fp_ip=CA&u=www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-channel19nov19%2C0%2C2661853.story%3Fcoll%3Dla-headlines-calendar&w=%22josh+reims%22&d=a7SVRnDuQIUJ&icp=1&.intl=us][ABC Television Studio Press][www.tiffanithiessen.org/articles/article082.html]
Reception
US Weekly Nielsen ratings
Season 1
| #
| Season
| TV Season
| Timeslot (EST)
| Rating
| Share
| 18-49 Viewers
| Viewers (m)
| Rank (Overall)
|
| 1
| "Season One"
| 2007-2008
| Wednesday 10:00PM
| 5.8
| 10
| 3.42
| 8.28
| #46
|
| 1
| "Season Two"
| 2008-2009
| Wednesday 10:00PM
| 3.1
| TBA
| 1.16
| 4.68
| TBA
|
| #
| Episode
| Air Date
| Timeslot (EST)
| Rating
| Share
| 18-49 Rating
| Viewers (m)
| Rank (Overall)
|
| 1
| "Pilot"
| September 26, 2007
| Wednesday, 10:01 P.M.
| 7.4
| 12
| 3.6
| 10.44
| #31
|
| 2
| "The Lions"
| October 3, 2007
| Wednesday, 10:01 P.M.
| 6.7
| 11
| 3.6
| 9.61
| #33
|
| 3
| "The Italian Banker"
| October 10, 2007
| Wednesday, 10:01 P.M.
| 6.1
| 10
| 3.5
| 8.63
| #40
|
| 4
| "The Chiavennasca"
| October 17, 2007
| Wednesday, 10:02 P.M.
| 6.4
| 11
| 3.1
| 8.67
| #41
|
| 5
| "The Bridge"
| October 24, 2007
| Wednesday, 10:02 P.M.
| 6.1
| 10
| 3.3
| 8.56
| #48
|
| 6
| "The Game"
| October 31, 2007
| Wednesday, 10:02 P.M.
| 5.9
| 10
| 2.9
| 8.38
| #47
|
| 7
| "The Wedding"
| November 14, 2007
| Wednesday, 10:02 P.M.
| 5.7
| 10
| 2.9
| 7.90
| #51
|
| 8
| "The Country House"
| November 21, 2007
| Wednesday, 10:02 P.M.
| 4.0
| 8
| 2.0
| 6.52
| #62
|
| 9
| "The Watch"
| November 28, 2007
| Wednesday, 10:02 P.M.
| 5.0
| 8
| 2.6
| 7.15
| #54
|
| 10
| "The Nutcracker"
| December 5, 2007
| Wednesday, 10:02 P.M.
| 5.0
| 8
| 2.4
| 6.91
| #54
|
Season 2
| #
| Episode
| Air Date
| Timeslot (EST)
| Rating
| Share
| 18-49 Rating
| Viewers (m)
| Rank (Overall)
|
| 11
| "The Birthday Present"
| October 1, 2008
| Wednesday 10/9c
| 4.8
| 8
| TBA
| 7.02
| TBA
|
| 12
| "The Family Lawyer"
| October 8, 2008
| Wednesday 10/9c
| 4.1
| 7
| TBA
| 5.85
| TBA
|
| 13
| "The Star Witness"
| October 22, 2008
| Wednesday 10/9c
| 4.0
| 7
| 2.0
| 5.75
| TBA
|
| 14
| "The Silence"
| October 29, 2008
| Wednesday 10/9c
| 4.1
| 7
| 2.0
| 6.06
| 1
|
| 15
| "The Verdict"
| November 5, 2008
| Wednesday 10/9c
| 4.1
| TBA
| TBA
| 6.15
| TBA
|
| 16
| "The Injured Party"
| November 19, 2008
| Wednesday 10/9c
| 3.7
| TBA
| TBA
| 5.58
| TBA
|
| 17
| "The Summer House"
| December 3, 2008
| Wednesday 10/9c
| 3.8
| TBA
| TBA
| 5.64
| TBA
|
| 18
| "The Plan"
| December 10, 2008
| Wednesday 10/9c
| 3.5
| TBA
| 1.8
| 5.24
| TBA
|
| 19
| "The Organ Donor"
| December 17, 2008
| Wednesday 10/9c
| 3.4
| TBA
| TBA
| 5.13
| TBA
|
| 20
| "The Facts"
| July 18, 2009
| Saturday 10/9c
| 1.4
| TBA
| 0.6
| 2.15
| TBA
|
| 21
| "The Convertible"
| July 25, 2009
| Saturday 10/9c
| 1.2
| TBA
| 0.4
| 1.83
| TBA
|
| 22
| "The Unexpected Arrival"
| August 1, 2009
| Saturday 10/9c
| 1.2
| 3
| 0.6
| 2.28
| TBA
|
| 23
| "The Bad Guy"
| August 8, 2009
| Saturday 10/9c
| 1.5
| 3
| 0.7
| 2.19
| TBA
|
- The October 15 episode was preempted due to the coverage of the Presidential Debates.
- The November 12 episode was preempted due to the coverage of the 2008 Country Music Awards.
- The November 26 episode was preempted in favor over the Barbara Walters interview with Barack Obama. Consequently, the episode, "The Facts", was not aired until July 18, 2009.
Canadian ratings
| Order
| Episode
| Viewers (millions)
| Rank
|
| 1
| "Pilot"
| 1.09
| #24 |
Broadcast history
The series premiered in the United States on September 26, 2007 on
ABC following the
Grey's Anatomy spin-off,
Private Practice, airing on Wednesday nights at 10:01PM Eastern/9:01PM Central.
On November 16, 2007, ABC ordered a full 22-episode season for the show, making it the first show to receive a full season order since the
WGA writers' strike began on November 5, 2007.
[www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=7502 The Futon Critic] However, in the end, the first season comprised only 10 episodes due to the strike.
Dirty Sexy Money: The Complete First Season, a three-disc DVD set including all 10 original episodes and exclusive bonus features including bloopers, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and featurettes,
and more, was released on September 16, 2008. The second season premiered on October 1, 2008, ten months after the first season finale.
On November 20, 2008, ABC decided not to order any additional episodes for the 2008-2009 TV season.
[tvseriesfinale.com/articles/dirty-sexy-money-abc-cancels-peter-krause-tv-show/][latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/11/its-a-given-bre.html] On December 10, 2008 Billy Baldwin appeared on NBC's Today Show asking for fans to support the show by watching the show and by visiting the ABC website and sending nice messages of support to the ABC executives. He said the show is not canceled, but on hiatus until ABC knows how the midseason replacement shows fare. All cast and sets continue to be contracted and on hold for the time being.
[thebiz.fancast.com/2008/12/billy_baldwin_asks_you_to_save.html] The last scheduled episode of
Dirty Sexy Money aired on December 17, 2008, while four episodes remain unaired in the USA.
[Nielsens: CBS tallies 9 of the top 10 shows for the week, USA Today, December 23, 2008] though they have been broadcasted elsewhere.
After
Dirty Sexy Money was officially cancelled, ABC announced the series would return on Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 10:00PM Eastern/9:00PM Central.
[When Will the Final Episodes of "Pushing Daisies", "Eli Stone" and "Dirty Sexy Money" Air?, The Ripcord, April 8, 2009][www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20090408abc01] The final episode, "The Bad Guy", aired on August 8, 2009 and the second season came out on DVD on August 18, 2009.
[View the DVD review from SitcomsOnline]
International distribution
The series premiered in the UK on March 21, 2008 at 9pm on
Channel 4.
Dirty Sexy Money was on hiatus due to the WGA writers' strike as of January 9, 2008, the date on which replacement series
Cashmere Mafia assumed the time slot.
Men in Trees, which has a total of 11 filmed unaired episodes available, assumed the slot on February 27, 2008, potentially for the balance of the spring season.
The show will be broadcast on
Turner Network Television in
Spain,
Studio 23 in
Philippines,
Dizimax in
Turkey and
Nelonen in
Finland. The series is being broadcast on the satellite/cable channel TNT in Spain since January 2008.
[Antena 3 takes ABC trio - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety]
In
Canada,
CTV first aired the show on Sundays at 10 pm (4 days after ABC), then it moved to 7 pm. CTV then moved the show to its secondary
A system effective October 24, 2007 where it airs it in
simulcast Wednesdays at 10 pm.
[CHANNEL CANADA :: Big Shots and Dirty Sexy Money Move from CTV to A-Channel]
In
Australia, the
Seven Network began airing Season One on Monday February 11, 2008 at 9:30 pm.
Season Two began on December 2, 2008,
initially at 9:30 pm, but due to low ratings, it was pushed back to 11:30 pm.
The Seven Network in Australia has aired all episodes of Season 2 that were unaired in the USA. Also
Kanal 5 in
Sweden aired the episodes, the last one on March 18, 2009.
New Zealand's TV2 started airing the show Wednesday nights at 9:30 pm, beginning February 6, 2008.
In the
United Kingdom,
Channel 4 began airing the episodes on Friday, March 21, 2008 at 9:00 pm. Channel 4 began airing the second season on March 8, 2009 on E4 in the 11 o'clock timeslot. Because of its cancellation in the US and low ratings for its first season in the UK there will be no new shows on
Channel 4 for the foreseeable future. However, Season 2 commenced airing on
E4 in a new time slot. For Season One it aired Tuesday nights at 9.00pm, whereas for Season Two it aired on Sunday nights at 11pm between March 8 and May 31, 2009, including the 4 episodes not yet shown in the US.
In
Ireland RTÉ One began airing the programme on Friday, August 1, 2008 at 00:05.
In
Latin America the series began broadcasting on February 12, 2008 on the
AXN channel, season 2 will begin broadcast on February 3, 2009.
In
South Africa the series began in December and the full series has been aired on the local satellite or analog channel
M-Net.
M-Net has broadcasted the remaining episodes of Season 2 which followed on from the Organ Donor episode which aired on January 29, 2009. The season finale has aired on February 5, 2009.
The first season premiered in Greece on
Fox life on Wednesday December 3. All 10 episodes aired.
In
Israel the series was launched under the name "Money, Darling" on July 7, 2008 on
Yes Stars Drama. Season 2 premiered on February 16, 2009, with all 13 episodes confirmed to air consecutively, including those not aired in the US.
In
Hong Kong the series was premiered Thursday nights at 10:30 pm on July 17, 2008 on the mainly English free-to-air network
TVB Pearl with bilingual audio in both
English and
Cantonese and widescreen on the same channel in Digital. Series 2 is due to air on March 26, 2009 at the same time-slot. Same as the rest of the world, Hong Kong also aired the unaired episodes before the US on May 28, 2009 starting with the thanksgiving recap episode "The Facts".
In
Norway the show premiered on
TV Norge on November 12, 2008.
In
Estonia the show premiered on
TV3 in summer 2009.
In
Russia the show premiered on 1TV in summer 2008. Two seasons were shown in summer of 2009. The series launched under the name "Dirty Wet Money"
In
Serbia the show premiered on cable FOX Life on September 2, 2009.
Marketing
Promotion
[
].]]
Using publicity from
Paris Hilton's
jail sentence controversy, ABC placed full-page advertisements in the
Los Angeles Times and
The New York Post that read:
"We love Paris. The Darling Family." Later, an airplane towing a banner with the same message flew above the downtown courthouse on June 8 during Hilton's subsequent hearing.
The network has also placed fake advertisements on popular gossip
blog Perezhilton.com on August 6, 2007 "denouncing" the diva-like behavior of
Samaire Armstrong's character, Juliet Darling, among others.
DVD release
Dirty Sexy Money: The Complete First Season was released on Region 1 DVD on September 16, 2008. The three-disc collection includes all 10 episodes from the first season. It was released on Region 2 DVD on 20 October 2008.
Dirty Sexy Money: The Complete Second Season was released on Region 1 DVD on August 18, 2009. The three-disc collection includes all 13 episodes from the second season.
[Dirty Sexy Money - The Complete Season Season on DVD TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-22.] Cover art for the DVD advertises the release as the "The Complete and Final Second Season". View the DVD review from SitcomsOnline
.
