Dirty Sexy Money is an American prime time drama television series created by Craig Wright that ran for two seasons on ABC from September 26, 2007, to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by Berlanti Television and ABC Studios. Wright served as an executive producer alongside Greg Berlanti, Bryan Singer, Matthew Gross, Peter Horton, and Josh Reims, with Melissa Berman producing.
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.
Contents
Premise
The Darlings are one of the most powerful families in New York. In the line of the Kennedys, they have the money, the power, the ambitions and a tendency to find themselves in impossible situations, to mess with unsavory people... If they had not Nick George, their lawyer, to save them, to avoid the front page of trashy magazines or, worse, prison, their decline would have begun a long time ago. Yet Nick, an idealistic lawyer, has long refused his destiny: to serve the Darlings. Before him, his father had given himself body and soul to this destructive family by becoming their adviser. Nick doesn't know if serving the Darlings is a chance or a sentence.
Due to the cancellation of the show, the running plot line of the mystery of Dutch George will never be solved. Craig Wright told the Los Angeles Times that had the series lasted, Juliet would have been arrested after getting into a situation like that of Patty Hearst, later teaching drama at a boarding school in Connecticut, marrying the school's soccer coach and having kids.
Cast and characters
Main
Peter Krause as Nick George; A well-meaning, civic-minded lawyer in his 30s, Nick is a husband, father, and son to the Darling family attorney, Devlin "Dutch" George. Growing up in a troubled household (his mother left when he was six), he always came second to his father's job. Though he promised himself he would never follow in his father's footsteps, he is inevitably drawn to the Darling family when his father dies suddenly in a mysterious manner and agrees to be their chief counsel. However, he finds himself becoming more like the Darlings, while his marriage with Lisa George falls apart. Like his father before him, he delves deeper into dealings with Simon Elder as he believes him to be his father's killer. He forms a bond with Tripp and a considerable friendship with Patrick and, later in Season 2, Brian, his half brother. He is named vice-chairman on Darling Enterprises Board of Directors after Letitia is asked to step down. With the new partnership between Simon Elder and Tripp Darling not much on this new title has been developed. He and Lisa divorce in Season 2, after Lisa finds out that Nick still has feelings for his ex-girlfriend Karen Darling, and they undergo a custody battle for their daughter, Kiki. Nick and Karen confessed their feelings for each other, when their plane threatened to crash. In the season 2 finale, Nick and Karen are open to a future together, with them discussing having children and marriage.
Donald Sutherland as Patrick "Tripp" Darling III; The Darling family patriarch, now in his 60s, has amassed a wealth of such enormity that he owns vineyards and maintains residences around the world, including one in Upper East Side, Manhattan. With his wife, Letitia, they have raised five grown, troubled children: Patrick, Karen, Brian, Jeremy and Juliet. He runs the family's fifty billion dollar business, Darling Enterprises.
Jill Clayburgh as Letitia Darling; The family matriarch, she is a socialite of formidable standing in New York City. Rendered devastated by Devlin George's death, the truth about the nature of their relationship comes to light when her daughter, Karen, reveals that they were engaged in a years-long affair. Letitia treated Nick George as her own son ever since Nick's mother left when he was a young child. Letitia always wanted Karen to marry Nick, as she was well aware the two had a relationship years ago, and still had feelings for each other. She co-ran the family business, Darling Enterprises, alongside Tripp, as vice-chairman of the Board.
William Baldwin as Patrick Darling IV; He is the firstborn child of Tripp & Letitia Darling. Now in his 40s, he is the New York State Attorney General married with two kids. A rising political star, he was elected to the United States Senate. He's also been having an affair with trans woman Carmelita Rainer (Candis Cayne). As his marriage begins to fall apart, Patrick becomes more determined to distance himself from his father and become his own man. He is elected senator of New York and later engages in another affair with a gay congressman's wife.
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 10:01 P.M. Eastern/9:01 P.M. 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. 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. 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 was not canceled, but on hiatus until ABC knew how the midseason replacement shows fared. All cast and sets continued to be contracted and on hold. The last scheduled episode of Dirty Sexy Money aired on December 17, 2008, while four episodes remained unaired in the USA though they were broadcast elsewhere.
After Dirty Sexy Money was officially canceled, ABC announced the series would return on Saturday, July 18, 2009, at 10:00 P.M. Eastern/9:00 P.M. Central. The final episode, "The Bad Guy", aired on August 8, 2009, and the second season came out on DVD on August 18, 2009.
International distribution
In Canada, CTV first aired the show on Sundays at 10 P.M. (four days after ABC), then it moved to 7 P.M. CTV then moved the show to its secondary A system effective October 24, 2007 where it airs it in simulcast Wednesdays at 10 P.M.
The show will be broadcast on TNT in Spain, Studio 23 in Philippines, Dizimax in Turkey and Nelonen in Finland. The series is being broadcast in Spain on TNT and Antena 3 since January 17, 2008.
New Zealand's TV2 started airing the show Wednesday nights at 9:30 P.M., beginning February 6, 2008.
In Australia, the Seven Network began airing Season one on Monday February 11, 2008 at 9:30 P.M. Season Two began on December 2, 2008, initially at 9:30 P.M., but due to low ratings, it was pushed back to 11:30 P.M. 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.
In Latin America, the series began broadcasting on February 12, 2008, on the AXN channel, season 2 will begin broadcast on February 3, 2009.
The series premiered in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2008, at 9 P.M. 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.
In the United Kingdom, Channel 4 began airing the episodes on Friday, March 21, 2008, at 9:00 P.M. 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 9:00 P.M., whereas for Season Two it aired on Sunday nights at 11 P.M. between March 8 and May 31, 2009, including the four episodes not yet shown in the US.
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.
The song "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" by singer Lady Gaga was used during advertisements for the show. Clips from the show were also used in an alternate version of the music video
Episodes
Home media
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released both seasons on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4 in 2008/2009. The region 1 releases have been discontinued and are now out of print.
On February 9, 2012, it was announced that Lionsgate Home Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series and plan on re-releasing it. Seasons 1 and 2 was re-released on May 1, 2012.