Question: Will Dirt see a second season?
Answer: It's with great sadness and deep regret that I tell you, probably.
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Glenn Close by Larry Riley/FX
One of the boldest forces in TV drama, the FX network, is at it again. At a press upfront lunch gathering Wednesday afternoon, the risk-taking cable network screened the pilot episode of its much-anticipated new legal thriller Damages, starring Glenn Close. Premiering this July, it looks like a winner, reminiscent of the early days of David E. Kelley’s masterwork The Practice, before it descended into grotesque silliness and evolved into the ridiculous, sophomoric cartoon that is Boston Legal.Damages is a dark melodrama to be sure: tough and gritty, not even pretending to be earnest on the surface, with wild plot twists that make you wonder if there are any heroes in this picture. The closest thing to a truly sympathetic figure is Ellen Parsons (Australian ingenue Rose Byrne), the new not-as-naive-as-she-looks protégé of cunning high-stakes litigator Patty Hewes, played by Close as an elegant tigress who devours rather than suffers any fools in her path. Does Patty se...
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Question: Do you ever see a time when FX might have some kind of original programming on every night of the week? Right now, The Riches is airing on Monday and The Shield just came back this week after Dirt finished its run. Or perhaps FX could have new shows Monday through Thursday?
Answer: It's possible, but improbable, and probably not a great idea. Cable networks like this don't have unlimited budgets, either for programming or for promotion, and less is probably more when it comes to marshaling FX's resources on behalf of one or two shows at a time. (Maybe three, during those periods when FX goes the reality route with innovative shows like Black.White. and 30 Days.) Besides, FX's recent track record shows that even a risk-taker like this is susceptible to failure. Dirt is one of the worst shows to date of 2007, and while I still admire the ambition of The Riches, the more I watch (I've seen six episodes so far), the less convinced and impressed I become. The challenge for FX is t ...
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FX has granted a 13-episode order to Damages, the previously (and for far too long)-untitled legal drama in which Glenn Close plays a corporation-slaying litigator. Costarring on the series, which is slated for a summer bow, are Rose Byrne, Ted Danson, Tate Donovan and Zeljko Ivanek. A Sony Pictures TV exec tells the Hollywood Reporter, "This will be the next buzzworthy FX series" — even if it means enlisting Aniston for some more girl-girl action.Speaking of which, a decision on Dirt's Season 2 is expected in two to six weeks — and the outlook, says the Reporter, is actually good.
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Question: Do you have any scoop on The Riches? We all know it won't live up to your love for FX's Dirt.
Answer: Oh, I get it — you're being sarcastic. It was so subtle I nearly missed it. Anyway, I loved The Riches. Well, I loved the completely original and highly entertaining pilot. Too bad it quickly deteriorated into your standard, run-of-the-mill, cliché-ridden dark comedy about life in suburbia. The downward spiral started Monday night and continues with next week's painfully uneven third episode. I'll probably give it a few more weeks, if for no other reason than to watch Eddie Izzard's career-making performance. I'm also kind of curious about who keeps calling Doug Rich's phone, a mystery that kinda sorta gets answered in the final seconds of next week's epis
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Question: Just because you don't like Dirt doesn't mean you can skip on the scoop! You have obligations to your fans to give them scoop on requested shows... so I'd like to see you start doing your job!
Answer: I'll tell you what you want to know, just please lower your damn voice. You sound like the love child of Fran Drescher and an 8-watt bullhorn when you scream. Sheesh. I've seen the much-ballyhooed-by-me Courteney-Jen kiss, and here's what I can tell you: It's a full-on mouth-on-mouth smooch; we witness it from a male character's POV; and the whole thing plays out in slow motion. You can see for yourself on March 27.
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Question: Any news on Dirt?
Answer: Still sucks.
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Question: What?! You don't love Dirt? It's my new favorite show!
Answer: LOL! You had me going there for a second, Jessica
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Question: OK, leaving your distaste for Dirt aside, for those of us who do like the series, does it look hopeful that they will renew it?
Answer: I'm guessing that all depends on how many folks tune in to watch Courteney and Jennifer swap spit in the Mar. 27 season finale. It's probably a good sign that the sets are still standing. Unless, of course, you're me, in which case it's a really bad sign.
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If you were planning to tune in to the Mar. 27 Dirt finale to fulfill your L Word fantasies about just-Friends Rachel and Monica, don't bother. (Sorry, Mitovich.) Yesterday, series star Courteney Cox reiterated to yet another news outlet (in this case, Access Hollywood) that her and Jennifer Aniston's kiss doesn't even include any tongue. As if to rub salt in the wound, Mrs. David Arquette added that "it is really not a big deal to kiss" Brad Pitt's ex. Lisa Kudrow, you're our final hope.Matt here: Is Cox protesting too much? Isn't this, like, her second time playing down the kiss to the media? Dayum, those two musta really made out! Ah, to be a fly on the editing-room wall....
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