By Matthew Wood

I just don’t know who to believe. DIRTY SEXY MONEY, the new ABC drama featuring an All-Star cast that includes Donal Sutherland and one of the Baldwin brothers (it’s Billy, I think), was heralded as one of the top shows coming into the new season.

But that was before anyone actually saw it. Now the actual reviews are coming in, and it ain’t pretty. In fact, the Chicago Sun-Times went so far as to give it zero stars. Zero. Zilch. Zip. I mean, how can you not even get a half a star? That’s bad news.

Now the first episode is out, and John Q. Public can decide for themselves. And I can unequivocally and wholeheartedly say that … well, it’s not bad.

We’ll just get into a quick synopsis here, since we have all season to delve into the finer nuances of the characters – and there’s a lot of ‘em. The show is basically about the Darlings, a severely dysfunctional New York family that has more money than God himself, and isn’t afraid to spend it. They had been represented by lawyer Dublin George – until his recent demise in a freak plane accident.

Enter Nick George, who wants to be the opposite of his father, and does so by running a law firm that specializes in social causes. That all changes when the Darlings ask him to be their new lawyer. Aaaaand, cue the hijinks, ready to ensue.


First, the positive points to the pilot episode. Peter Krause is an enjoyable actor to watch. It’s hard not to think of him in his role from SIX FEET UNDER, but he definitely has potential as the hero-in-the-making. And I have to admit, I really enjoy the scenes with the paparazzi stalking the Darling family. What it is about our culture that we get a kick out of watching rich and famous people fall apart at the seams? I don’t know, but I want more of it. Add to the list of good points Candis Cayne, who plays Peter Darling’s (Billy Baldwin) tranny love affair. Turns out he/she’s actually a tranny actor/ess, so I guess it wasn’t too much of a stretch for the role. Anyway, props to tranny nation, for finally getting one of their, um, brethren into a major network show.

And the negatives? Well, I gotta admit my head’s still spinning from all the plotlines. Let’s see, aside from the aforementioned tranny plot, we’ve got a suicidal daughter and a son in the clergy who happens to have an illegitimate son of his own. Oh, and the oldest daughter is in love with Nick, and kisses him in front of his loving wife. And we didn’t even get to the meat of the plot, which is that Nick thinks the family had a part in his father’s death, and is staying on as their lawyer only to find out who the killer is.

Needless to say, we’ve got a soap opera on our hands. So I’ll reserve judgement for now and just say that the show probably deserves at least half a star. Anything beyond that? Well, we’ll see.