Meet the Malloys. They're a family of "Travellers." In other words, they're con artists. At the head of the group is Wayne (Eddie Izzard), the man who always has a plan. He's been holding the family together since his wife, Dahlia (Minnie Driver) has been in jail. As the series starts, they're going to pick her up when she's released on parole. There's also the three kids, Cael (Noel Fisher), Di Di (Shannon Marie Woodward), and Sam (Aidan Mitchell). They're as witty and inventive with scams as their parents. Dahlia's extended family (hundreds of Travellers) throw a party for her to celebrate her return. But when the group arrives, they discover all is not well. The family patriarch has become terminally ill and his greedy jerk of a son, Dale (Todd Stashwick), has taken over. Dale hates Wayne and is attracted to Dahlia. On top of that, he's promised Di Di's hand in marriage to a member of a distant branch of the family, who happens to be an idiot. In desperation, Wayne steals the money from the family coffers and the Malloys escape in their RV. Getting into a car accident, they discover the bodies of Douglas and Sherine Cherien Rich, a wealthy couple who are moving to a new community. In a spur of the moment decision, Wayne decides the family is going to take over the lives of the Riches, springing the biggest con they've ever pulled.

The Riches treads a fine line between comedy and drama. Obviously, Eddie Izzard is best known as a comedian, and Minnie Driver has done lighter fare as well. But the show hides a dark heart, with many of the situations and events being quite tragic. Izzard is the lynch pin of the project, his character Wayne continually coming up with new plots and schemes on the fly. Izzard walks a tightrope, never wanting to become overwhelmed by the gloom that the other characters often exhibit, while at the same time not becoming a joke. It's a versatile performance that highlights his abilities as an actor outside of his public persona. Minnie Driver is the yin to Izzard's yang, coming across as more vulnerable, yet no less resourceful than Wayne. There's also a tug of war between the two, as Dahlia is more than happy to continue living the Traveller lifestyle, while Wayne wants more.

As great as the leads are, the supporting cast is just as delightful. We get to see a series of character actors whose faces will be more recognizable than their names. Their contributions fill in the details of the world. In a refreshing change of pace, many of the other characters are not stupid, forcing the Malloys to come up with increasingly more complex and sophisticated lies. It's fascinating to watch the pieces come together, as Wayne and Dahlia and the kids become more and more attached to the life of the Riches. They go from just trying to get by to trying to move up, gain respect, become legitimate. Di Di gets a boyfriend at school. Sam excels at his studies, learning French and history with astonishing speed. The more each member of the family gains, the more they have to lose.

Half the fun of the show is seeing Wayne and Dahlia reacting to new situations as they come up. You can practically see the gears turning in their heads as they try to not only cope with the new set of circumstances, but make their lies match everything that's been established to that point. Things only get worse when Dale and other members of Dahlia's family discover where the Malloys have holed up, forcing Wayne to try and satisfy their demands in addition to the people around town. And Wayne's neighbors and co-workers aren't just cardboard cut outs. Wayne works for Hugh (Gregg Henry), a successful businessman who is utterly coarse and has no real friends. Despite this, Wayne connects to him on the level that deep down, they're both hustlers. Dahlia befriends Nina (Margo Martindale), a woman who at first appears to be a generic suburbanite, but has more to her than meets the eye. Wayne and Dahlia genuinely like these people, but still have to lie to their faces every day. And they all have their own problems and issues that they bring with them.

The Riches is an ambitious piece of work for a weekly television series. Granted, FX has been known to take chances with their TV series (Rescue Me and The Shield jump to mind, among others), but The Riches is different in its atmosphere and execution. Rescue Me has combined drama and comedy, but for the most part the comedy comes first. In The Riches, not only does the drama come first, but it's a constant battle for the characters to remain hopeful in the face of all the hardships they endure. The show is relentlessly grim, but the Malloys soldier on anyway, and mainly in good spirits. Plus, it's got Eddie Izzard. How can you not like it?

The DVD:

The Image:
20th Century Fox presents The Riches in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in an anamorphically enhanced transfer. Given that FX has some of the worst broadcast quality of any cable television station, the presentation of any of their shows on TV will be an immediate improvement. That being said, The Riches has a somewhat ruddy feel to it anyway. Detail and the color balance is certainly a step up, and there's far less artifacting. But it's not a massively impressive transfer. While there's less artifacts, I could still make out some mosquito noise. Not the best I've seen, but not the worst.

The Audio:
The Riches comes equipped with a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. For the most part, the mix is mainly front and center, with very little in the way of discrete effects. The score is spread to the rears, and a few isolated effects here and there, but this is glorified stereo. Still, dialogue, the most important part, is clear and free of distortion. It's not going to knock your socks off, but you'll hear everything you need to, even with those thick Southern accents.

The Supplements:
We get two commentaries by Eddie Izzard and series creator Dmitry Lipkin, on the pilot and the season finale. Bizarrely, most of it revolves around the minutiae of production. Where each scene was shot, waiting for the right light, how many days into the shoot it was, etc. Other times, the two turn into audience members, making small comments on the episode as they watch it. There are two featurettes made for FX that feel like the same generic EPK stuff we've seen before, although Izzard does provide a few good tidbits. There's a gag reel that has a surprising amount of swearing. The best of the extras by far is a collection of seven "Webisodes," which has Izzard, Woodward, and Fisher sitting around in the RV and discussing the kind of cons they can pull. They're short, funny, and I wish there were more of them.

The Conclusion:
The Riches is an exciting new show on FX, a channel known for their excellent original programming. Given that this one features Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver doing some of their best work, with sharply written scripts and an excellent supporting cast, it's a must see. The DVD features improved image and sound from the cable broadcasts, and while not all of the extras are great, there are some hilarious webisodes that show Izzard and a few of the other actors doing some great comedic bits. The Riches is funny, shocking, daring, and very much worth seeing. Highly Recommended.

Daniel Hirshleifer is the High Definition Editor for DVD Talk.