Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release Date: September 16th, 2008
MSRP: $39.99

Stars: Peter Krause, Donald Sutherland, Jill Clayburgh, William Baldwin

When Dirty Sexy Money first debuted, I did not know what to make of it. DSM tosses equal amounts of humor, humanity, absurdity and drama into the mix. For most shows, this would result in an unequal mess. DSM has, this far, managed to pull it off, with rather impressive results.

Nick Fisher (Peter Krause of Six Feet Under and Sports Night) is an attorney with a wife and daughter. Early in his career, he vowed never to make the same mistake his father did: Let his work rule his world.

Now the very job that owned his father threatens to swallow him: Nick’s father was the attorney for the Darlings, one of the richest, most powerful families in New York. They make Donald Trump look like a paperboy.

Not surprisingly, the Darlings require an enormous amount of attention (I.E. hand holding).

This is not your parents evening soap, this is night-time drama for a new generation.

DSM has a strong cast, with Donald Sutherland and Jill Clayburgh are excellent as the parents, and William Baldwin really shines as son being pushed thrust into greatness (ala JFK). Like JFK, Patrick is unable to stay faithful to his wife. Unlike JFK (as far as I know) Patrick is doing so with transsexuals.

The rest of the family consists of Brian (Glenn Fitzgerald), a cold-hearted, sharp-tongued son that is on the verge of losing his wife and children after his former mistress drops their child on his doorstep. Oh yeah, he is a man of God.

Karen (Natalie Zea) is the often-married (she goes through her fourth in the first season), sex-loving, hard-drinking daughter that had a fling with Nick while they were teenagers. She still harbors feelings for him.

Then there are the twins, Julia (Samaire Armstrong) and Jeremy (Seth Gabel). Both are 25 going on 15 and enjoy the trapping of fame and fortune.

The bunch of them keep Nick scrambling almost 24-7, a fact that is causing ever-increasing tension in his personal life.

For extras, we get a look at the style behind the show, no small feat considering the Darlings are supposed to be among the wealthiest and most stylish folks in the world. We get a look at the clothes and penthouse. Also included are some pretty standard “behind the scenes” bits where the cast talks about how much they love the show they are on…what the hell are they supposed to say??

Sadly, the writers’ strike caused the season to end rather abruptly, with many plotlines left in the air.

This is a fun night soap that gives us just enough reasons to actually care for this lot. Folks looking for some fun should check out season one of Dirty Sexy Money.

Order season one of Dirty Sexy Money from Amazon.
Jeremy Lynch
For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.