The Riches
The Malloys are a family of Irish Travellers and accomplished con artists. Wayne Malloy (Eddie Izzard), the head of the family, gets on the wrong side of a Traveller clan, and the family goes on the run. On their way, they accidentally kill a rich couple who are moving to a new neighborhood. The Malloys take the chance to adopt the couples' identities and house, and begin to experience life in the upper class.
What's yours is mine. |
This Dramedy (emphasis on Drama, but with Eddie Izzard in the cast, uproarious comedy was more or less inevitable) ran on FX for 2 seasons in 2007-2008, and Eddie Izzard has stated that he is working on a movie script to finish off the story.
Tropes used in The Riches include:
- Bad Boss: Hugh.
- Bavarian Fire Drill: The entire show, and most of the episode plots. A notable one is where Wayne needs to learn law, so he wrangles himself a position as a guest lecturer at a nearby law college and tells the students to pretend he knows nothing about the law, as a way of "testing" their knowledge. When they use too much legal language, he makes them dumb it down. Oh, and if they answer a question correctly, they get a cookie. It works beautifully.
- Con Artist: A whole family of them.
- Drugs Are Bad: With one episode even entitled "This Is Your Brain On Drugs".
- Even Evil Has Standards: It's repeatedly stated that stealing from little old ladies is despicable; Cael gets chewed out for it at one point.
- Fish Out of Water
- How's Your British Accent?: Used by Izzard in one of the con.
- I Have Many Names
- Indy Ploy: Much of the cons go like this - one character will ask another "What's your plan?" to which the reply is "Uh... yeah".
- Irish Traveller: Specifically, Irish-American Travellers.
- Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: Pete.
- Meaningful Name: The family moves to a gated community named Edenfalls.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Izzard, almost constantly.
- Rags to Riches: The main characters, but not through hard work, and also the backstory of Wayne's boss, Hugh.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Sam, an 8-year-old.