The Riches is an American television drama series created by Dmitry Lipkin and starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver, which centres around a traveling family of con artists who begin to question their lifestyle.
The series aired in the USA on FX Networks from 12 March, 2007 to 29 April, 2008. There are 20 hour-long episodes in two seasons.
The Riches aired in South Africa on M-Net from 2 December, 2007 to 5 October, 2008, on Sundays after the 8pm movie. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 1
The show features Izzard and Driver as Wayne and Dahlia Malloy; they, along with their family, are Irish Traveller con artists and thieves. They travel with their children Di Di (Dehliah), Sam and Cael.
As the series begins Dahlia has just been paroled from prison. During her two-year sentence, she has developed various drug addictions. In her absence, Wayne and the children have been continuing to act as con artists across the US.
After a brief reunion with their Traveller clan, the family flees to avoid an arranged marriage for Di Di. Wayne steals a large amount of money from the clan's hoard of cash, and the family runs off.
After getting into an altercation and RV chase with another Traveller family, the Malloys are involved in a car accident that kills a very wealthy couple (the eponymous Riches).
Choosing not to return to their clan camp and to pursue a "better life", they instead adopt the Riches' identity in an affluent gated community in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and live as buffers, as they call mundane, law abiding people.
Season 2
Blackmail. Murder. And back to life in the RV.
The Malloys, after successfully passing themselves off as "The Riches" in season 1, a yuppie family living in suburban America, face big trouble in Season 2.
Wayne Malloy tries to clean up the mess in Eden Falls while his con artist family hits the road. But the Malloys find the old pleasures of the road and the Traveler way of life hard to come by.
Dahlia and the kids Cael, Di Di and Sam don't feel like professional cons anymore. They got used to life in Eden Falls and are now lost and unsteady when forced to live by their wits.
When Wayne raises the possibility of returning to pull off one Last Great Con that could earn them enough money to stop running and conning forever, the Malloys decide to roll the dice.
Wayne's attempt to protect his family while continuing his quest to steal the American Dream proves to be more challenging than the Malloys could ever suspect.
Seasons
(Both seasons aired exclusively on M-Net on Sundays after the 8pm movie, around 22h00)
Season 1
Premiere: 2 December 2007 | Finale: 24 February 2008 | Episodes: 13
Season 2
Premiere: 24 August 2008 | Finale: 5 October 2008 | Episodes: 7
TVSA Resources
News: New Drama 'The Riches' Draws Rave Reviews
Review: Not here yet but THE BOMB: The Riches