2nd helping of 'Riches,' 'Dirt' for FX
By Nellie Andreeva
May 9, 2007
FX has renewed freshmen drama series "The Riches" and "Dirt" for 2008.
Additionally, FX's much-anticipated new legal drama "Damages," starring Glenn Close, is set to premiere July 24 and will run at 10 p.m. Tuesdays. The firefighter drama "Rescue Me" will return for a fourth season June 13, moving to 10 p.m. Wednesdays.
Meanwhile, the third-season premiere of the comedy "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" has been pushed from June to September to allow the show, which features returning co-star Danny DeVito, to wrap production on its 13-episode order and do location shoots in Philadelphia.
While they haven't fared as well as FX's older series in their first-run airings, the weekly cumulative ratings among adults 18-49 for "Dirt" (3.7 million) and "Riches" (3.9 million) are comparable to those of "Rescue Me" and "The Shield."
"If a show has 3.8 million (young) adult viewers on a weekly basis, that makes it a hit on cable," FX president and GM John Landgraf said. "If we believe in a show creatively and it's a hit, we will pick it up."
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In addition to "Dirt," "Riches," "Damages" and "Rescue Me," FX's original drama lineup includes veterans "The Shield" and "Nip/Tuck" for a total of six series, more than any network in the history of cable television, Landgraf said.
While he said he didn't expect both "Dirt" and "Riches" to do as well as they did, renewing both of them falls into FX's strategy of adding new assets, as its most successful shows, "Shield" and "Nip/Tuck," are aging. "Shield's" upcoming seventh season will be its last, and
"Nip/Tuck" also is nearing its end."We believe that is what we need to do in this highly competitive period of time, when a lot of basic cable networks are getting into original programming," Landgraf said. "Because there (won't be) room for everybody, we want to make sure we're one of the top brands for original programming."
"Dirt," which stars Courteney Cox, hails from ABC Studios and FX Prods. It was created by Matthew Carnahan, who is executive producing with Cox, David Arquette and Joel Fields. It is produced by ABC Studios and FX Prods.
"Riches," starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver, is produced by Maverick TV, Fox TV Studios and FX Prods. Creator Dmitry Lipkin is executive producing with Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin, Peter O'Fallon, Izzard, Guy Oseary, Mark Morgan and Michael Rosenberg
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