Riches, The

San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman

"The Riches" is both unique and intoxicating -- and plenty more.

Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm

The best new TV show of the 2006-07 season.

Entertainment WeeklyClark Collis

Think Big Love-meets-Carnivale and you're in the ballpark, but The Riches boasts its own weird, violent, druggy, hilarious mix. [16 Mar 2007, p.63]

The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley

It’s so compelling it deserves to be a hit.

People WeeklyTom Gliatto

[Driver's] tone gets under the skin. As does the show. [19 Mar 2007, p.39]

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

Though the overall tone is light, there's enough darkness in "The Riches," and enough depth in the performances, to make you care about these people - even when you don't totally buy the premise.

San Jose Mercury NewsCharlie McCollum

Monday's opening hour is a bit disjointed stylistically. But the individual pieces are so compelling that you're still going to be sucked into the saga. And the show gets far more consistent in future episodes.

LA WeeklyRobert Abele

This is a meaty show about the complex allure of easy wealth and the traps it sets for one’s personal morality.

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

Lipkin demonstrates a keen eye for nuances of class and social structure and a unique perspective on how to attain the American dream.

Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker

The Riches has the makings of a bracing, provocative series.

TimeJames Poniewozik

It's far-fetched. It's outlandish. You will think you are too smart to get suckered in by it, but give it a few minutes and you will be proved wrong.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

Izzard is a great surprise in FX's "The Riches," and just one of this fascinating new series' unexpectedly soulful pleasures.

USA TodayRobert Bianco

The Riches most often treats this family and their mad attempt to steal a new identity with a delightfully light comic touch bolstered by an underpinning of yearning.... The show stumbles whenever it tries to become dark or serious.

Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman

The show's first three episodes don't always land their punches. But "The Riches" takes daring swings. And the acting, especially in Monday's debut, is as good as it gets on TV.

Detroit Free PressMike Duffy

Laced with profanity, amoral behavior and fine performances, "The Riches" adheres to its own maverick set of family drama values ... infused with secrets and lies, twisted laughs and lots of love.

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

The dangers for the mostly engrossing “Riches” is that it occasionally hits the “we’re stealing the American Dream” theme a little too hard, and it remains to be seen whether it will coast on the taut, engaging performances of Izzard and Driver.

Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin

Funny and intriguing.

Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart

"The Riches" reminds me a bit of "Big Love" the first time I saw it. I wasn’t sure whether to like these people or despise them, whether I bought the premise or not. And yet, at the end of the hour, I wanted to see more.

Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik

Viewers who can get past the uncertain dialects and a few cartoonish supporting characters are in for a real treat.

New York PostLinda Stasi

Izzard and Driver are so good that you may be able to overlook a lot - like a plot to believe in.

The New YorkerNancy Franklin

While the ideas behind “The Riches” are often satisfyingly satirical, Izzard’s role—he plays Wayne Malloy, a husband and a father of three, eager to escape the marginal life that he and his family have been living—is stagy and overblown.

New York MagazineJohn Leonard

I suppose some of it is funny, as in a Kafka/Beckett/Pinter soft-shoe shuffle of grotesques. Still, what’s so far much more mesmerizing about The Riches is class war and caste hate.

Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland

[It] vacillates between riveting and middling.

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

"The Riches" certainly has some rich elements -- there's even a little dark humor, just not enough of it -- but in early episodes, the show remains wobbly as it tries to find its footing.

Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd

There are more than a few problems here.

Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall

Despite two fine leading performances by Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver and a premise that's not like anything else on television, there's something missing in the execution.

TV GuideMatt Roush

The Riches is hard to believe and not much easier to embrace.

NewsdayDiane Werts

There's greatness begging to be grasped here, and nobody has a handle on it.

VarietyBrian Lowry

Although not the mess that "Dirt" is, the series is conceptually problematic, and seemingly ill-equipped to go the episodic distance.

SalonHeather Havrilesky

My guess is that lots of people are going to rave about how deliciously dark and weird this drama is, but before you believe them, take a minute and imagine Minnie Driver with a fake Southern accent. Now imagine Eddie Izzard with an American accent that's so bad, it makes his voice sound almost computerized. Next, throw in some demonic rednecks straight out of "Deliverance." Are you getting hot yet?