Dirty Sexy Money

Did You Know?

• The series was produced by Berlanti Television and ABC Studios.
• Craig Wright served as an executive producer alongside Greg Berlanti, Bryan Singer, Matthew Gross, Peter Horton, and Josh Reims, with Melissa Berman producing.

Premise

The Darling family of New York is one of the most powerful in the city, reminiscent of the Kennedys in their wealth, influence, and constant entanglement in scandals. Without their lawyer, Nick George, they would have long ago faced ruin, prison, or tabloid headlines. Nick, an idealistic attorney, initially resisted following his father, who devoted his life to the family. After his father’s mysterious death in a plane crash, Nick took over as the Darlings’ lawyer, hoping to uncover the truth behind the murder.

He struggles to balance his own morals and family life with the family’s endless demands. The show’s cancellation left the mystery of Dutch George’s death unresolved. Creator Craig Wright later revealed that, had the series continued, Juliet would have been arrested in a situation similar to Patty Hearst’s, eventually teaching drama at a Connecticut boarding school, marrying the soccer coach, and having children.

Cast and characters

Peter Krause as Nick George: A well-meaning, civic-minded lawyer in his 30s, Nick is a husband, father, and son to the Darling family attorney, Devlin 'Dutch' George. Growing up in a troubled household (his mother left when he was six), he always came second to his father's job. Though he promised himself he would never follow in his father's footsteps, he is inevitably drawn to the Darling family when his father dies suddenly in a mysterious manner and agrees to be their chief counsel.

However, he finds himself becoming more like the Darlings, while his marriage with Lisa George falls apart. Like his father before him, he delves deeper into dealings with Simon Elder as he believes him to be his father's killer. He forms a bond with Tripp and a considerable friendship with Patrick and, later in Season 2, Brian, his half brother. He is named vice-chairman on Darling Enterprises Board of Directors after Letitia is asked to step down.

With the new partnership between Simon Elder and Tripp Darling not much on this new title has been developed. He and Lisa divorce in Season 2, after Lisa finds out that Nick still has feelings for his ex-girlfriend Karen Darling, and they undergo a custody battle for their daughter, Kiki. Nick and Karen confessed their feelings for each other, when their plane threatened to crash. In the season 2 finale, Nick and Karen are open to a future together, with them discussing having children and marriage.

Donald Sutherland as Patrick 'Tripp' Darling III: The Darling family patriarch, now in his 60s, has amassed a wealth of such enormity that he owns vineyards and maintains residences around the world, including one in Upper East Side, Manhattan. With his wife, Letitia, they have raised five grown, troubled children: Patrick, Karen, Brian, Jeremy and Juliet. He runs the family's fifty billion dollar business, Darling Enterprises. Jill Clayburgh as Letitia Darling: The family matriarch, she is a socialite of formidable standing in New York City.

Rendered devastated by Devlin George's death, the truth about the nature of their relationship comes to light when her daughter, Karen, reveals that they were engaged in a years-long affair. Letitia treated Nick George as her own son ever since Nick's mother left when he was a young child. Letitia always wanted Karen to marry Nick, as she was well aware the two had a relationship years ago, and still had feelings for each other. She co-ran the family business, Darling Enterprises, alongside Tripp, as vice-chairman of the Board.

William Baldwin as Patrick Darling IV: He is the firstborn child of Tripp & Letitia Darling. Now in his 40s, he is the New York State Attorney General married with two kids. A rising political star, he was elected to the United States Senate. He's also been having an affair with trans woman Carmelita Rainer (Candis Cayne).

As his marriage begins to fall apart, Patrick becomes more determined to distance himself from his father and become his own man. He is elected senator of New York and later engages in another affair with a gay congressman's wife. Natalie Zea as Karen Darling: The eldest daughter in the Darling family, with four failed marriages under her belt. She possesses an MBA from Columbia University, as well as running the family's charitable foundation.

Nick and Karen were romantically involved at one point in time when they were younger (she lost her virginity to him). Nick proposed to Karen in Italy when they were both 19. They never ended up getting married, making Karen resent the fact that it didn't turn out that way. She later begins a relationship with Simon Elder so she can spy for her father, but ends up forming slight feelings for him, alienating her from the rest of her family.

Her relationship with Simon ends when he trades her for a business deal with Tripp on their wedding day. She later finds out that she is pregnant with Simon's baby, but loses it in a miscarriage when she falls down the stairs at the Darling house. Karen starts a relationship with Nick in Season 2. Glenn Fitzgerald as Brian Darling Sr.: The middle child of the Darling family.

In his 30s, he is an Episcopal priest, even though he has an illegitimate child who he won't admit is his. He loathed Nick George as a child, which continued when Nick first started working with the family. He and his first wife, Mei Ling, divorce when she finds out he has an illegitimate child, Brian Jr., and marries Andrea later, a cancer survivor. Andrea throws Brian out when she finds out that he went to DC for a tryst with his ex-wife and he turns to Nick for help.

The two bond and the animosity is lessened between them. He resigns from Darling Enterprises after a position of vice-chairman which he believed was supposed to be given to him went to Nick, also with the partnership between Tripp and Simon Elder. He rejoins the church after Andrea becomes healthy again. Seth Gabel as Jeremy Darling: Juliet's twin brother and the youngest member of the Darling family.

Addicted to cocaine, he is frequently seen hung over, chain-smoking and pleading with Nick George to get him out of a jam. Completely oblivious to other people's suffering and unable to imagine a life worse than his, Jeremy often fears that he is the family disappointment and that his father abhors him. Jeremy gets involved with Nola Lyons, who, under Simon Elder's instructions, is prosecuting Letitia Darling. He pretends to have amnesia in order to hide from Simon Elder to help Nola save her brother.

Samaire Armstrong as Juliet Darling (season 1): Jeremy's twin sister and the youngest member of the Darling family. In her 20s, she is spoiled and petulant (albeit with a heart). A former debutante, she was aiming to be taken seriously as an actress and was later devastated to learn that she only received the role of Susy Hendrix in the play 'Wait Until Dark' because her father was bankrolling the production. After season 1, she leaves New York to vacation abroad with her new boyfriend.

Zoe McLellan as Lisa George: The first wife of Nick George. She's an attractive art dealer with a daughter, Kiki. Lisa enjoys the frequent, lavish parties that the Darlings throw in which she is now privy to. Despite their newfound wealth, Lisa is also aware of the fact that her husband might be drifting away from her and growing closer to his old flame, Karen Darling.

She begins a short-lived romantic entanglement with Jeremy Darling, which ultimately leads to the destruction of her marriage. Lisa writes a tell-all book about the Darlings, much to Nick's chagrin, but her plan backfires when she ends up looking like a bitter, money-crazed ex-wife on daytime television. Blair Underwood as Simon Elder: The world's third-richest man, thanks to his invention of a superfast computer processor, but he couldn't be more different from the Darling family.

He lives very simply in a mostly empty loft, and is engaged in a continuous war with the Darlings for the ownership of the island of Manhattan.

Broadcast history

The series first aired in the U.S. on ABC on September 26, 2007, at 10:01 P.M. Eastern, following Private Practice on Wednesday nights. ABC ordered a full 22-episode season on November 16, 2007, making it the first show to get that order after the WGA strike began on November 5. The strike reduced the first season to just 10 episodes. A three-disc DVD set of that season, with bloopers, commentary, deleted scenes, and featurettes, came out on September 16, 2008.

Season two premiered on October 1, 2008, ten months after the first-season finale. On November 20, 2008, ABC declined to order more episodes for the 2008–2009 season. On December 10, Billy Baldwin appeared on NBC’s Today Show to ask fans to watch and send supportive messages to ABC executives, stating the show was on hiatus, not canceled. The last scheduled episode aired December 17, 2008, leaving four episodes unaired in the U.S. but broadcast elsewhere.

After official cancellation, ABC brought the series back on Saturdays starting July 18, 2009, at 10:00 P.M. Eastern. The final episode, “The Bad Guy,” aired August 8, 2009, and the second season’s DVD released August 18, 2009. In Canada, CTV first aired it Sundays at 10 P.M., then moved to 7 P.M., and later to its A system on October 24, 2007, for Wednesday simulcasts at 10 P.M.

Marketing

To promote the show, ABC capitalized on Paris Hilton’s jail controversy. Full-page ads in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Post declared, “We love Paris. The Darling Family.” On June 8, a plane flew a banner with that same message over the courthouse during Hilton’s hearing. The network also ran fake ads on Perezhilton.com on August 6, 2007, criticizing the behavior of Samaire Armstrong’s character, Juliet Darling. Lady Gaga’s song “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich” appeared in the show’s advertisements, and clips from the series were used in an alternate version of its music video.