Dirt (TV series)

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Dirt
Image:Dirtlogo.png Dirt television logo
Format	Serial drama
Created by	Matthew Carnahan
Starring	Courteney Cox Arquette, Ian Hart, Laura Allen, Will McCormack, Josh Stewart, Jeffrey Nordling
Opening theme	"Dig Deep" by Debby Holiday
Country of origin	Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	David Arquette Courteney Cox Arquette
Running time	60 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	FX Networks
Original run	January 2 2007 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Dirt is an FX drama television series that premiered on January 2, 2007. It stars Courteney Cox Arquette as Lucy Spiller, the editor-in-chief of the tabloid magazine DirtNow, which was previously two separate publications: Dirt! and Now. Dirt centers around the lives of Hollywood stars and the reporters that track them, specifically Lucy and Don Konkey, a functioning schizophrenic who is deeply loyal to her. Holt McLaren and Julia Mallory are two of the main stars of the series and much of an episode is built around their relationship.

FX announced on May 8, 2007 that Dirt will return for a second season.^[1] Season two is tentatively scheduled to begin airing in March, 2008, stated by Cox. ^[2]. However due to the 2007 WGA strike, seven of thirteen episodes have been produced.^[3]

The show is produced by Coquette Productions and Touchstone Television (Disney). It is distributed outside the US by Disney.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 2.1 Main characters 3 Episodes 4 Screening Countries 5 DVD release 6 Product Placement 7 Trivia 8 Reception 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Plot

Each plot differs episode to episode, but most of it seems to center on Lucy Spiller driving her staff to get breaking news exclusives to run in her magazine, DirtNow. Holt McLaren rise to fame and Julia Mallory's meltdown which both happen thanks to Lucy; Don Konkey's battles with manageable schizophrenia; Leo Spiller's homosexual relationship with star Jack Dawson (who has a heterosexual image) and its consequences; Willa McPherson trying to get a break with Lucy and trying to become a better reporter; and Lucy's near-perpetual loneliness and deprivation. Each episode furthers these plots usually by introducing side-plots such as Aundre G's disappearance and the various covers of Dirt, Now and then DirtNow.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

Main article: List of Dirt characters

Lucy Spiller (Courteney Cox) - Lucy Spiller is the pivotal character of the show. She runs the magazine DirtNow, (previously two separate magazines), which is marketed as a respectable tabloid. Lucy is a workaholic with a brilliant eye for a story and little remorse about the lives she tangles with. She is constantly burdened with the guilt of the suicide of her father and the feelings of loneliness which stem from this. She does however, truly love her best friend Don Konkey and her brother Leo. For Don, she goes to great lengths to keep him healthy - on his medication, and she and her brother are also close.

Don Konkey (Ian Hart) - Don Konkey was in the journalism club with Lucy during college, and as such is the only character revealed she has a true bond with. Don does exceptional photography work, and is so committed to Lucy that he severed one of his own fingers to get a shot. He suffers from manageable schizophrenia, and is often reluctant to take medication, even at the request of Lucy.

Holt McLaren (Josh Stewart) - At the beginning of the series, Holt McLaren was a has-been actor whose only claim to fame was his long past blockbusters, and his girlfriend, Julia Mallory. After telling Lucy about Kira Klay's pregnancy in episode one, she agreed to do a profile about him in her magazine "Now" when it was still a single entity. After that, he received multiple offerings from movie studios and is currently working under contract on a big-budget action film. He is also Lucy's love interest.

Julia Mallory (Laura Allen) - At the start of the series, Julia Mallory is "America's sweetheart", but as DirtNow destroys her career, the series tracks her character's degeneration, pain and corruption. Julia is an actress dating actor Holt McLaren. She hurt her back in episode one after Holt crashed their car at 90 miles an hour following the news of Kira Klay's death. She has since suffered various problems - narcotic, sexual, physical and mental, which lead to the collapse of her career.

Leo Spiller (Will McCormack) - Leo is Lucy's younger brother, to whom she is reasonably close. He appeared to cope with their father's suicide slightly better than she has, and is closer to their mother than her. He finds his sister's line of work destructive and shallow. He identifies himself as bisexual, although his sister argues that he is gay and in denial. He has a search for peace and disapproves very much of his sister's career, especially after an incident with a closeted A-list celebrity, Jack Dawson.

Brent Barrow (Jeffrey Nordling) - DirtNow's publisher, Lucy's boss and very constricting when it comes to content and schedule issues. Throughout the series he has threatened Lucy with termination from her position as their interests conflict.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Dirt episodes

• FX has ordered a season of 13 one hour-long episodes. Series production began in September 2006, but the pilot was reshot to include a cameo by David Fincher and to add more of Courteney Cox's character.^[4] Production on the original pilot began in Los Angeles in March 2006, and it was the ninth drama series pilot shot for FX. Matthew Carnahan, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette are serving as executive producers. Thea Mann is producing for Courteney Cox and David Arquette's Coquette Productions, while Touchstone Television and FX are co-producing the series.

[edit] Screening Countries

• Dirt began on Five US in the United Kingdom on 9th July 2007 and brought the channel its highest ever ratings of 615,000 viewers.^[5] Every two or three weeks, Five US has a "Dirty Night In" on Saturdays, repeating the last two or three episodes.

• In [[the Netherlands], NET 5 commenced screening season 1 on 1 January 2008 with a double episode. Both episodes rated well for a non-dutch program with episode 1 attracting 756.000 viewers (9.5%, 19th place) and episode 2 attracting 713.000 (9.0%, 21st place). The regular timeslot is Tuesdays at 9:30pm.

• In Australia, it premiered on the subscription channel Movie Extra on 15 December 2007. It currently screens Tuesdays at 9:30pm AEST and Thursdays at 10:30pm AEST.

• In Ireland, Channel 6 screens it on Wednesdays at 9:25pm.

• In Slovenia on POP TV, it premiered on 17th Decmeber 2007 and is to be shown every Monday at 09:50pm GMT+1. The show's title is translated into "Tabloid".

• In New Zealand season 1 was shown on TV2. It's regular screened time was Mondays at 10:30pm.

[edit] DVD release

The series is licensed for DVD release to Buena Vista Home Video^[6]. The first season was released on December 11 2007.

[edit] Product Placement

In practically every episode, there's at least one scene in which there are bottles, or Lucy drinking from a bottle, of VOSS. VOSS is an exclusive brand of Norwegian springwater.

[edit] Trivia

Image:Broom icon.svg

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Courteney Cox Arquette feels embarrassed by her periodic sex scenes on the show. During filming of these scenes, she orders co-executive producer and husband David Arquette off the set.^[7]

• Debby Holiday sings the theme song called "Dig Deep"^[8]

• Ian Hart, who plays Don Konkey, is English. He affects an American accent to play this character. In the final episode of the first series he halucinates a version of himself with a painted face and a Liverpudlian accent.

• On January 16, 2007, it was announced that Cox's former Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston would guest-star in the season finale of the show, which aired on March 27. Aniston played Tina Harrod, a fellow magazine editor and bitter rival to Cox's character, with whom she shared a friendly goodbye kiss.

[edit] Reception

The Parents Television Council has criticised Dirt for its content, calling it "yet another distasteful offering from the F/X network."^[9]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Dirt - Official TV on DVD Website
• Dirt at the Internet Movie Database
• Dirt at FXNetworks.com
• Dirt at five.tv
• The Futon Critic - Showatch: Dirt
• Dirt (Tabloid) at POP TV (Slovenia)

v • d • e Dirt
Main characters: Lucy Spiller • Don Konkey • Holt McLaren • Julia Mallory • Willa McPherson • Brent Barrow • Leo Spiller List of Dirt episodes • List of Dirt characters

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