The Malloys, those hustling grifters who assume the identity of a dead affluent suburban couple in "The Riches," were in a constant struggle the first season to keep from being exposed or arrested.
The launch of the second season tonight finds the series in a state of arrested development.
Due to interruption from the writers strike, "The Riches," which stars Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver, arrives in shrunken condition: The drama will have only seven episodes instead of 13 installments. "The Riches" shares the same dilemma as "Dirt," another FX series currently in its second season that was affected by the strike.
More significantly, the seventh episode of "The Riches" sets up a cliffhanger that has no guarantee of a resolution if "The Riches" is not brought back for a third season.
The dilemma has cast members and producers grappling with a mixture of optimism and concern over whether they will be able to bring closure and continuation to an ambitious and satisfying story line for their characters.
"I really do feel great about what we've been able to do, and we certainly do hope to be able to tell our story," said series creator Dmitry Lipkin. "I feel so proud of all the seven we've done, but I think it would be a disservice to our fans if everything ended with a cliffhanger. It would be good to perform well, and if we do, we'll be back."
Izzard, who also serves as an executive producer, sounded much more confident that the series will not only return for a third season, but for many years to come.
"We're going seven seasons," he announced with a wink as he introduced a premiere screening of the second episode Sunday at the Pacific Design Center. "Of course no one's agreed to it yet. But seven sounds good."
John Landgraf, president of FX Networks, called the new episodes "very strong." But both "The Riches," a pet project of his that had been in development for two years, and "Dirt" did not perform as well in their initial season as he had hoped, and both series need to demonstrate staying power if they are to return.
"We went the extra mile to give both of these shows a second season, and now they will have to show us something," Landgraf said. "It's not an unchallenging road for both of them."
"Dirt" is already on shaky ground. After three episodes, the series is averaging 1.6 million viewers on Sundays. Last season, it averaged 2.2 million viewers.
