Because the world wasn’t already saturated with gossip magazines and even reality television programs from within said publications, Lionsgate and ABC decided to give us Dirt, the first television venture of Courteney Cox after the close of Friends. You may have noticed she has since moved on to Cougar Town, which should clue you in that this second season DVD set of Dirt is the final one. Dirt had some merit, even as the world contemptuously eyes the gossip rag industry from the check-out lanes of the local grocery store, we all know there are plenty of people buying the things, so making a show about the magazine’s inner workings makes more sense than I’d like to admit.
Courteney Cox plays Lucy Spiller, the head of two prominent gossip rags (one which shares the name with the series), has instincts that those around her can only envy. She seems to know when stories will break, how they’ll do so, and who to talk to for the scoop. The office is populated by an assortment of personalities, but the most important of them all is photographer Don Konkey (Ian Hart), a schizophrenic who as of the second season is just starting to get his illness under control. The primary love interest for Lucy, despite the professional conflict it implies, is also the hottest gossip ticket in town Holt McLaren (Josh Stewart). While the first season dealt with Holt’s “news worthy” relationship with junkie sitcom actress Julia Mallory (Laura Allen). Unfortunately, that admittedly interesting plot was the subject of the first season, which ended using a page directly out of the Nip/Tuck playbook: the disturbed client/victim (Julia) stabs the series’ protagonist (Lucy), in a “cliffhanger” season finale.
Where does that put us for the second season? Compared to the first season, the second goes absolutely nowhere. What could have included an interesting look at the aftermath of the first season’s events gets swept under the rug just two episodes into the season, and they attempt to create a Brittany Spears inspired storyline which never really goes anywhere. Meanwhile, the love life of Lucy Spiller becomes a soap opera spectacle as she lusts after one man and dates another. It never once gets remotely interesting or offers up a unique twist for the season. It’s a shame, but it seems like Dirt peaked in its first season and just idled about in its second. It does explain why this is the final season though.
There’s a brief subplot wherein Konkey gets held captive in the basement of a politician’s home by said figure’s sociopathic teenage son. At first it seemed like the season was going to take a major turn for the better with this development, but then it fizzles out and the writers totally abandon any and all momentum such a story would have lent to the series. Too bad.
Fans of Courteney Cox may find this next suggestion out of line, but Cox doesn’t perform well as the primary character. She has always done better as a member of an ensemble cast. It established her as a common name in Friends, where she shared the spotlight with 5 other talented individuals, and has shown itself to be true again in Cougar Town. She’s a talented actress but she just can’t seem to carry an entire series on her back. Luckily, in Dirt, she at least had Ian Hart’s Don Konkey to shoulder some of the weight. He was still second fiddle, but enough of the show dealt with his schizophrenia and how it compounded with his guilt over ruining lives with the photos he takes. He imagined talking cats and tribal masks, but all of that vanishes in the second season as he’s put on medication and receives more dramatic inflection in his character. It’s not an improvement over the first season, as they’ve essentially taken away the schizophrenia that made him such an interesting character, but it helps keep him a major player so Cox doesn’t have to do everything.
DVD Bonus Features
Coming out over two years after the series ended, you can bet the reason for the delay wasn’t so they could make a bunch of extras, it was a perceived lack of interest. Again, too bad. It would have been interesting to hear writers, directors, and the cast talk about how the show altered their perceptions of this culturally derided industry.
"Dirt: Season Two" is on sale May 4, 2010 and is not rated. Comedy, Drama. Directed by Chris Long, Matthew Carnahan, Paris Barclay. Written by Matthew Carnahan, Joel Fields, Albert Kim. Starring Courteney Cox, Ian Hart, Jeffrey Nordling, Josh Stewart.
