Season two of this potboiler starts exactly where it left off: In the first season cliffhanger, protagonist Lucy Spiller (Courteney Cox—what happened to 'Cox-Arquette,' anyhow?) was almost murdered, but then the girl who stabbed Lucy was killed. Luckily for the show, Lucy's survived, and season two is off to a comparatively happy-go-lucky start.
What is it? Lucy is a powerful tabloid editor who wheels, deals—and has casual sex with celebrities. She’s all about her work and putting out the best (read: trashiest) product she can. Lucy may seem like a total ballbreaker, but she’s actually very sweet to her socially maladjusted chief photog and best friend, the amazingly named Don Konkey.
Who’s that? There’s a bunch of blonder-than-blonde girls running around in the role of wild celebrity mashups. There’s a Lindsay Lohan/Britney Spears hybrid lurking around the edges of the show who becomes important as the season progresses, as well as a Paris Hilton/Nicole Richie celebutante who takes up a lot of Lucy’s time. And, in a nod to fans of “Redneck Wedding,” Tom Arnold is featured as a curious cross between Alec Baldwin and David Hasselhoff. Now
that's a sexalicious combo.
The originality factor: The way the show combines celebrity profiles is fun, but too often "Dirt" forgets to change it up, leaving us with that already-seen-it-on-TMZ feeling.
The verdict: It’s all juicy, good fun, perfect for a Sunday night in with delivery. Oh, except for the surprise episode two ending. Is institutionalized violence against women funny now? Sheesh, "Dirt"—let’s keep things light and fluffy, okay?
The new season of "Dirt" premieres Sunday, March 2 at 10 p.m. E/P on FX.
