Written by: Ashtyn at 6:42 pm
Writer: Various
Director: Matthew Carnahan
Cast: Courteney Cox, Ian Hart, Josh Stewart, Alexandra Breckenridge, Laura Allen, Johnny Drocco
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release Date: December 11, 2007
There was plenty of talk swirling around about Dirt during its first season. I heard all about the hot (is that what that was?) kiss between Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston and I heard the hype about masturbation and show plots that include men being penetrated with strap-ons. With all this going on I am surprised that I didn’t begin watching Dirt during the first season run on F/X. I chock it up to hearing about the bad ratings and having other things to do. It is rare for me to catch anything when it airs on television. Normally I end up watching the DVDs instead. I make exceptions with shows such as Criminal Minds, Jericho, and Lost.
After watching the first season of Dirt I think it is safe to say that I may be checking out season two when it airs on F/X in the summer. Currently, the release of season two is listed as summer, but with the writer’s strike currently going full force it is hard to say whether or not the show will be delayed or not. Either way, Dirt: The Complete First Season is a bitchy yet entertaining look at the world of gossip, rag sheets and the people who run them.
Release Information:
December 11, 2007 is the date when the DVD for Dirt: The Complete First Season hit the shelves. While it may not have rated well when on television, this is one of the most underrated shows of 2007. I was shocked at how entertaining things were right off the bat. Produced by Courteney’s production company, Coquette Productions, Dirt is an excellent show that is entertaining in ways that other shows have become bland. You can purchase Dirt at stores like Amazon for $35.99.
The Dirt: The Complete First Season Plot
Dirt revolves around the character Lucy Spiller (Courteney Cox). Spiller is a tough broad that happens to be the editor in chief for two tabloid magazines. The two end up converting into one, DirtNow!. As an editor, Spiller’s entire life is her magazine. She needs to get the story and she will do anything she must do to get the job done. In fact, she is often hunting the next big cover before the latest issue even hits the stands. Spiller believes that nothing is more important than the cover.
“We live or die by breaking stories”, she says. Spiller leaves all else behind other than her magazine. Family, friends, and lovers can wait because at the end of the day it’s DirtNow! that keeps Spiller truly warm at night.
Naturally, the best way to be a successful tabloid editor is to dabble in secrets. The good news is that Lucy has secrets on everyone. She knows about the biggest players and the littlest, washed up fishes. If she doesn’t know about them, she will find someone to get the story because that’s her job and she does it well. One of the best ways Lucy gets her dirt is by blackmailing less important stars. In order to stop those awful stories and vile pictures from being released, one star must give up another, more important star to save their own reputation.
Lucy feels all of this is fair though, because without magazines like hers, these stars wouldn’t even be truly famous. Without the gossip rags, celebrities aren’t anything. Lucy is a step up from one of those cheap and sleazy tabloids though. She prints the real news, no matter how scandalous it may seem. It just makes her magazine even better because her scandals are undoubtedly the truth.
Lucy is the editor and while the magazine rests on her shoulders, there are many others that help make DirtNow! what it has become. There are the various reporters, including the reporter with the most screen time, Willa McPherson (Alexandra Breckenridge) and then there is Lucy’s right hand man Don Konkey, played by the brilliant Ian Hart (Backbeat). While Willa is willing to do just about anything (even drugs) to get into Lucy’s good favor many of the other reporters see Lucy as a shrew.
Don, on the other hand, is the comic relief of the show. A functioning schizophrenic yet an utterly good guy, Don has been best friends with Lucy for years and is now her saving grace. Part of the paparazzi, Don is a cameraman that takes his job very seriously. In fact, he even cuts off a finger to make sure he gets the shots Lucy needs. Don isn’t just about the shot. He realizes that he needs to get the story in picture form. It makes him a great commodity to the business and DirtNow!.
Don has problems due to his illness and often prefers not to take his medications. Of course, this causes him to see and hear various things that are not there. He usually manages to get the job done though and Lucy is always there to lend some encouragement and to remind Don to take the medicine that he so desperately needs. It may seem that the feelings the two share are based on Lucy’s need for the best cover shots. However, it comes to light that there really is a deep friendship that the two share.
Lucy and Don need one another. He needs a friend and someone he can count on, which he’s found in Lucy. Meanwhile, Lucy, an outcast in her own right, needs the support of someone who thinks she is a good person and someone that can keep her out of the doghouse with the increasingly annoying publisher, Brent Barrow (Jeffrey Nordling).
Lucy has numerous affairs with many men and occasionally with her vibrator. Her vibrator is often more important than the men though because she has problems orgasming in the company of another person. This is likely a symptom of the various emotional problems that she has from family drama and other issues. Lucy finds various men along the way. Her favorite bedmate in season one is yesterday’s news, Holt McLaren (Josh Stewart).
McLaren looks to revive his career by selling his soul and secrets to Lucy. This causes a number of things to happen to shake up McLaren’s life. He sells out a friend of his girlfriend, Julia Mallory (Laura Allen), which causes the friend to overdose. From here, he almost kills Julia in a wreck, but manages to come out as the hero, which makes him more popular than ever. However, when he finds out that the little woman has not been as faithful as he hoped, his life goes downhill, and eventually a passionate, hate-filled sex fling is born with Lucy.
All of this and a whole lot more work together to build up and create an intensely interesting season finale. Hopefully the writer’s strike will not delay the season two schedule, because I am already waiting to find out what happens next.
Dirt works thanks to excellent storylines and fabulous acting. Ian Hart and Courteney Cox light up the screen, both together and when they are in scenes alone. There characters are well thought out, realistic, and as interesting as hell. They are dynamic and a necessity to the show for a number of reasons, beyond the obvious. To put it mildly (in case you haven’t figured it out) Dirt is a must see.
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Audio/Visual:
Dirt looks amazing in standard DVD format. The video is shown in anamorphic widescreen with a compression ratio of 1.78:1. The results are perfect with clear images, no grain, and a sharpness that many DVDs lack these days. The audio is offered in Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround. The audio is just as good as the video. Subtitles are included in English.
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Bonus Features:
Dirt: The Complete First Season has plenty of bonus features to offer viewers of these DVDs. There are numerous common bonus options such as gag reels, deleted and extended scenes, and a season two preview. There are also three featurettes, “Celebrity Couple Gets Dirty”, featuring cast and crew interviews, “Through a Lens Darkly”, which examines Don, and “Tabloid Tales”, a look at how the paparazzi influences the series.
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Bottom Line:
Dirt: The Complete First Season is one of the best DVD sets to come out this year. If you haven’t seen it, you need to check it out. This series offers an entertaining look at the world of celebrity journalism and the people that run the show. Dirt: The Complete First Season will entertain you and leave you wanting more. This one comes highly recommended.
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Technorati Tags: Dirt, The Complete First Season, FX, Drama, Comedy, Courteney Cox, DVD Box Set, DVD Review
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Written by Ashtyn - Visit Website
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Ashtyn Evans is a writer, advocate, free thinker, and all around cynical person. Always quick to find the negative in anything pop culture, she loves being a part of that which she despises. Ashtyn and Dominick own numerous blogs together, as well as a full-time writing business. In her spare time she is a full-time college student studying History and Psychology. She plans to one day give up her freelance career and be a full-time blogger, novelist, and domestic goddess. She can be contacted for writing projects, fan mail, or just to say hi. She really is friendlier than we make her look.
