"Fame has a price. She's here to collect."
"Our readers want to know when people actually screw up, and that they actually sleep with hookers, and then lie. So, no friend-of-a-friend — that's gossip. Gossip lands you in court. What we need is the truth, preferably with photos."
D!rt (also spelled Dirt or Drrt) was a serial drama about a fictional Hollywood "glossy tabloid" magazine called Dirt Now. Airing weekly, each episode told the story of how the cover for the latest edition came to be, and how it affects the lives of the journalists who wrote them and the celebrities they're about.
The series ran for a season and a half on FX Network; season one consisted of 13 episodes, whilst season two only had 7, due to the writers' strike.
Main characters:
- Lucy Spiller (Courteney Cox), editor-in-chief. Cutthroat, demanding, and pushes her crew to their very limits. Somewhat understandable, as she is constantly on the verge of being fired for going over budget. Not particularly concerned about how her articles affect other people's lives.
- Don Konkey (Ian Hart), freelance photographer (read: paparazzi), childhood friend of Lucy and pretty much the only person she trusts unconditionally. He struggles with manageable schizophrenia and has some serious mother issues, but he's still one of the very best photographers in the city.
- Willa McPherson (Alex Breckenridge), a young reporter for Dirt Now. At the beginning of the show she's a bit naive, but very ambitious and devoted. She greatly admires Lucy and by mid-season learns to be just as cunning and manipulative as her.
- Brent Barrow (Jeffrey Nordling), Dirt Now's publisher. Constantly at odds with Lucy, mostly for budget-related issues, but also when one of Lucy's articles gets him into serious trouble with a rapper. Has an affair with Willa in season one, until she grows a spine and dumps him.
- Holt McLaren (Josh Stewart), has-been actor who turns to Lucy for help to revive his career. They end up having an affair, despite Holt living together with his girlfriend, the actress Julia Mallory.
Tropes
- Actor Allusion: In the first season finale, Lucy gets a visit from an old friend, played by who else but Jennifer Aniston.
- Code Silver: "Not Your Father's Hostage Situation"
- Even Evil Has Standards: In the series, Lucy has a reputation of being evil incarnate. However, she holds journalistic integrity above all else; she's only interested in the truth, not gossip (no matter how big it may be), and she always protects her sources.
- Executive Meddling: Lucy battles this in-universe.
- The Gwen Stacy: Kenny in "Not Your Father's Hostage Situation". Sammy shoots him just to remind everyone to take him seriously.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Don's recaps at the beginning of each episode. He's either talking to the audience, or just hallucinating.
- Manipulative Bitch: Lucy.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Averted: All the celebrities involved in the plot are fictional (except for a brief cameo in episode one by David Fincher). Real-life celebs are alluded to, or mentioned only by their first name (Britney, Paris, etc).
- Serious Business: Tabloids, of course.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Very much on the cynical end.
- Story Arc: The first season is driven by Julia's downfall, and the cryptic suicide note left behind by Lucy's father when she was fifteen.
