Celebrity gossip is the hottest it has ever been. For some reason, people can’t get enough of the lives of actors, sports figures, and anyone else who shows up in front of reality television cameras. Maybe we are just curious about the lives these “rich people” live, since they are the minority and the average person will never be able to live those same lives. But the truth is most of their lives are quite depressing. Back in 2008, FX decided to green light a series called Dirt, which took a look at the people who cover celebrity gossip and news. It starred Friends alumni Courtney Cox. The 2009 strike-shortened second season of Dirt finally arrives on DVD.
Dirt is all about the fictional publication Dirt Now!, a tabloid magazine run by editor in chief Lucy Spiller (Courteney Cox Arquette). She is all business and is a workaholic who is only interested in breaking the latest celebrity news story. She has almost no remorse for the people she interacts with so long as there is a story to be told, even if that means ruining the lives of celebrities who do not cooperate with her. Lucy’s right-hand-man and friend is the mildly schizophrenic paparazzi photographer, Don Konkey (Ian Hart). Lucy constantly feels pressure from the slimy publisher of Dirt Now!, Brent Barrow (Jeffrey Nordling), to raise sales of the magazine. Her personal life isn’t much better, since she still has emotional issues related to her father committing suicide when she was only 15. But it seems Lucy has finally found a man who can satisfy her personally in actor Holt McLaren (Josh Stewart). Unfortunately, their reationship came about when McLaren sold out his own girlfriend, America’s Sweetheart Julia Mallory (Laura Allen) by telling secrets about Mallory’s pregnant best friend, who then dies after the secret is revealed. But now Holt has second thoughts and won’t dish any more dirt. Luckily for Lucy, she blackmails him with a sex tape that she has of Julia with another actor, which Holt doesn’t know about. As they become connected in more ways than one, Holt’s disgust for Lucy becomes less and less. But Lucy has a HUGE target on her back.
At the end of the first season, Lucy’s secret relationship with actor Holt was exposed to Julia Malloy. This causes a drug-induced Julia to attack Lucy at her home and stab her multiple times. Even with blood pouring out of her body, Lucy makes sure to call Don first to come and take photos of her laying on the ground bloodied and wounded to ensure that her magazine will have the exclusive for the story on the attempt on her life. The beginning of season two picks up from there with Lucy in the hospital. She wakes up from her coma, and isn’t happy with the people left in charge of her magazine, because the story they produced about her attempted murder wasn’t good enough. She quickly gets back to work to try to clean things up. A new reporter Farber Kauffman (Ryan Eggold) joins the staff of “Dirt Now!” this season, which means Willa McPherson (Alexandra Breckenridge) is now the “veteran” reporter on staff. But Farber is not going to suck up to Lucy like Willa did in the first season.
The second season of Dirt is almost completely different from the first season. The first season had a dark tone. We were following fake actors and actresses and their drama. We found out that everyone has problems, and it was really a depressing show. This season is much more lighter. All of the episodes are all pretty much self-contained with no huge big story arc being central. The stories featured from episode to episode are also ripped straight from real headlines, including the lives of Paris Hilton, Anna Nicole Smith, Brittany Spears, and Alec Baldwin to name a few. Even casual gossip fans will have no trouble picking out which Dirt story goes with which real-life story.
Everything that happens on Dirt during the season season is something we have heard and seen before countless times. But seeing how celebrities need tabloid reporters and paparazzi photographers, and vice-versa, is quite interesting. The acting is great, which helps make this show watchable. While the first season of Dirt was dark and somewhat depressing, this season is less serious. The first season often got tedious as we had to stay up on all of the drama of fake actors and actresses, even though everything they were doing has been done before in real life. This season that make no attempts to hide the fact that real life celebrity gossip creates crazier stories than anything the Dirt writers could come up with. That makes this seven-episode season worth watching for the acting alone.
Episodes:
Disc One:
Episode 1 – Welcome to Normal
Picking up right where last season’s finale left off, Lucy is unconscious after a brutal attack by Julia Mallory, who blamed Dirt Now! for the destruction of her career. Don has a hard time coping after finding Lucy, and the toll his schizophrenia has been taking forces him to make a difficult decision. Meanwhile, Holt’s fame continues rising as Willa rises at Dirt Now! in Lucy’s absence.
Episode 2 – Dirty Slutty Whores
Lucy is on the lookout for answers when a celebrity is released from jail early. Meanwhile, Willa and Farber search for the source of a self-destructive star’s video.
Episode 3 – God Bless the Child
Brent decides it’s time to make the fact that he’s the boss known to Lucy. In the meantime, Lucy embarks on the mission of bringing down a music mogul’s empire. Finally, Don uncovers the hidden secrets of a famous politician.
Episode 4 – Ties That (Don’t) Bind
The dynamic duo of Willa and Farber score again as they uncover the dirty secrets behind a hit television series. Meanwhile, one of Holt’s relatives appears and gives negative press about him, and Lucy decides to get back to a relationship with a powerful studio executive.
Disc Two:
Episode 5 – What Is This Thing Called…
Lucy and Holt make serious decisions about their love affair. Meanwhile, Don’s friendship with a pop icon reaches new levels, and Willa and Farber explore the love lives of top celebrities and reveal some very juicy secrets about them.
Episode 6 – And the Winner Is…
Brent goes out of his way to impress his new boss. Meanwhile, the staff learns that the real gossip is backstage while covering an awards show.
Episode 7 – In Lieu of Flowers…
In the series finale, an overweight sitcom actor goes out of his way to avoid being Dirt Now!‘s latest cover story. Meanwhile, Willa and Farber find their relationship tested by a former child star, and Lucy is forced to examine her romances due to recent circumstances.
The video is given in widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The transfer is great with colors generally looking bright and vivid details everywhere. No major or minor problems at all here.
The audio included is available in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound or English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. There are subtitles available in English as well. The dialogue and music come out loud and clear. No major problems here either.
There are no extras for this season’s DVD set.
If you haven’t watched Dirt before, it’s worth checking out. You don’t really need to start with season 1 either, since this season is so different than the first season. It’s not really must-watch television, but it’s still entertaining. Only must-buy for Courteney Cox fans, though.
Lionsgate Home Video presents Dirt: Season 2. Created by Matthew Carnahan. Starring Courteney Cox, Ian Hart, Laura Allen Will McCormack, Josh Stewart, and Jeffrey Nordling. Running time: 286 minutes. Rated: NOT RATED. Released on DVD: May 4, 2010. Available at Amazon.com.
