Filthy Rich (1982 TV series)

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Filthy Rich was a 1982 television series starring Dixie Carter and Delta Burke. Although short-lived, the show brought Carter and Burke together with writer/creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. The three would later work together on the popular sitcom Designing Women.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The series was set in Memphis at a fictional mansion called Toad Hall, which was owned by one Big Guy Beck. He had recently died, and before he was cryogenically frozen, he had made out a videotaped will, a piece of which was played every week, by his lawyer, George Wilhoit.

The will's terms were hardest on Big Guy's oldest son, the snobbish Marshall Beck (Michael Lombard) and his equally snobbish wife Carlotta (Dixie Carter). They wouldn't be able to collect a dime of the money, unless they accepted Big Guy's illegitimate son, Wild Bill Westchester (Jerry Hardin) and his good natured, but ditzy wife, Bootsie (Ann Wedgeworth) into their family.

Many of the situations stemmed from the conniving Marshall and Carlotta's schemes to delcare the constraints of the will invalid and also to rid themselves of Wild Bill and Bootsie, for to their minds, with them (not to mention everyone else in the family) gone, they could live it up on the money. Usually, their wildly outlandish schemes failed miserably.

Also appearing were Nedra Volz, who played Big Guy's first wife, Winona Beck called Mother B.; and Charles Frank, who played Big Guy's younger son Stanley. The independently wealthy Stanley was the nicest of the whole lot. Usually, it was Stanley that was able to protect Wild Bill and Bootsie (whom he accepted from the beginning) from the devious scheming of his brother and sister in-law. Delta Burke played Big Guy's younger second wife, Kathleen, who was wily in her own right, but was also scorned (as was almost everyone else in Toad Hall) by Carlotta, who was utterly shameless in her snobbery.

Spoilers end here.

When it first premiered as a summer series, it was very successful, but it fared poorly when pitted against more established shows when it returned for another season, and was subsequently cancelled. The death of actor Slim Pickens (who played the first Big Guy Beck) was also possibly a reason that resulted in the show's demise.