Tell Me The Best TV Shows About Rich People
September 27, 2013 12:36 PM Subscribe
I love watching television about rich people. What shows should I be watching?
The ideal show for me in the rich TV category is Downton Abbey. They're rich and much of the show is just sort of about them being rich -- the servants, the amazing house, the periodic old money problems. Even though the plot lines, at times, strain my willingness to play along, it's so posh and beautifully shot that I'd happily watch it on mute if it came to it. On the other hand, I don't like the Real Housewives of Wherever franchise, because while the people are all generally very rich, the show just doesn't have that same lush/posh appeal.
So, what should I be watching? Feel free to suggest currently airing or older shows of basically any genre -- the richer the better. Thanks!
The ideal show for me in the rich TV category is Downton Abbey. They're rich and much of the show is just sort of about them being rich -- the servants, the amazing house, the periodic old money problems. Even though the plot lines, at times, strain my willingness to play along, it's so posh and beautifully shot that I'd happily watch it on mute if it came to it. On the other hand, I don't like the Real Housewives of Wherever franchise, because while the people are all generally very rich, the show just doesn't have that same lush/posh appeal.
So, what should I be watching? Feel free to suggest currently airing or older shows of basically any genre -- the richer the better. Thanks!
Best answer: Gossip Girl. Not quite as sophisticated as Downton Abbey but addictive and full of Manhattan elite eye candy.
posted by horizons at 12:45 PM on September 27, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by horizons at 12:45 PM on September 27, 2013 [8 favorites]
The Jeffersons?
posted by Melismata at 12:46 PM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Melismata at 12:46 PM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
The beginning of Brideshead Revisited (1981).
posted by editorgrrl at 12:47 PM on September 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by editorgrrl at 12:47 PM on September 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
Lots of old BBC/Masterpiece Theater series will do the trick, most particularly Upstairs, Downstairs.
posted by scody at 12:47 PM on September 27, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by scody at 12:47 PM on September 27, 2013 [7 favorites]
Entourage is about rich movie stars doing rich movie star stuff in LA (among other things). Visiting each others mansions, expensive parties, jet-setting to Cannes, giving each other cars as presents, etc. Definitely on the opposite end of the spectrum as Downtown Abbey though.
posted by windbox at 12:47 PM on September 27, 2013
posted by windbox at 12:47 PM on September 27, 2013
Best answer: Revenge is fun, the Hamptons and all. Scandal has rich political types and power brokers.
posted by thinkpiece at 12:48 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by thinkpiece at 12:48 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Dallas.
posted by Sock Ray Blue at 12:49 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Sock Ray Blue at 12:49 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Dynasty.
posted by Tanizaki at 12:49 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Tanizaki at 12:49 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
The O.C.
posted by sweetkid at 12:50 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by sweetkid at 12:50 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Dirty Sexy Money. All the plotlines were pretty much about money, opulence, privilege, and/or excess. Inconsistent, but some great moments.
posted by mochapickle at 1:00 PM on September 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by mochapickle at 1:00 PM on September 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
Seconding Revenge. The indescribably wealthy main characters all cheerfully open their wallets to make plotlines fun.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 1:01 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by DrJohnEvans at 1:01 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
Boardwalk Empire, set in the same general era as Downton Abbey (I think -- I've never watched D.A.). Not everyone on the show is rich but the central character is, so there are some posh settings.
posted by paperback version at 1:04 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by paperback version at 1:04 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
The Beverly Hillbillies. Being rich is essentially the premise of the show.
posted by jeffhoward at 1:09 PM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by jeffhoward at 1:09 PM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Pretty much any show on USA Network.
posted by signondiego at 1:12 PM on September 27, 2013
posted by signondiego at 1:12 PM on September 27, 2013
If you like Downton Abbey, I'd recommend the BBC's "Jeeves and Wooster" series starring Fry and Laurie. It is all about rich people, and very funny as well.
posted by pseudonick at 1:14 PM on September 27, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by pseudonick at 1:14 PM on September 27, 2013 [7 favorites]
Hercule Poirot
posted by JenThePro at 1:16 PM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by JenThePro at 1:16 PM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Sex and the City? Especially with Charlotte and Samantha, a lot of the conversation and plots relate to their money and how they spend it.
posted by lunasol at 1:20 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by lunasol at 1:20 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
Suits
To add to the USA Original Series tab, Royal Pains is another one, about concierge doctors in the Hamptons.
posted by sweetkid at 1:24 PM on September 27, 2013
The Forsyte Saga remake.
This, totally. Downton Abbey is actually kind of a ripoff of The Forsyte Saga. An inferior ripoff.
posted by mr_roboto at 1:25 PM on September 27, 2013
This, totally. Downton Abbey is actually kind of a ripoff of The Forsyte Saga. An inferior ripoff.
posted by mr_roboto at 1:25 PM on September 27, 2013
Seconding Jeeves & Wooster. There was a supercut of Bertie Wooster's familiar greeting on the Blue a couple days ago. Not only is it a very good rendering of the hilarious manners comedy of its source material by P.G. Wodehouse, but you get to see the excellent comedy duo of Fry and Laurie in action.
Sometime around watching that cut it occurred to me that Downtown Abbey, which has just returned to ITV last weekend and begins its 4th series in 1922, would soon be overlapping the time period of Jeeves & Wooster. Then I put on the next episode I had to watch, series 4, episode 5, and guess where J&W ended up? A Lincolnshire estate played by Highclere Castle, the same castle that plays the role of Downton Abbey. That was momentarily disorienting.
posted by Sunburnt at 1:37 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Sometime around watching that cut it occurred to me that Downtown Abbey, which has just returned to ITV last weekend and begins its 4th series in 1922, would soon be overlapping the time period of Jeeves & Wooster. Then I put on the next episode I had to watch, series 4, episode 5, and guess where J&W ended up? A Lincolnshire estate played by Highclere Castle, the same castle that plays the role of Downton Abbey. That was momentarily disorienting.
posted by Sunburnt at 1:37 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Oh, god... the crossover fanfic!
Someone helpfully tries to set up newly widowed Mary with that nice Bertie Wooster. Surely he could cheer her up. He seems such a happy fellow...
posted by Naberius at 1:40 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
Someone helpfully tries to set up newly widowed Mary with that nice Bertie Wooster. Surely he could cheer her up. He seems such a happy fellow...
posted by Naberius at 1:40 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Jack Benny show is on TV these days, and it features Jack in his rich house with his awesome butler/sidekick Rochester (ironically, with the premise that Jack is always very cheap...).
posted by Melismata at 1:44 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 1:44 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
Sex in the City is a classic, where the semi-unemployed main character has a single-bedroom apartment that would probably go for a few thousand bucks a month, and those with professional jobs have insane townhouses or condos.
posted by barnone at 1:48 PM on September 27, 2013
posted by barnone at 1:48 PM on September 27, 2013
You might like the 2003 PBS reality show Manor House (aka Edwardian Country House), which documents several volunteers who go to live in a house not unlike Downton Abbey, some as servants and some as the landed gentry. Most of the episodes are available for free on YouTube (except the first one, which you have to pay to watch, unless you can find it elsewhere).
posted by bcwinters at 1:51 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by bcwinters at 1:51 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
Nip/Tuck is about two very successful plastic surgeons (and is wickedly entertaining till it gets absolutely ridiculous in later seasons) so there's definitely a posh element there.
posted by lovableiago at 2:08 PM on September 27, 2013
posted by lovableiago at 2:08 PM on September 27, 2013
Jane Austen's "Emma" is her only novel with a wealthy protagonist. I recommend the 2009 BBC miniseries starting Romola Garai, Jonny Lee Miller, and the inimitable Michael Gambon, along with Tamsin Greig as Emma's charity-case, Miss Bates. 1996 had two versions: an ITV movie starring Kate Beckinsale, and Gwyneth Paltrow took a turn as Emma on the big screen.
Some of her other characters have had wealth (Anne in Persuasion, Eleanor in Sense & Sensibility) that ends at the start of the story, and marry back into it. Mr. Darcy of P&P is breathtakingly rich, but his wealth is mostly offstage until they pay a brief visit to his estate.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:54 PM on September 27, 2013
Some of her other characters have had wealth (Anne in Persuasion, Eleanor in Sense & Sensibility) that ends at the start of the story, and marry back into it. Mr. Darcy of P&P is breathtakingly rich, but his wealth is mostly offstage until they pay a brief visit to his estate.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:54 PM on September 27, 2013
The Queen of Versailles is a fantastic feature length documentary in which a surprisingly likeable Zsa Zsa Gabor-esque mogul's wife presides over the difficulties of building of a colossal house.
posted by tardigrade at 3:06 PM on September 27, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by tardigrade at 3:06 PM on September 27, 2013 [8 favorites]
Thirding Revenge. I read a lot of Regency romance novels and was just commenting to someone that Revenge is like the modern day version of the Regency romance portrayal of "the ton." The upperclass gather for a few months every year ("the season" in romances, "summer in the Hamptons" in Revenge) for a round of balls, galas, and socializing.
posted by Nickel at 4:43 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Nickel at 4:43 PM on September 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
The Addams Family. Arrested Development is about a family that used to be rich and the money is still often the focus of the plot.
posted by GilvearSt at 6:14 PM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by GilvearSt at 6:14 PM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I watched the first episode of Gossip Girl tonight and it really seems to hit the mark! Previously, I watched the first season (and part of the second) of Revenge and the first season was perfect for rich people eye candy, but I sort of got tired of the fake Amanda plot line...and all the other absurd plot lines, too.
posted by kate blank at 8:43 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by kate blank at 8:43 PM on September 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
Veronica Mars
posted by jason_steakums at 9:40 PM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by jason_steakums at 9:40 PM on September 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Nanny, The Jefferson's, Duck Tales, The Beverly Hillbillies
posted by mulligan at 9:46 PM on September 27, 2013
posted by mulligan at 9:46 PM on September 27, 2013
The mini-series for the Dickens book Bleak House. Lots of British lords and such.
Also, it's pretty darn good.
posted by Fister Roboto at 10:24 PM on September 27, 2013
Also, it's pretty darn good.
posted by Fister Roboto at 10:24 PM on September 27, 2013
Real Housewives.
posted by oceanjesse at 10:52 AM on September 28, 2013
posted by oceanjesse at 10:52 AM on September 28, 2013
C-Span's coverage of Congress is both the best and worst reality TV on rich people.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 9:12 AM on September 29, 2013
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 9:12 AM on September 29, 2013
Dirty Sexy Money.
It super silly but satisfying. And there's Donald Sutherland.
posted by TheGoodBlood at 11:44 AM on September 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
It super silly but satisfying. And there's Donald Sutherland.
posted by TheGoodBlood at 11:44 AM on September 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by UncleBoomee at 12:44 PM on September 27, 2013