Filthy Rich & Catflap (American TV series)

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Filthy Rich & Catflap (American TV series)
Based on	Filthy Rich & Catflap by Ben Elton and Rik Mayall
Starring	Hank Jeroem Rex Reed Steve Oedekerk

Filthy Rich & Catflap is an American sitcom television series that ran on UPN from June 30, 1998 to September 2, 1999. It serves as a transatlantic equivalent to the 1980s British sitcom of the same name.

Although it was broadcast to critical praise, the show suffered from low ratings and was cancelled after two seasons. The show's main time slot competitor was Frasier on NBC.

Synopsis

The series takes place in Austin, Texas and features the activities of three men in showbiz: Thomas "Filthy" Flanders (Jeroem), Ernie Justin Rich (Reed), and Hayko "Catflap" Karapetyan (Oedekerk).

Characters

• Thomas "Filthy" Flanders (Hank Jeroem; counterpart of Ralph Filthy played by Nigel Planer): Rich's sleazy agent, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He often speaks using carnie slang and refers to the other people he represents or has discovered as "Flanders' (future) super-stars!". His lapel also features a blue rose, a symbol of a quest for the impossible.
• Ernie Justin Rich (Rex Reed; counterpart of Richie Rich played by Rik Mayall): A past-his-prime actor, born in Asbestos, Quebec, Canada; whose most prominent work to date includes an appearance in a widely-hated commercial for Donald Duck orange juice. Because of his age, he's been relegated to appearing in Razzie-nominated comedy films and in bit parts and TV commercials. Despite this, he considers himself "the best of Flanders' super-stars!" and has paranoid delusions about everyone he meets wanting to either cash in on his fame or assassinate him.
• Hayko "Catflap" Karapetyan (Steve Oedekerk; counterpart of Edward Didgeridoo Catflap played by Adrian Edmondson): The faithless and disloyal Armenian-American bodyguard of Ernie, born in "a little Armenian shanty town in a city in Syria with a unpronounceable name". Hayko uses his job to exploit Thomas and Ernie's failures as part of a series of off-screen "get rich quick" schemes.

Production

Season 1 was taped before a live studio audience at CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. For Season 2, Carsey-Werner moved taping to Ottawa for grants and tax breaks from the Canadian government. Much of the "indoors" taping for Season 2 took place in a makeshift soundstage at the Aberdeen Pavilion in Lansdowne Park.