'Dirty Sexy Money' Actor Peter Krause on Playing the Lovable Scoundrel -- New York Magazine

Back From the Dead

Peter Krause as Nick George in the pilot episode of Dirty Sexy Money.

(Photo: Patrick Harbron/Courtesy of ABC)

Krause might seem fortunate, in that his best-known TV roles represent the crème de la crème of the medium, including not only Sports Night and Six Feet Under but also a memorable guest spot on Seinfeld (as a white supremacist who inadvertently shares a limo ride with Jerry and George). Dirty Sexy Money, as a series, has the potential to continue that streak, thanks mostly to Wright’s pedigree and his excellent cast. But what Wright’s attempting here has an extremely high degree of difficulty. Ideally, Money will deliver the frothy pleasures of a nighttime soap with the sharp psychology of a Six Feet Under—all on ABC, in prime time, in a network climate that doesn’t typically allow nuanced shows more than two or three weeks to find an audience.

If Dirty Sexy Money doesn’t work out, though, Krause’s got another idea. He’s got a pitch for Sorkin. The two of them met in New York, when Sorkin was managing the bars at the Palace Theatre, where Krause was a bartender. (It conjures a too-perfect mental image: Sorkin, the manager, fretting in his paper-strewn office, with Krause out front, at the bar, mixing drinks and charming patrons, especially the prettiest ones.)

So here’s the idea: “I’d pitch him a news show. Like Mary Tyler Moore, in a national-news setting. I honestly think that if Aaron had set Studio 60 in the world of news rather than in the world of satirical weekend comedy, it would still be on the air.” As for his role, “I’d play a very egotistical broadcaster. Not an idiot, but his ego makes him stupid. The size of his ego makes him blind to the truth.” Something comic, but also serious; a little bit global crises, a little bit fart machine. “What I think I’m pitching would resemble Broadcast News: The Series,” he says. “That to me is a very funny movie, but it was also very poignant. Like Aaron, I tend to look at life like that.”