Meet the Darlings

Every spring TV networks develop about 100 pilots, only about a third of which are ordered to series. Before these shows premiere in the fall, the pilots are tweaked, the storylines are scrapped and the characters are altered. Have the Darlings changed much? Here are the initial character descriptions from casting notices along with the original promo shoot from March 2007.


TRIPP DARLING:

60s. He is the Darling family patriarch, a super-wealthy, powerful, persuasive man of charm and determination who has vineyards and homes around the world, including the upper East Side in NYC.

He has spawned five grown, troubled children with his life Letitia. Tripp and his family embody the charm and all-Americanism of the Kennedys. They also embody the scandal; rumor has it Tripp was close to being implicated in at least three murders.

When Nick's father Devlin dies under mysterious circumstances, Tripp tries to hire Bill Clinton as his new lawyer, and eventually persuades Nick to take the job.


LETITIA DARLING:

Late 50's-Mid 60's. A glittery, elegant beauty. She is the Darling family matriarch who is friends with the Vanderbilts and knows everyone in Manhattan.

She is completely devastated by Devlin's death, more so than perhaps is warranted by an employer/employee relationship.

According to Karen, Letitia and Devlin were having an affair all these years.



NICK GEORGE:

30s. This pensive, preoccupied, well-meaning, civic-minded NYC lawyer with a wife and daughter grew up in a troubled household (his mother committed suicide when Nick was 7), where he always came in second to the obscenely wealthy, influential Darling family, his father's employer.

Though he vowed never to follow in his father's footsteps, upon his father's mysterious, sudden death, Nick finds himself agreeing to represent The Darlings as their chief counsel.

The job requires him to be an all-around problem fixer, hand-holder, therapist, public relations expert and personal assistant.

Making matters tougher, Nick discovers that his father and the Darling matriarch, Letitia, were having a decades-long affair, and that his father's death may have involved foul-play.

Nick also harbors complicated romantic feelings for the stunning Karen Darling, his first love.



KAREN DARLING:

30s, elegant, sexy and stunning. She's the eldest daughter in the Darling family, a thrice-married socialite who runs the family foundation.

She lost her virginity to Nick and isn't shy about announcing that fact to her current fiance, Freddy. In fact, she always thought she'd end up married to Nick and seems a bit confused that things didn't pan out that way.

A self-described loser in love, she looks to Nick for help in her personal life, and it seems their unresolved feelings for one another may cause a wrinkle in Nick's marriage to Lisa.



PATRICK DARLING:

40s, handsome and commanding. He's a rising political star who upstages Nick at Nick's father's funeral by reciting a eulogy that moves the crowd far more than Nick's did.

Patrick, who is married with two kids, intends to run for President in 2008. There's just one problem: he's been having an affair with a transvestite prostitute who won't go away, and he needs Nick to fix the situation.



BRIAN DARLING:

30s. A reverend with the Episcopal church, he is a pale, sour, whiny jerk who loathed Nick as a kid and loathes him today.

Brian spitefully accused Nick's father of trying to infiltrate a family he didn't belong in, and he feels that Nick is attempting the same exact thing.

Like the rest of the Darling children, Brian has some big problems he needs swept under the rug, namely the illegitimate son he's just been saddled with.



JEREMY DARLING:

20s. A cokehead wastrel. He is frequently seen in rumpled clothing, hung over, smoking cigarettes and pleading with Nick to get him out of a jam.

Having won in a poker game a yacht filled with Liberian immigrants, Jeremy is arrested for human trafficking.

He's completely oblivious to the concept of relative suffering and unable to conceive of a life worse than his, despite his obscene wealth. He fears he's the family disappointment and that his father hates him.


JULIET DARLING:

20s. This "plucky debutante with a heart." She seems like a petulant, spoiled girl who longs to be taken seriously as an actress.

She is devastated to learn she only got the Audrey Hepburn role in the play "Wait Until Dark" because her father, Tripp Darling, was bankrolling the production.

Her favorite comeback is, "You're poor!" which she snaps at anyone who upsets her (taxi drivers, etc.)

She attempts to kill herself by overdosing on Ambien, but upon her recovery she reveals a new strength and determination to live her own life separate of her family.



LISA GEORGE:

Nick's sexy, sensible wife, and the mother of 7 year old Kiki. She's a patient partner in parenting and gets a kick out of the Darling's lavish parties but senses that Nick is drifting away from her, specifically in the direction of the alluring Karen Darling.


Two more characters appeared in the original pilot, but were later scrapped:

COLLIN DAVIDSON:

30s. He's a messy and charming lawyer who works with Nick at his law firm. A self-described "legal avenger," he's been trying to help the owners of an orphanage hold onto their land. He encourages Nick to have lunch with Devlin.

NAOMI LEEDS:

Late 40s. The editor-in-chief of Elite Magazine (think Vanity Fair), this attractive woman wants to profile the Darlings for a tell-all article.

She enlists Nick for an in-depth, probing interview, and bluntly reveals that she thinks the Darlings are "evil" and poisonous.

It turns out she's got very personal reasons for wanting to publish a dirt-filled article."


OTHER CHANGES:

Nick's father was called Dutch;
Nick's mother did not commit suicide but left when he was a young boy;
Tripp is not implicated in three murders;
Patrick did not upstage Nick at his dad's funeral;
Jeremy's drug abuse is toned down and no longer referred to.

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