Fans of FX fare will dig "Dirt"

We tune into the FX network for two reasons: gripping acting ("Rescue Me," "The Shield" and the too-short-lived "Thief") and sex ("Nip/Tuck"). What it lacks in the former, the latest guilty pleasure, "Dirt," about the life of a tabloid editor (Courteney Cox of "Friends"), makes up for with the latter.

Which is to say, those of you who appreciate Christian Troy's voracious appetite on "Nip/Tuck" will find some pleasure in tuning into the show. Tonight's pilot, for example, features ex-Laker Rick Fox as basketball player Prince Tyreese, hands full with a blond, busty hooker. Fox makes moves I've never seen him do and shows off plenty.

The first episode also features scruffy B-list actor Holt McLaren (played by Josh Stewart) having sex with his A-list starlet Julia Mallory (Laura Allen). Then, in a home porn video, she engages her current, studlier costar.

Cox, whose Lucy Spiller runs Drrt and Now magazines, looks more gorgeous than ever, and yes, she too, has sex. She's driven, a she-boss who fires insubordinates faster than a camera flash; a wolf ready to pounce on any celebrity lamb. Martini in hand, in strapless crimson gown, she coolly surveys a rooftop soiree in search of next week's cover stories, imagining the headlines: "I'm gay!!!" "Hollywood hookup!!!" "Celebulimia!!!" (On "Dirt," titillation is a three-exclamation-point affair).

Her ambition's as sharp as her cheekbones, and while she has some principles — "There's actual reporting in what we do," she tells her staff. "Gossip is what lands you in court" — she relishes pushing the boundaries of taste. Sending a paparazzo to snap a body shot at a crematorium, for example, is part of the job, and there's nothing Spiller savors more than her work. We see her working in bed, and on an elliptical machine, even during sex, glancing at her watch, mind devising the next juicy tabloid bit.

Tonight's premiere lays out all sorts of themes: the cost of fame, the hunger for publicity, whether a job can truly fulfill one's needs. As a show built around scandal, in these days of countless forensic and courtroom dramas, "Dirt" is a fresh prime-time diversion. It's not entirely believable, nor should it be: Celebdom and its accoutrements have always been otherworldly, prettier, mostly shallower dimensions (at least before Angelina Jolie got us thinking about Cambodia, Namibia, etc., and George Clooney, Sudan). So if it's hard to buy Cox as ruthless — perhaps because her looks keep distracting us — we keep watching, wondering just how dirty she and the show will get.

Anyone longing for wholesome Monica, Cox's character in "Friends," will find nothing of the sort in Lucy Spiller, who sleeps on black bedding, has a stun gun on her nightstand and appears to have a heart if not a soul.

She employs and mothers schizophrenic photographer Don Konkey (Ian Hart), an old friend who needs to be reminded to take his meds. When he doesn't, he "sees" words, hears music spilling forth from pill bottles and is confronted by the face of a woman staring out at him from the back of someone's head. If the sex scenes don't keep your attention, the scenes of Don's delusions and hallucinations prove interesting fare.

Cox and husband David Arquette (also arriving to prime time this week, in ABC's horrible comedy "In Case of Emergency") are executive producers of the show. Gossip hunters have hounded the celebrity couple, and it was Cox's experiences with the paparazzi, she's said in interviews, that inspired the series. "Dirt" was initially built around photographer Don, but when the lead became the female editor, Cox reportedly grabbed the role.

And why not? A chance to portray a woman who manipulates and dominates, who's rich enough to afford a house with a lush view and an equally eye-catching wardrobe. Yes, the dialogue can be watery and trite — "You think you can catch me?" she tells a potential suitor as she climbs into her convertible; "As journalists we don't cave to corporate interests," she pronounces to her publisher. But you don't tune into a show about tabloids expecting highbrow, the same way you don't confuse People with The New Yorker.

With Lucy as a kind of Lucifer, managing out of her blood-red office, "Dirt" explores the salacious underbelly of fame in a series that's slick-looking and easy to consume. And sometimes, after a long day, when the world is all too grim, that's exactly what we crave.

Florangela Davila: 206-464-2916 or fdavila@seattletimes.com