The glossy drama “Devils” uses a complex conspiracy story to say some things about real-life economic crises and the machinery of global finance.
But as a weekly series in its debut season on the CW, “Devils” also shows how the commodity of international TV works in the upside-down year of 2020. It’s an Italian production, in English, set in a bank in London, featuring an American star (Patrick Dempsey, of “Grey’s Anatomy” hunk-dom) and a European cast. When the pandemic ended TV shoots and emptied network schedules, “Devils” got scooped up by the U.S. broadcaster better known for superhero shows and young-adult thrillers like “The Flash” and “Nancy Drew.”
“Devils” is “grounded in the dynamics of money and power and how decisions made on a trading floor can affect somebody’s life a world away,” says Kevin Levy, the CW’s head of acquisitions. “At the same time, it’s got some really nice eye candy in it.”
Elements that fit the CW playbook include betrayal, murder, lust, and a hotshot Ferrari-driving protagonist. Plots involving Greece’s economic collapse and the viability of the euro, however, wouldn’t be on the network if not for Covid.
“Sometimes you put on shows you like that do not necessarily fit the brand, and this is one of those shows,” says network chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz.
