The Malloys are clutching the American Dream by the throat and hanging on. The only trouble is it’s not their dream. It belongs to Doug and Cherien Rich. But stealing the couple’s identity, along with everything else they own, is the only chance the Malloy family has to give up their life as petty crooks on the road ducking the police.

That’s the premise of FX’s new drama “The Riches” that premieres tonight. It is an intriguing story, well-written and expertly acted, that doesn’t quite grab hold of viewers until the third episode. Once it does, however, these characters will be hard to shake off.

Wayne (Eddie Izzard) and Dahlia Malloy (Minnie Driver) and their three kids are Travellers, modern-day gypsies that roam the rural South running small-time cons and lifting wallets at high school reunions. They are part of a large clan where the take is shared by all and decisions about which boy marries what girl are made by an elderly patriarch.

When the Malloys take off with the “family” bank, then run into the Riches, opportunity bangs on their door and they scamper off with it. They assume the couple’s identity along with their house, furniture, clothes and jobs. Wayne, a 21st century Artful Dodger, joins a real estate firm as an attorney and the cough syrup-swilling Dahlia tries to become a middle-class matron.

At the heart of “The Riches” is Izzard’s Wayne, whose desperation is oddly appealing. By the third episode, he will have enthralled viewers. Those familiar with his standup comedy routines may find something familiar in his portrayal of a man determined to give his family something more. Viewers who have not seen Izzard before will want to see more of him.

Hugh Panetta (Gregg Henry) is the unscrupulous real estate mogul who hires Wayne. Henry has played this part hundreds of times but never so well. The actor unleashes some delightful demon he has penned up for years and makes Panetta the J.R. Ewing of FX.

Driver is equally as good but Dahlia’s children are right about her – she is crazy and a drug addict. The actress’s performance, however, is as cold as Izzard’s is warm. Wayne loves this woman, but Driver’s portrayal will make viewers constantly wonder why.

“Life’s a river, kid,” Wayne tells his youngest son in an early episode. “Ya gotta flow with it.”

That is what viewers need to do – flow with “The Riches” for the first season and see where it takes them. It might turn out to be a wonderful adventure.