Eddie Izzard is no fool. Like Wayne Malloy , the fleet-witted grifter he plays in "The Riches,” he can see a good opening. And when the second season of the acclaimed series bows at 9 p.m. Tuesday on FX, Izzard knows there will be audiences starving for new scripted shows.

And he's ready to take a captive audience, famished by the writers' strike, for every last bit of its full attention.

"We're coming out n...