Easy Money (Sunday, 8 p.m., Ch. 30) starts to get sort of interesting before the first episode ends.

Right before it ends, unfortunately. It's not-so-interesting for most of the hour.

The family drama revolves around Morgan Buffkin (Jeff Hephner), the middle child in a family that runs a high-interest, payday loan business. His mother, Bobette (Laurie Metcalf), is the brains behind the lucrative operation, which is sort of legalized loan-sharking.

Morgan is smart and sweet, but he's not above punching out an unhappy customer who wants to make trouble. And he and Bobbette are the most believable characters on the show.

At the other end of the spectrum, older brother Cooper (Jay Ferguson) and younger sister Brandy (Katie Lowes) are both idiots, and Dad (Nick Searcy) is just kind of nothing.

Before the end of the hour, a family secret is revealed. Which holds the promise of something more interesting than the tedious debut.

Whether "Easy Money" can deliver on that promise with something a lot less tedious is the big question.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com