The Knights of Prosperity
The Knights of Prosperity, ABC, Wednesday at 9. Official Website: http://abc.go.com/primetime/theknightsofprosperity/index? "The Knights of Prosperity" is a hilarious tale of haves and have nots, starring Donal Logue as the leader of a band of affable, new-age Robin Hoods who have never even shoplifted a candy bar, but now find themselves prepping for a heist to finance all of their long-held, heart-felt dreams. The target -- Rock icon Mick Jagger's super luxe Central Park West apartment. The series premieres WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3 (9:00-9:30 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. In the premiere episode, "Pilot," Eugene Gurkin's (Donal Logue) dreams always have exceeded his means. In fact his dead end job on the late, late janitorial shift won't even fund a bottle of premium booze. In a serendipitous moment, he catches an episode of an entertainment news show and his passion is ignited. Soon he excitedly recruits a group of "average joes" into his "gang" -- "The Knights of Prosperity" -- to plan the celebrity heist. The first order of business is to get a copy of the key to Jagger's apartment. And, as usual for this group of "Ocean's idiots," nothing comes easily. Society might disregard the Knights and give them short shrift, but this group of upstarts refuses to be ignored: Beauty bombshell Esperanza Villalobos (Sofía Vergara), a diner waitress in Queens, is more than just a pretty face; the only female member of the gang, she sees the celebrity heist as an opportunity to control her own fate -- something men have normally done for her. Working as a janitor alongside Eugene on the overnight shift, Francis "Squatch" Squacieri (Lenny Venito) relates to Eugene's desire for more out of life than mopping up after millionaire executives. The one married Knight, his motivation is to provide a better life for his wife and children. Back home in India, Gourishankar "Gary" Subramaniam (Maz Jobrani) was a superstar lawyer, but here in New York City he drives a cab to make ends meet. Reluctant to join the group at first, Gary has a change in heart when Eugene reminds him that, although he was a winner at home, here he chauffeurs old ladies to Broadway matinees. Warehouse security guard Rockefeller Butts (Kevin Michael Richardson), a mountainous, cigar-chewing man, has one simple request in order to join the Knights -- cookies. A college Communications student, ultra-nerdy Louis Plunk (Josh Grisetti) finds himself at rock bottom after being rejected for an internship by the Montel Williams show. A chance ride in Gary's taxi turns into an offer for Louis to serve an "internship" on a movie. When he discovers the truth about his golden opportunity, he still decides to stay. Their scheme is to steal from the rich and give to the poor -- namely, themselves. What they don't realize is that there's a much richer target for them& the chance to find hope, self-esteem and self-confidence.

Pilot January 3, 2007 In the premiere episode, "Pilot," Eugene Gurkin's (Donal Logue) dreams always have exceeded his means. In fact his dead end job on the late, late janitorial shift won't even fund a bottle of premium booze. In a serendipitous moment, he catches an episode of an entertainment news show and his passion is ignited. Soon he excitedly recruits a group of "average joes" into his "gang" -- "The Knights of Prosperity" -- to plan the celebrity heist. The first order of business is to get a copy of the key to Jagger's apartment. And, as usual for this group of "Ocean's idiots," nothing comes easily.

Operation: Seduce Simone January 10, 2007 The Knights hit a roadblock when they realize they also need a five-digit security code to gain access to Mick Jagger's apartment, along with the key they've already pilfered. After they discover only one woman possesses this important piece of the puzzle, the group concocts an intricate plan to seduce her and must rely on Louis, their young intern, to step up and become a real man if they are to succeed.

Operation: Fighting Shape January 17, 2007 Now that the gang has the keys, and the password to Mick Jaggar’s apartment it’s time to deal with the thumbprint scanner and armed guards. Simone (the girl they stole the password from last episode) comes to their hideout to return Louis Plunk’s (nervous guy) wallet which he left in her apartment in the last episode. While she is there Eugene Gurkin acts like a Jewish man and gets her to place her finger in a jar of cream cheese. Doing this perserved Simone’s fingerprint which can be used to open Mick Jaggar’s apartment. Gourishanker “Gary” Subramaniam fakes a dentist appointment to get the mold to create a replica of the fingerprint. Esperanza Villalobos then persuades the rest of the group to go to a self defense seminar. After the seminar they get a privat lesson from the teacher. The knights progress slowly and Eugene is jealous of the teacher because Esperanza seems to be more interested in the teacher than him. Eugene tries to show off by walking on hot coals with bad results. The Knights feels they are heady to rob Mick Jagger. Eugene puts on a horrible looking Mick Jaggar mask and proceeds towards the building. Mick Jaggar’s guards stop him outside the door and ask him what he is doing. The rest of the gang abandons him and he pretends like he is a Mick Jaggar impersonator for the guards to let him go. The gang meets up at a bar and get to use their self defense techniques on two men who won’t leave them alone. Mick Jaggar’s guards notice them and offer to hire Rockefeller as a guard. The Knights of Prosperity now have an inside man.

Operation: Deliver the Case January 24, 2007 The episode begins with the Knights getting false IDs for Rockefeller. They then head back to the Jewish wearhouse in order to prepare Rockefeller for his upcomming interview with Mick Jagger’s security company. Rockefeller does a good job at the interview and is tasked with delivering a case full of money to Atlantic City before he gets the job. When Rockefeller returns to the hideout there is dissention amoung the Knights. Francis wants to break open the case and just take the money (thus killing their shot at robbing Mick Jagger). Eugene wants to deliver the case and continue their plan to rob Mick Jagger. They take a vote and it is decided that they will deliver the case. Francis tries to turn other memebers to his thinking. He succeeds in turning Esperanza and Gourishanker. Meanwhile the Knights believe they are being followed. While trying to avoid the car they get into a car crash. We find out that the car that was supposedly “following” them, is just a family going on vacation. The Knights spend the night in a hotel. They split into groups for guard duty to protect the case. Everyone tries to convince the others to join their side on the case issue. Eventually everyone (besides Eugene) decides to take the money. Eugene tells a sad story and everyone decides to continue with their plan to rob Mick Jagger. They arrive in Atlantic City and Rockefeller drops of the case. The Knights find out that the money in the case wasn’t real and that Rockefeller got the job.

Operation: Ralph January 31, 2007 Although the gang is disappointed that Rockefeller's new job at Burton Security does not include protecting Mick Jagger's apartment, they turn their attention to Ralph, one of the guards at Jagger's place, whom Rockefeller has befriended. Butts invites Ralph to a hot poker game with the Knights, where their attempt to solicit valuable confidential information fails. However, when Eugene changes tactics, Ralph mistakenly thinks he's interested romantically and invites Eugene on a date. The Knights must persuade a nervous and resistant Eugene to follow through for the greater good of the gang

Operation: Caught on Tape February 7, 2007 The jubilant Knights finally enter Mick Jagger's apartment by "disarming" an on-duty Rockefeller, but - as usual -- find trouble when, in their excitement, they rip off their ski masks too soon, just in time for the security cameras to record their faces. Confronting possible arrest, the gang devises a plan to hack into Burton's main computer hard drive to erase their images with help from a surprise visitor -- Gary's estranged son, Ajay.

Operation: Save Esperanza February 14, 2007 Just as the Knights are ready to rob Mick Jagger's apartment, they notice that Esperanza is missing from their pre-heist meeting. Worried, Eugene and the gang head over to the diner to find Esperanza being held captive by her ex-boyfriend, Enrico, a dangerous Colombian gangster. Now it's up to the Knights to rescue Esperanza, but their bravado might put a kink in their long-running plan to rob Jagger.