Everything about Six Feet Under Tv Series totally explained
Six Feet Under is an
American television drama created by
Alan Ball that was originally broadcast from 2001 to 2005. It was produced by Alan Ball,
Alan Poul, Robert Greenblatt and David Janollari. The series centers on Fisher & Sons
Funeral Home, a family-run mortuary, and explores the lives of the Fisher family following the death of the family patriarch. It is set in modern-day
Los Angeles. The title is a
colloquialism/
euphemism for death, six feet being the traditional depth at which a body would be laid).
Six Feet Under was produced by Actual Size Films and The Greenblatt/Janollari Studio. It first aired on
HBO in 2001, and has been broadcast in syndication in the US by basic cable channel
Bravo as well as in dozens of other countries. The series ended its five year run on
August 21,
2005.
The show received critical acclaim from
The Hollywood Reporter,
Variety and
The New York Times, among other media, and has garnered praise from fellow television producers and funeral directors . In total,
Six Feet Under won three
Golden Globe Awards, nine
Emmy Awards as well as a Peabody Award. The series won the Golden Globe award for Outstanding Drama Series and Best Supporting Actress for
Rachel Griffiths in 2002.
Frances Conroy went on to receive the award for Best Actress in a Drama for the Golden Globes in 2004. The show also won the
Screen Actors Guild award for Best Ensemble for a Drama Series two years in a row (2003–2004).
Synopsis
The show stars
Peter Krause as
Nathaniel Samuel ("Nate") Fisher Jr., the son of a
funeral director who, upon the death of his father, reluctantly becomes a partner in the family funeral business with his brother
David, played by
Michael C. Hall. The Fisher clan also includes mother
Ruth (
Frances Conroy) and sister
Claire (
Lauren Ambrose). Other regulars include mortician and family friend
Federico Diaz (
Freddy Rodriguez), Nate's on-again, off-again girlfriend
Brenda Chenowith (
Rachel Griffiths), and David's boyfriend
Keith Charles (
Mathew St. Patrick).
On one level, the show is a conventional family drama, dealing with such issues as
relationships,
infidelity, and
religion. At the same time, it's a show distinguished by its unblinking focus on the topic of
death, which it explores on multiple levels (personal, religious, and philosophical). Each episode begins with a death — anything from
drowning or
heart attack to
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome — and that death usually sets the tone for each episode, allowing the characters to reflect on their current fortunes and misfortunes in a way that's illuminated by the death and its aftermath. The show also has a strong dosage of dark humor running throughout.
A recurring plot device consists of a character having an imaginary conversation with the person who died at the beginning of the episode. Sometimes, the conversation is with other recurring dead characters, notably Nathaniel Fisher Sr. The show's creator Alan Ball states they represent the living character's internal dialogue by exposing it as an external conversation, yet on some occasions (see the appearance of Nathaniel Fisher Sr. at the end of the last episode of the first season) no living character sees or interacts with the dead character. Also, on many occasions the dead characters relate information the living ones couldn't know, perhaps representing speculation on the part of the living concerning issues which were never solved before the passing. Casual conversations with the dead also reflect the genre of
magical realism. A similar device is occasionally used where a real conversation between two living characters slips into the imaginary and becomes unrealistic. The shift can't be clearly distinguished from the normal flow of the scene until an abrupt cut brings the audience back to a mundane conversation, which reveals through contrast the imaginary nature of the preceding moment.
Concept
Although overall plots and characters were created by Alan Ball, there are conflicting reports on how the series was conceived. In one instance, Ball stated that he came up with the premise of the show after the deaths of his sister and father. However, in an interview, he intimates that
HBO entertainment president
Carolyn Strauss proposed the idea to him. In a copyright-infringement lawsuit, screenwriter Gwen O’Donnell asserted that she was the original source of the idea which later passed through Strauss to Ball; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, proceeding on the assumption that this assertion was true, rejected her claim. Funky Films, Inc. v. Time Warner Entertainment Co., 462 F.3d 1072 (2006).
Major Themes
The show focuses on human mortality and the lives of those who deal with it on a daily basis. When discussing the concept of the show, creator Alan Ball elaborates on the foremost questions the show’s pilot targeted:
“Who are these people who are funeral directors that we hire to face death for us? What does that do to their own lives - to grow up in a home where there are dead bodies in the basement, to be a child and walk in on your father with a body lying on a table opened up and him working on it? What does that do to you?”
Six Feet Under introduces the Fisher family as the basis on which to answer these questions. Throughout its five-season, 63-episode run, major characters experience crises which are in direct relation to their environment and the grief they’ve experienced. Alan Ball again relates these experiences as well as the choice of the series’ title, to the persistent subtext of the program :
“
Six Feet Under refers not only to being buried as a dead body is buried, but to primal emotions and feelings running under the surface. And when one is surrounded by death it seems like to counterbalance that, there needs to be a certain intensity of experience, of needing to escape. It’s Nate with his sort of womanizing; it’s Claire and her experimenting with dangerous boys and dangerous drugs; and it’s Brenda’s whole sexual compulsiveness; it’s David having sex with a hooker in public; it’s Ruth having affair after affair; it’s the life force trying to push up through all of that suffering and grief and depression.”
Character histories and cast
| Actor |
Character |
Relationship |
| Peter Krause |
Nathaniel Samuel "Nate" Fisher Jr. |
Eldest son of Ruth and Nathaniel; co-operator of Fisher & Diaz; husband to Brenda Chenowith; widower to Lisa Kimmel; father of Maya Fisher (to Lisa) and Willa Chenowith (to Brenda). |
| Michael C. Hall |
David James Fisher |
Middle child of Ruth and Nathaniel; co-operator of Fisher & Diaz; husband (later widower) of Keith Charles; adopted father to Durrell and Anthony. Dies in 2044 at age 75 at a picnic in Echo Park. |
| Frances Conroy |
Ruth Fisher |
Matriarch of Fisher family; former wife/lifelong partner to George Sibley and widow to Nathaniel; mother to Nate, David and Claire. Dies in 2025 at age 79 in a hospital surrounded by Claire, David and George. |
| Lauren Ambrose |
Claire Simone Fisher |
Youngest child of Ruth and Nathaniel; artist of the family who worked temporarily as a secretary. The final montage of the show, and her obituary on HBO's website, suggest that she became a successful photographer and teacher. Wife, then widow, of Ted Fairwell. Dies at age 102 in 2085. |
| Rachel Griffiths |
Brenda Chenowith |
Daughter of Margaret and Bernard Chenowith; sister of Billy. Former shiatsu practitioner; then a cognitive therapist. Girlfriend, then wife, then widow of Nate Fisher. Wife to Daniel Nathanson (she is shown sitting with him in the finale's final montage, though he never speaks). Mother to Willa Fisher Chenowith and stepmother to Maya Fisher also mother to Forrest Nathanson. Dies in 2051 at age 82. She didn't appear in three episodes of the third season due to Griffiths' 2002 pregnancy. Rachel Griffiths' second pregnancy in 2004 was written into the show. |
| Freddy Rodriguez |
Federico Diaz |
Business partner and embalmer at Fisher & Diaz with Nate and David; husband of Vanessa; father to Julio and Augusto. He first started as an employee at Fisher and Sons later he became Founder of Diaz Family Mortuary in 2005. Dies at age 75 in 2049 on a cruise ship with Vanessa (suggested heart attack). He appeared in 62 episodes, missing one episode of the first season, Life's Too Short, due to Federico's storyline. |
| Mathew St. Patrick |
Keith Charles |
Former Los Angeles police officer now in private security; Founded the Charles Security Company; husband of David; adopted father to Anthony and Durrell. Gunned down in 2029 at age 61 by a gang of robbers as he unloads an armored truck (of the business he owned). |
Recurring cast
Significant guest stars
Sandra Oh (Episode 5, An Open Book)
Leeza Gibbons (Episode 22, Someone Else's Eyes)
Evan Handler (Episode 30, Nobody Sleeps)
Ellen DeGeneres (Episode 42, Parallel Play)
Nicole Richie (Episode 51, Untitled)
Chris Harrison (Episode 52, A Coat of White Primer)
Susie Bright (Episode 57, The Rainbow of Her Reasons)
Family tree
Time frame of episode settings
The following is a time frame which features the year the particular episode is set in, which is distinct from the year the episode actually first aired.
Season 1: 2000 (pilot), 2001 (12 episodes)
Season 2: 2001 (8 episodes), 2002 (5 episodes)
Season 3: 2002 (1 episode), 2003 (12 episodes)
Season 4: 2003 (4 episodes), 2004 (8 episodes)
Season 5: 2004 (2 episodes), 2005 (10 episodes)
Promotionals
Season promotionals
The following songs were played during the teaser trailers for the seasons following the first:
Season 2: "Heaven" by Lamb (External Link
)
Season 3: "A Rush of Blood to the Head" by Coldplay (External Link)
Season 4: "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone (External Link)
Season 5: "Breathe Me" by Sia Furler (External Link)
Episode recaps
The song played during each episode recap is a 1995 single called "Nothing Lies Still Long" by Pell Mell.
Episode previews
Previews for upcoming episodes feature the Six Feet Under theme. The first and fifth seasons feature the original version of the song while the second, third and fourth seasons feature the Rae & Christian remix.
Releases
Soundtracks
Two soundtrack albums, featuring music that had appeared in the series, were released:
Six Feet Under, 2002
, 2005
Books
Scheduling changes
In March 2005, HBO announced that the final season of Six Feet Under would be moved to Monday evenings starting June 6, the reason being to add an additional night of programming to the HBO lineup for their upcoming summer season which included Entourage and The Comeback. The series had traditionally been scheduled for Sundays. The Monday night experiment ultimately failed due to decreased ratings and complaints. HBO chairman, Chris Albrecht admitted the move was a mistake since the network has always been committed to airing programs on the weekends. Six Feet Under returned to its old time slot on July 10, 2005 after having been in the "new" time slot for only five episodes.
In Australia, the Nine Network infuriated fans by consistently delaying and rescheduling episodes past midnight during the broadcast of seasons 1 to 5.
Trivia
Six Feet Under had various real-life Los Angeles connections. Many of the sculptures and paintings seen on the show are the works of local sculptor and artist Bruce Gray. There are many stills from several episodes on his website that feature his work. Caskets for the show were made by a local company, ABC Caskets.
Additional facts
The pilot episode features several spoof commercials for funeral homes and products. This was intended to be a recurring feature throughout the series, but was dropped after the first episode.
Peter Krause, the actor who plays Nathaniel Fisher, originally read for the role of David Fisher.
It is mentioned in the series commentary that it's illegal to own crows in the United States, and therefore a trained pied crow was painted black for the opening sequence. "All native species of migratory birds, their parts, nests or eggs may not be possessed, transported, imported, exported, purchased, sold, bartered, or offered for purchase, sale or barter without appropriate permits." The pied crow isn't indigenous to North America, and therefore could be used as a stand in.
HBO broadcast history
Season 1: Sunday June 3, 2001–Sunday August 19, 2001—10:00 p.m. ET and PT
Season 2: Sunday March 3, 2002–Sunday June 2, 2002—9:00 p.m. ET and PT
Season 3: Sunday March 2, 2003–Sunday June 1, 2003—9:00 p.m. ET and PT
Season 4: Sunday June 13, 2004–Sunday September 12, 2004—9:00 p.m. ET and PT
Season 5: Monday June 6, 2005–Monday July 4, 2005—9:00 p.m.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Six Feet Under Tv Series'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://six_feet_under__tv_series.totallyexplained.com">Six Feet Under (TV series) Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
