Six Feet Under is an American drama television series created and produced by Alan Ball for the television network HBO. It premiered on June 3, 2001, and ended on August 21, 2005, after five seasons consisting of 63 episodes.

The show follows the Fisher family, who run a funeral home in Los Angeles, along with their friends and lovers. It stars Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodriguez, Mathew St. Patrick, and Rachel Griffiths. It was produced by Actual Size Films and the Greenblatt/Janollari Studio, and was shot on location in Los Angeles and in Hollywood studios.

Six Feet Under received acclaim, particularly for its writing and acting, and drew high ratings. It is regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time. The series finale, "Everyone's Waiting", has also been described as one of the greatest in television. Its awards include nine Emmy Awards, three Actor Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Peabody Award.

Show synopsis

The show stars Peter Krause as Nate Fisher, whose funeral director father (Richard Jenkins) dies and bequeaths ownership of the Fisher & Sons funeral home to Nate and his other son David (Michael C. Hall). The Fisher clan also includes widow Ruth Fisher (Frances Conroy) and daughter Claire Fisher (Lauren Ambrose). Other regulars include mortician Federico Diaz (Freddy Rodriguez), Nate's on-again/off-again girlfriend Brenda Chenowith (Rachel Griffiths), and David's long-term boyfriend Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick).

On one level, the show is a conventional family drama, dealing with such issues as interpersonal relationships, sex, masculine homosexuality, dysfunction, infidelity, personal growth, and religion. At the same time, it is distinguished by its focus on the topic of death, which it explores on personal, religious, and philosophical levels. Most episodes begin with a death, the cause of which ranges from heart attack to murder to accidental death or sudden infant death syndrome. That death usually sets the thematic tone for each episode, allowing the characters to reflect on their current fortunes and misfortunes in a way that is illuminated by the death and its aftermath.

A recurring plot device consists of a character having an imaginary conversation with the deceased; for example, Nate, David, and Federico sometimes "converse" with the deceased at the beginning of the episode, while the corpse is being embalmed, or during funeral planning or the funeral itself. Sometimes, the characters converse with other deceased characters, most notably Nathaniel Fisher Sr. The show's creator Alan Ball said this represents the living characters' internal dialogues expressed in the form of external conversations.

Production

Concept Although overall plots and characters were created by Alan Ball, reports conflict 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 on the series' DVD collection, he intimated that HBO entertainment president Carolyn Strauss had proposed the idea to him. In a copyright infringement lawsuit, screenwriter Gwen O'Donnell asserted that she was the original source of the idea that 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.

Airing on a premium cable network allowed the series to explore darker themes than would have been possible on other networks. Ball stated in an interview:

Major themes The show focuses on human mortality, the symbiotic nature of life and death feeding off each other, the death industry, and the lives of those who deal with it on a daily basis. When discussing the concept of the show, Ball elaborated on the foremost questions the show's pilot targeted:

Six Feet Under introduces the Fisher family as the basis on which to explore these questions. Throughout its five-season, 63-episode run, major characters experience crises that are in direct relation to their environment and the grief they have experienced. Ball again relates these experiences, as well as the choice of the series' title, to the persistent subtext of the program:

Cultural critic Sally Munt commented: "one might risk saying [the show] has an uncanny, or queer rendition of class positions and relations". New York magazine opined that the show "carefully avoided moralism" but there were times where it "felt like a message" that "death has a terrible timing" and it could also be a "karmic gift" for some. Ball refuted this claim by asserting that there was no message in the story but only a recognition that death comes in the middle of "messy things" and does not wait for people to sort out their lives.

Setting Exteriors for the Fisher home were shot at 2302 West 25th Street and the intersection of Arlington Avenue, in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Crew Creator Alan Ball also served as executive producer and showrunner for the entire series run. Robert Greenblatt and David Janollari executive produced the series, as the Greenblatt Janollari Studio was one of the production companies. The other producers were Lori Jo Nemhauser and Robert Del Valle.

The writing staff included Ball, who wrote nine episodes over the series run, including the pilot episode and the series finale. Writers who were on staff for the entire series run included Rick Cleveland, who wrote eight episodes and became an executive producer in the fifth season; Kate Robin, who wrote eight episodes and became a supervising producer in the fifth season; and Bruce Eric Kaplan, who wrote seven episodes and became an executive producer in the fourth season. Christian Williams was just on staff for the first season, writing two episodes. Both Laurence Andries and Christian Taylor wrote three episodes each during their run on the series for the first two seasons, and they also served as producers. Scott Buck and Joey Soloway joined in the second season, staying on staff for the rest of the series, and each wrote seven episodes. Buck became a co-executive producer in the fourth season, and Soloway became a co-executive producer in the fifth season. The last set of writers to join the staff were Craig Wright and Nancy Oliver in the third season. Wright wrote six episodes and became a producer in the fifth season and Oliver wrote five episodes and became a co-producer in the fifth season.

Ball also directed the most episodes, directing the pilot and each of the season finales. Dan Attias also directed six episodes, from seasons two to five. Kathy Bates (who also played Bettina on the series), Michael Cuesta, Rodrigo García, and Jeremy Podeswa each directed five episodes. Michael Engler, Daniel Minahan, and Alan Poul (who also served as an executive producer for the series) each directed four episodes. Miguel Arteta directed three episodes and Nicole Holofcener directed two episodes. Single-episode directors included Peter Care, Alan Caso, Lisa Cholodenko, Allen Coulter, Adam Davidson, Mary Harron, Joshua Marston, Jim McBride, Karen Moncrieff, John Patterson, Matt Shakman, Alan Taylor, Rose Troche, and Peter Webber.

Music The series' main theme, written by composer Thomas Newman, won a 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music and two Grammy Awards in 2003 for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Instrumental Arrangement.

The production sound from seasons three through five was mixed by Bo Harwood, and was nominated in 2004 for a Cinema Audio Society Award.

Seasons two through five featured a promotional teaser trailer prior to the premiere of that season. The songs featured in each season's trailer were "Heaven" by Lamb for season two; "A Rush of Blood to the Head" by Coldplay for season three; "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone for season four; and "Breathe Me" by Sia for season five, which is also used for montage in the series finale. All these songs are included in either of two soundtracks for the show.

The episode recaps for the first two seasons feature the song "Nothing Lies Still Long" by Pell Mell. The episode previews for the first and fifth seasons feature the Six Feet Under title theme, while the other seasons feature the Rae & Christian remix version of the title theme.

Music supervision for the entire run of the series was provided by Gary Calamar and Thomas Golubić, who were also credited as producers for the two soundtrack albums.

Cast and characters

Main

Peter Krause as Nate Fisher – the eldest child, who is in search of meaning while facing the prospect of his own death. Michael C. Hall as David Fisher – the middle child, who is uptight and coming to terms with being gay. Frances Conroy as Ruth Fisher – the family matriarch, who is emotionally repressed and trying to form a new, independent life. Lauren Ambrose as Claire Fisher – the youngest child, who is rebellious and creative. Freddy Rodriguez as Federico Diaz – a mortician and eventual business partner of the Fishers, who is a family man. Mathew St. Patrick as Keith Charles – David's on again/off again significant other, who is a member of the LAPD. Rachel Griffiths as Brenda Chenowith – Nate's on again/off again significant other, who struggles with depression. Jeremy Sisto as Billy Chenowith – Brenda's younger brother, who has bipolar disorder (main season 1; recurring seasons 2–5). James Cromwell as George Sibley – a geology professor, who becomes Ruth's second husband (recurring season 3; main seasons 4–5). Justina Machado as Vanessa Diaz – Federico's wife; she is a nurse (recurring seasons 1–4; main season 5).

Recurring Richard Jenkins as Nathaniel Fisher Sr. – the patriarch of the Fisher family, who dies at the start of the series, but appears in dream sequences and flashbacks (seasons 1–5) Joanna Cassidy as Margaret Chenowith – Brenda and Billy's psychologist mother (seasons 1–5) Giancarlo Rodriguez as Julio Diaz – Federico and Vanessa's son (seasons 1–5) Tim Maculan as Father Jack – priest at the Fisher's family church (seasons 1–5) Eric Balfour as Gabriel Dimas – Claire's high-school boyfriend and a chronic drug user (seasons 1–3) Robert Foxworth as Dr. Bernard Chenowith – Brenda and Billy's psychiatrist father (seasons 1–3) Ed O'Ross as Nikolai – Ruth's boss and boyfriend when she worked as a florist (seasons 1–2, 5) Marina Black as Parker McKenna – a friend of Claire's during high school (seasons 1–2) David Norona as Gary Deitman – Claire's counselor (seasons 1–2) Gary Hershberger as Matthew Gilardi – an employee of a major funeral home organization, who attempts to buy out Fisher & Sons (seasons 1–2) Ed Begley Jr., as Hiram Gunderson – a hair stylist with whom Ruth had an affair while she was married to Nathaniel (seasons 1 and 5) Illeana Douglas as Angela – Frederico's temporary replacement at Fisher & Sons (seasons 1 and 5) Dina Waters as Tracy Montrose Blair (season 1) Patricia Clarkson as Sarah O'Connor – Ruth's younger sister, an artist who lives in Topanga Canyon (seasons 2–5) Lili Taylor as Lisa Kimmel Fisher – Nate's former roommate, his first wife, and mother of his daughter Maya (seasons 2–5) Melissa Marsala as Angelica – Vanessa's sister, who has a contentious relationship with her brother-in-law Federico (seasons 2–5) Aysia Polk as Taylor Charles – Keith's niece, who is under his care (seasons 2–5) John Paul Pitoc as Phil – Claire's boyfriend (briefly) who works at the crematorium (seasons 2–3) Kellie Waymire as Melissa – a high-class prostitute whom Brenda befriends (season 2) Nicki Micheaux as Karla Charles – Keith's sister and Taylor's mother, a drug addict (season 2) Julie White as Mitzi Dalton-Huntley – an employee of a major funeral home organization that attempts to buy out Fisher & Sons (seasons 1–2)