Six Feet Under

[poliphilo]

We've started watching Six Feet Under.  Season 1 is available free from our cable provider. I see it was authored by the guy who wrote American Beauty- yes, that makes sense.

It's dark and crunchy on the surface, with a heart of goo. Well, that's not baaaaad. You could say the same of Dickens. People do wrong things but they're not mean- apart that is from the obvious folk demon types- like the "corporate nazi fuck" with the blue eyes and the too-thick blond hair who features in the early episodes. The view of human nature is essentially benign. This being Hollywood, everyone is extraordinarily beautiful. That's not baaaaad either, it's just unEnglish. If this were a BBC show they'd have cast people with nubbly faces.

Maybe it's difficult to take a malign view of human nature under the perpetual sun of L.A.  I dunno. Like I say, people do wrong things, but nothing mean and crawling. They also show a propensity to step up to the plate- as David does when he channels his inner-gangsta to see off  the "corporate nazi fuck".  In my experience people are sometimes as brave as this, but not always. This being Hollywood, lessons in morality are frequently being learned.

I like shows in which dead people turn up and talk to the living. There have been a lot of these recently. It seems to be zeitgeisty.

Comments

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

We rented the series off of Netflix some months ago, and it absorbed our attention for a good long while.

You're right about there being no one essentially bad in the thing, but it seems most everyone lives a life of quiet desperation. I can't decide which is worse.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

"Quiet desperation" is the pits.

What I might have added is that it's laugh-out-loud funny.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Here's a post on my friends list I think might interest you, concerning the subject of death:

http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/408400.html

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I like that very much.

[litchick.livejournal.com]

Six Feet Under is a great show. I found it to be very well executed, and the finale episode, if you make it that far, is creative and moving, to say the least.

The author just came out with another series, True Blood, about vampires, that my husband and I are enjoying. My only complaint is that it's very graphic. We find ourselves averting our eyes, but we still enjoy it.

Sometimes, people are so gorgeous in American movies and television it detracts from the verisimilitude. For instance, I found myself watching True Blood last night, and these people are in a poor Louisiana town. They're all stick thin and even when distressed, their hair and makeup is perfect. The vampires always look rough though, which is funny because in vampire lore vampires are normally beautiful and that is part of their attraction.

Anyway.

I have no idea why I feel compelled to write a novel every time I reply to one of your entries.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've just come to the end of Season One. I like the complexity of the relationships and the shape of the story arc. We've been through a SFU marathon these last couple of days. Luckily the other seasons aren't currently available to us. We need a rest.

I'll look out for True Blood. It hasn't showed up over here yet. No doubt it will.

[internet-sampo.livejournal.com]

Ah, my wife and I got sucked into 6FU when it premiered in the US. It was innovative and intelligent.

Warning: over the next six seasons Ball is gonna' put those poor Fishers through several cycles of hell. We couldn't stop watching it, but it was so painful.

Bonus: I went to the same college as Michael Hall (David), tho not at the same time.

Bonus2: 6FU had great subway advertisements in NYC.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. But that's what we watch for, isn't it- to watch poor saps being put through the wringer?

Michael Hall is excellent.

[internet-sampo.livejournal.com]

Michael Hall is in a Showtime series called Dexter (based upon the Jeff Lindsay books). He plays a "good" serial killer. That I will highly recommend (the books too).

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I know it's been highly praised. I'll admit the subject matter put me off- but I've become a fan of Hall's, so maybe I'll check it out.

[ex-redrain.livejournal.com]

I got through about 8 episodes of that first season and would like to watch more. I like Peter Krause as an actor -- I first saw him in Sports Night.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'd not come across Krause before, though I knew the name. Yes, he's a very likable actor.

[zoe-1418.livejournal.com]

We loved Six Feet Under. A few more bad people will show up, btw. But not many, I guess. We found 6FU much easier to watch and digest than The Sopranos...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I watched the first episode of the Sopranos and decided I just didn't want to spend any more time with that particular set of characters.

[internet-sampo.livejournal.com]

That was a very wise move. My wife wanted to watch it till the end. Disturbing.

New Friend

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I saw that you added me to your Friends list -- thank you! -- so I've added you to mine and dropped by here to browse.

I enjoyed watching "Six Feet Under" for quite a while, though it lost its flavor eventually and I quit.

Re: New Friend

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Hi,

I think that happens with all long-running shows. Some I bail out of and some I stick with, feeling more and more disappointed.