Reading Six Feet Under: TV to Die For (Reading Contemporary Television)

Praised for its unabashed portrait of the 'death care' industry, HBO's 'Six Feet Under' is less about the business of death than the art of living well. It was created by Alan Ball ('American Beauty') and centres on a Pasadena undertakers run by two brothers, with their mom and teenage sister making up the dysfunctional family quarter. This innovative, controversial show charts difficult territory, from death, dying and bereavement, to female and gay sexualities, laying bare in the process an American cultural consciousness. 'Six Feet Under' first aired among HBO's 'must-see' Sunday night line-up in 2001, going on to establish itself as a critical and ratings winner. This book on the groundbreaking show examines such themes as the modern sacred and profane, pornography and the dead body, magic realism and the grotesque, American cultural politics, self-help culture, family relationships, homosexuality and re-thinking the closet, the church and gay politics, motherhood and teenage rebellion. Entertaining and enlightening in equal measure it contains a complete episode guide to the first four series of 'Six Feet Under'. Praised for its unabashed portrait of the ‘death care'industry, HBO's Six Feet Under is less about the business of death than the art of living well. Created by Alan Ball (American Beauty) this innovative, controversial show charts difficult territory, from death, dying and bereavement, to female and gay sexualities, laying bare in the process an American cultural consciousness. Six Feet Under first aired among HBO's ‘must-see'Sunday night line-up in 2001 and went on to establish itself as a critical and ratings winner. This book on the groundbreaking show examines such themes as the modern sacred and profane, pornography and the dead body, magic realism and the grotesque, American cultural politics, family relationships, homosexuality, the church and gay politics, motherhood and teenage rebellion. Entertaining and enlightening in equal measure, it contains an interview with composer Rick Marvin, an essay by Thomas Lynch whose books inspired the show and a complete episode guide to the first four series of Six Feet Under.
Praised for its unabashed portrait of the "death care" industry, HBO's Six Feet Under is less about the business of death than the art of living well. Created by the Oscar winner Alan Ball (American Beauty), this innovative, controversial show charts difficult territory--from death, dying and bereavement, to female and gay sexualities, to family obligation and relationships--laying bare in the process an American cultural consciousness. This book examines such predominant themes as the dead body, magic realism and the grotesque, American cultural politics, family relationships, homosexuality, motherhood and more. A complete episode guide to the first four seasons is included.
Dying and bereavement, to female and gay sexualities, laying bare in the process an American cultural consciousness." "Reading Six Feet Under explores and celebrates this remarkable show. It examines such themes as modern sacred and profane, pornography and the dead body, magic realism and the grotesque, American cultural politics, self-help culture, family relationships, homosexuality and re-thinking the closet, the church and gay politics, motherhood and teenage rebellion. Entertaining "Six Feet Under was created by Alan Ball (American Beauty) and centres on a Pasadena undertakers Fisher & Sons, run by two brothers Nate and David, with their mom Ruth and teenage sister Claire making up the dysfunctional family quartet. Six Feet Under first aired among HBO's 'must-see' Sunday night line-up in 2001. After a slow start, it went on to establish itself as a critical and ratings winner. It is both ground-breaking and controversial, charting difficult territory, from death The sequence to which 1 call attention at the outset of this examination of Six Feet Under's generic allegiances is as baffling as it is unclassifiable. And enlightening in equal measure it contains a complete episode guide to the first four series of Six Feet Under."--Jacket