Rating: Summary: Six Feet Under Review: It [is bad] not having HBO: I have to wait until TV's most talked-about shows, like "The Sopranos", "Sex and the City" and "Oz", come out on DVD to catch up on all the quality entertainment I'm missing. The good thing is, once I get started, I don't have to wait a week to catch the next episode. As I've begun the first season of "Six Feet Under", this has proved to be a very good thing indeed.This show is one of the most grimly funny I've seen in a long time. The inanity of the funeral home business is given a perfect showcase in this ensemble drama, featuring some of the freshest acting and writing since, well, "The Sopranos". If subplots and supporting characters occasionally seem to be weird strictly for weirdness' sake (the missing foot, Brenda's completely psychotic family), the real family dynamics - frustration, anger, confusion, love despite it all - are a joy to watch. Though Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall, as brothers Nate and David Fisher, are given top billing and are essentially the main characters, the women steal the show every chance they get. Frances Conroy is a neurotic joy as befuddled matriarch Ruth, Rachel Griffiths keeps the character of Nate's girlfriend Brenda from falling into the stereotype of complicated woman/child (which, in the hands of a lesser actress, would be especially noticeable in this airtight ensemble), and Lauren Ambrose is, to me, the true star as Claire, the youngest and most openly rebellious of the Fisher clan. Ambrose does wonders as a conflicted teenager looking for meaning in the senselessness of death and grief she lives with. This show is addictive; I've watched, on average, four a day, and am now impatient for Season Two to be released. Flawed though they are, the Fishers are welcome houseguests.
Rating: Summary: Drama, Death, and a Touch of Comedy Review: It's about Life and Death and real life. This series is so well done. If you want to catch up or rewatch, this collection is definitely a good buy.
Rating: Summary: life is not ordinary Review: This is one of the most humorous and ground breraking comedy dramas that have been produced, ever, and that is on both sides of the pond. The fisher family are not as some would think dysfunctional, but more tring to come to terms with life, and as they run a Death care service (undertakers) this is the start of the comedy, the mother who is just recovering from the shook of her husbands death descides now is the time for the truth of her affair, the two sons who have been apart for a time blend like coffe and cream. The daughter who hides in her overreact style which resembles many a teenager all over the world. All these people with one thing in common. Life, other people end that is. check out the foot, porn star, mother taking drugs, and DAD the king of sarcasim
Rating: Summary: Extraordinary!! Review: This show takes a look at life and death and everything in between. It is provocative, thought provoking and funny. There are issues that many people can relate to. I like it. I like it alot.
Rating: Summary: one of the best shows on tv Review: i think this is one fo the best shows to come along in a very long time. i say this because i think there is a charcter that represents every person in society. you have the free spirit, the homosexual, the repressed, the rebelious teen, the racial, and many more. this show is very good at representing everyday life and also tries to shed a better light on people in the death care industry. meaning that all people who run a funeral home are not all like the addams family. each episode has its own death and each one has its own little uniqueness. my favorite episode is the one in which the porn star dies, i think it is utterly hilarious. but there are so many to choose from that you really cant help but like them all. i highly suggest this set because i think everyone can identify one way or another to the show and in the end can use it to learn something about themselves.
Rating: Summary: Extraordinary entertainment that makes you appreciate life. Review: Don't let the death, funeral home, thing frighten you away from grabbing this collection. It's so much more about who we are, and what we can become in life. The production values are outstanding, the writing is superb, the actors just don't seem to be acting at all, it's almost like some very well produced reality series with a great soundtrack with smart, funny, deep, and articulate people. Plus the packaging is really very nifty. Just be warned that the way you think the box opens, isn't... don't tear anything, the collection lifts out the main container like.. well, I don't want to spoil it for you.
Rating: Summary: Sublime Review: We have just finished up the DVD release of Season One; we broke a number of records with this series: 1) first time I have reserved a title at the video store, and anxiously awaited "the call" to say it's in! 2) first time we have cleared an evening to watch 5 hours of a show 3) first time we have ever considered purchasing TV show episodes for our DVD library...move over, Harry Potter! 4) first time we have ever decided to subscribe to a TV network just for the sake of ONE show...HBO's Six Feet Under 5) first time I have ever longed for the DVD release of a season of episodes...
Rating: Summary: There's no place like FUNERAL home. Review: My Sister got my Wife and I interested in watching the show just before the start of the 3rd season. Of course, this meant we needed to see some episodes so we were familiar with the characters and the plot of the show. Needless to say, we were instantly hooked. Six Feet Under is one of those shows that doesn't try to talk over your head or make you feel stupid for watching it. You have real characters in real situations and you follow how they handle the situations sometimes in very humerous situations. Granted death isn't funny, but the other things going on in the lives of the Fishers can be. Also, the Fishers have the uncanny ability to talk to the dead. (You'll have to see that for yourself). Six Feet Under is like a great 21st Century work of Edgar Allen Poe. Complete with the Raven in the opening credits. Purchase the 1st season DVD, I'm sure other seasons will follow, you won't be dissapointed.
Rating: Summary: American Beauty Lite - and boring Review: Though it is the darling-du-jour show on TV, I can't for the life of me get interested in this show. Yes, it's hip, yes, it has fantasy elements, yes, it breaks taboos with tiresome regularity, yes, it's all very well made and acted, but I find the characters dull, uninteresting, and totally alien to me - all of them. And really, in this first season there's nothing that wasn't in American Beauty either - except there it was far more concise and fresh (and even there, the 'message' of the film was the weakest part of the enterprise once you stop and think about it). There are extras on the disc, but they are pretty disappointing. No making of-featurette, just interviews with the actors about their characters. Two commentaries by Alan Ball which say almost nothing about how the series was conceived and developed, but rather just dwelling on how great every single actor is and where every scene was shot. And a short featurette about the credit sequence - not a very interesting choice. So there you have it - a dissenting voice in the wilderness. Oh yes, the packaging is lovely, but very flimsy. The chance of the box breaking apart is quite real if the set is handled a lot!
Rating: Summary: INTERESTING, IF UNEVEN -- AND NO FEATURES Review: This DVD set was my first introduction to the series. I rented the discs one by one, causing me to notice an interesting phenomenon. I would rent a disc, watch a couple of episodes, and then think, "this is alright, but no big deal. Maybe I won't rent the next disc." Then the third episode would come up and blow me away. Every third episode is great ("The Foot," "The Room," "Life's Too Short"). I don't know if this is a good thing, but at least it spreads the wealth a bit. Try one of the three episodes mentioned above, and if that doesn't do it for you, don't bother with the series. It can be uneven and overly quirky. Some of the subplots get annoying (like Rachel Griffiths and her crazy brother). On the whole, however, I was glad that I watched it, so I wouldn't discourage the purchase altogether, though I would suggest caution. As to the features, they are hugely overrated. I saw review after review in magazines and papers praising this set for its features in relation to other TV on DVD. I, however, was disappointed. There is a cast interview feauturette that basically amounts to an advertisement for the next season, and there's a featurette on the opening credits, which, though interesting, should not be the topic of the only feature of substance. If the features are the only thing encouraging you to buy this item, then don't buy it. Compared to most other TV, it's a five star item. Compared to quality movies, or more substantial TV (like Buffy), it is a three star item. I have chosen to hold it to the greater standard.
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