Rating: 
Summary: HBO drops the (alan) ball
Review: What does HBO think its doing?!After blowing our minds with an impressive dvd set, HBO has seen fit to follow it up with... a coffee table book. Let me reiterate: a coffee table book. A coffee table book about fictional characters containing their fictional journal entries, fictional artwork, and I presume, some fictional e-mails and such. Look, I love the Fishers as much as the next guy, but a collectors book is something you whip out when the series is a long-cancelled and wistful bit of neo-nostalgia and you have literally NOTHING ELSE UP YOUR SLEEVE! Get season 2 out on DVD already! And for that matter, when will we be seeing season 4? HBO is so busy whipping up cool lifestyle accessories that it doesn't seem to notice that people are starting to forget all about it. Is SFU falling victim to contract negotiations and boardroom-concept cool? That'd be sad, because the quickest way to ruin something cool is to try too hard to make it cool. Hey, HBO! Lay off the baseball hats and the desk clocks and get back to the matter at hand. The show, remember?
Rating:
Summary: The series you love to hate.
Review: This series has something for EVERYONE. Everyone can find someone that they can relate to in this show, as it does a wonderful job on focusing on ALL of the characters instead of a vital few. For the teenagers there is a wonderful character named Claire and you can follow her as she draws herself deep into loving the "bad guy" and trying out the bad-girl role. The conflict between her and her mother is brilliantly played. The mother, Ruth, is extremely funny, you start off the thinking she is this prude woman, who knows absolutly nothing of life, and as the story unfolds, you see just how "messed-up" she really is. Her character is really funny as she grows to be everything that she fears for her daughter. David is great as well, he's the "Will and Grace" aspect of the show. His parts are probably the most humorous in the series, as he tries to figure out his feelings and later, having his love come to realize his feelings as well. Ok, why the title... "love to hate" well the mind boggling Brenda and Nate .... well.. I can't even begin to explain the weirdness of this couple. Brenda has an extremly weird past, with her brother, and her mother... and she has REALLY suffered psychologically from this. She has a problem being faithful to Nate.... and some of the things that happen are EXTREMELY shocking. One minute she'll be shopping, and the next a guy's hand will be up her skirt... doing unmentionable things. If there was ever a character in a DVD that you really wanted to murder, Brenda would be the one. The problem is... you just can't stop watching! This DVD is just amazing. It shows humanity so true. The lives of this odd family, and how they suffer in trying to hide from an odd world. Not only is it good entertainment, but it causes you to look at things deep inside yourself. It is definitely worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible Acting!
Review: My husband and I don't agree on much when it comes to watching DVD's or tv shows. But this we both can agree on! Morbidly funny and shocking with supurb acting. I am hooked! Now if they would just release the 2nd season please!!!!!!!!!!1
Rating:
Summary: The best Series on TV ever. Bar none.
Review: This is a truly amazing series. I started watching it about a year ago, in the middle of series 2 when it was airing at 10pm on E4. I watched one episode and basically thought WTF?, but because my friend watched and worshipped it, I decided to watch it again, and since I understood more of the story, from then I was completely hooked. The release of series 1 on DVD meant that I could, for the first time, watch the first-ever episode, and see where everything started. This series is outstanding (just look at the billions of awards it has won!!). The characters are the most human of any television series or film I have ever seen. Everything they do is understandable, and you really feel for them. You can sympathise with all their problems and quirks, and starting each episode with a death that the rest of the episode focuses around is a nice touch. I watched the first three episodes a couple of days after I received this box-set for Christmas, and then I watched all the others in one day, solidly. (Well, I had a lot of time on my hands) I couldn't stop watching, I was totally engrossed. I would pick out my favourite character... but I love them all. It is really fascinating following Claire's experiments with drugs and her strange relationship with Gabriel, David's repressed homosexuality and his umm... 'messed-up' love life, and Brenda and Nate's relationship, or more accurately, the triangle between Brenda, Nate, and Brenda's brother. Brenda's past is so... well, freaky...there are a lot of secrets about her and her brother that are unearthed over the course of series 1 and they are really shocking. That is the great thing about Six Feet Under. There are some moments that keep you on the edge of your seat, some moments that will make you cry, and some moments that will make you laugh out loud. Not many series can do this, or do this as well as Six Feet Under can. One of the best episodes in my opinion is the third episode, 'The Foot'. Just watch it to find out what happens... the title is a big hint heh heh...
Rating:
Summary: Six Feet Under in Indiana
Review: A friend of mine got me hooked on Six Feet Under during its first season. I love this show and commend HBO writers for their stunning skills involving the twisted story lines found in this show. The actors/actresses are amazing and natural in their characters. My favorite character is Claire, played by Lauren Ambrose, because she is brilliantly able to combine comedy and tradgedy in her character. She is a normal teenager going through normal situations. My second favorite character is Brenda Chenowith, played by Rachel Griffiths, due to her ability to be wrapped up completely in her character and become somewhat normal although raised in a highly dysfunctional family. Six Feet Under is undoubtedly HBO finest work thus far. Season 2 please.....
Rating:
Summary: Morbid, Warm and Touching - Taste the Millenial Ideal
Review: Six Feet Under is filled to the brim with hour-long stories that can, at the same time, shock us and warm our hearts. Witty 'product' commercials will, at times, leave you gasping for air or rolling on the floor. Ever wonder how they reconstruct your smashed head after an untimely collision with a billboard? Neither did I....but now I know.
Rich with laughter and deep with sorrow, this series brings to the forefront the best and worst of all human beings. This family, struggling to survive an unexpected tragedy and move on, will likely inspire you...and you'll soon forget that their basement is laden with corpses.
Rating:
Summary: What Do You Want to Do Until You Die?
Review: Hey, there! Guess what? Someday, no matter how pretty or rich you are, you're going to be cold and stiff! Isn't that weird?
Well, that's the point of this most excellent HBO series created by Alan Ball, Acadamy Award winning screenwriter of American Beauty. Our discomfort and our fascination with death, our distancing ourselves from it and our becoming familiar with it are explored through the relationships of a number of characters centered around the Fisher family, who operate a funeral home in Los Angeles. It is impossible, I think, for an interested viewer to take four episodes of this series and not find oneself running a personal 'inventory'. I find myself provoked again and again into asking myself what kind of person I am and what kind I want to be. This is a show that can go toe to toe with the Sopranos in terms of gripping plot and dialogue, as well as it's ability to engross you emotionally in it's character's lives. The biggest problem I have with Six Feet Under on DVD is that now I'm waiting impatiently for season 2 to be released. I can't possibly start watching season four in new production before I've seen season two and three.
Rating:
Summary: The Only TV Show I Have Been Hooked on For Years
Review: I heard an interview on NPR with Allan Ball and knew that although I never watch TV (I swore it off sometime in the 80's) I was intrigued by the whole concept. Not having cable myself, I would go to a friend's house to watch it every Sunday night. I was hooked from the very first time I saw it. I love the honesty of the characters and the interaction of a real family who are lovable, but real. I like the ongoing plot with the family that is mysterious and just messed up... like real families are. The mini-plots that happen weekly with the "customers" of the funeral home are so inventive and refreshing. It makes every episode fresh and alive and unpredictable. The opening scenes are troublesome as I sit on pins and needles trying to figure out who died or was about to. So not only do I get to be a "part" of the Fisher family as I get to know each of them intimately, I can also glimpse a variety of dysfunctional families more as an outside observer. If you like getting below the surface and delving into the deeper part of characters' traits and foibles, I highly recommend this series. On DVD it is great because I can play them anytime I want. I can't wait for the second season to be available.
Rating:
Summary: Season 2, please
Review: I bet just as many (or maybe more) people were first exposed to this show on DVD/VHS, rather than prime time. As someone who now refuses to have cable/network tv in my home, I live for the odd good show available for rent at the video store. There is a real market for SFU on disc/tape. Don't keep us waiting. Season 2, please. Season 2 Season 2 Season 2.
Rating:
Summary: Just when you thought there was nothing "real" left on TV...
Review: I mean sure, many would argue that the torrent of reality television we've seen in recent years is the realest thing out there. But I would have to disagree. Outwitting each other off an island is fun, but it's not real life. Neither is living in a mansion that you don't pay a dime on, or seducing the latest millionaire. Perhaps it's just me, but Six Feet Under is the closest thing I have seen to real life on TV. No, I don't live in a funeral home, I never lost a parent, or had sex in an airport. What makes Six Feet Under such a beautiful series is it's intensity, sprinkled with humor and hope. Real life is serious. It's sad. It's hard. But even at our worst moments, life is a gift, it's humorous, and touching, and beautiful. SFU captures this delicate balance wonderfully. This show will make you laugh and cry within minutes of each other. The characters are so bold and alive, thanks to one of the most excellent casts ever assembled for a series. Rachel Griffiths and Lauren Ambrose are my favorites as Brenda and Claire, but every member of the cast shines. Don't get scared off by the uptight reviewers that can't get past the quirk, open your mind, and enter the world of Six Feet Under.
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