Just watched the first two episodes of the first season...I was underwhelmed. Why is this boring show well-loved by so many? Only occasionally did a glimmer of clever dialogue spice up this banal family drama. Even though I've only seen the first two episodes (I can't bear too watch any more of it), I don't understand why the series received so many Emmys. Sure the writing seemed to authentically dramatize some "real" life situations, but verisimilitude is not the basis for great entertainment.

I just finished Season 1 and am a few episodes into Season 2. The show does get a lot more interesting. I think what is fantastic about this show is that each character becomes a fully developed entity. You learn a lot about each character as time passes and eventually you start trying to anticipate what their reactions would be to given situations.

Other than that, give it a few more episodes. I think the time spend in the first few episodes building these characters pays off in spades in the future episodes. HBO greenlit 2 seasons of this show just based on the pilot episode.

Yah, keep watching the show, it gets better, and much more complex, character-wise.

How does one even respond to this?

I'm not going to tell you to keep watching it like others have. Like you've noted, you should stop now. It can't possibly get any better.

das

patiently waits for Red Dog

That's a pretty bold statement for watching only two episodes.

Imagine if the same was said about Sienfeld.

This award actually goes to 24.

If ya didn't like the first episode, stop. It's not for you...and that's fine.

I saw the first episode and was hooked. They stopped doing the commercials for Mortician products, but this first one sets the tone.

Did you love American Beauty? I've found folks who disliked or just thought AB was okay had the same reaction to 6 Ft Under.

IMHO - It's the best show on television. Love the acting, love the stories, love that they take chances, and, although minor to many, it's the best lit show on TV. Have Season 1, taped seasons 2 and 3 and can't wait to replace them with DVDs.

The pilot for Six Feet Under was brilliant.

This guy must be a network executive .

I enjoyed American Beauty, but Six Feet Under seems like "American Beauty the Series." The tone is almost identical.

My problem with the show is that it is very character-driven and the characters aren't that likeable. It seems like a soap opera designed for people who view themselves as intellectuals.

Anyway, as I type, my wife is watching ep. 4; I'll pop my head in the room to see if I like it any better.

I'd try to give it at least a couple of more episodes... if you still don't like it, I guess it just isn't for you. I think it's probably the best show on Television. I can't wait for S3, coming in June.

Brian

I watched the whole first season and could not understand the all the critical acclaim it received. It was okay but there was nothing there that hooked me. I can't say if it is like this now (haven't watched it since) but the 1st season was certainly overrated in my book. But hey, if you love it, enjoy.

Oh and I thought American Beauty was a great movie.

Well, yeah!

...for Fox.

This is the most idiotic thread ever. Especially since its was made based on two freaking episodes on a show that has four seasons already.

I saw the first 2 seasons of 6FU and love it.

Not overrated at all, IMO.

I saw one and part of another episode and didn't like it. i dont have hbo so i wouldnt be able to watch it anyway

I watched the whole first season, but haven't been able to watch anymore yet. I probably didn't get hooked until half way through the season, but I always did like it. If you watched the first episode and didn't like it or didn't think it was very good, it's probably not for you. If you watched it, and thought it was "good" but overrated, maybe you should watch more.

I watched S1 through Netflix, and while I do miss the ads, I really loved Season 1. I missed I think a lot of s2, and apparently s3, and when I got back into it, I had missed enough so that i wasn't as into it. I still enjoy the show, and might watch S2/S3 when they come out on dvd, but I'm not as hooked as I was. I still think it's a good show, however. Although certain recent events in the show have been really draining.

My wife is now watching episode six of season one and loving it. While I'm waiting for the Sopranos, I found some fuel for the fire:

USA TODAY
March 1, 2002
'Six Feet' is showing deep flaws
Author: Robert
* * (out of four)

Before people concede the Emmy to Six Feet Under, they might want to watch the new episodes.

Even at its first-season best, this darling of the Hollywood crowd was vastly overrated -- an entertaining, over-the-top bit of family fluff that was usually preposterous, often pretentious, but seldom dull. Now, however, it returns with its flaws intensified, and boredom its leitmotif, which is something of an accomplishment, considering how absurd the plots have become.

Once again, we're visiting the Fisher family, owners of a Los Angeles funeral home. Nate (Peter Krause) is still hiding his brain disorder from his girlfriend, Brenda (Rachel Griffiths); David (Michael C. Hall) is trying to reconnect with his boyfriend, Keith (Mathew St. Patrick); and Claire (Lauren Ambrose) is about to follow her stoner boyfriend into a plot out of a bad teen movie.

Oh yes, and their dead dad is back, just one of many ghosts who show up whenever the show feels the need for a bit of psychological exposition or a heavy-handed metaphor. You can take your pick for the most ludicrous moment: The Chinese checkers match between Life and Death that presumably is meant to recall The Seventh Seal -- though it's so stupid, one can't be sure. Or the ghostly visits of a young football player, who is meant to remind us that the threat of an early death is frightening.

Written by series creator Alan Ball, the first episode is merely lifeless. The show doesn't truly kick into change-the-channel awful until later, when mother Ruth (Frances Conroy) joins an EST-like seminar. From what I can tell, the main point of the plot is to allow her children to mock her for saying things like "I'm speaking fiercely from the 'I' right now."

Ruth is unendurable, but the story involving Keith and his foul-mouthed little niece, who has been abandoned by her drug-addict mother, is measurably worse. Must every black character have at least one drug addict or gangbanger in the family? Is that really what comes to mind in Hollywood when people mention "diversity"?

Still, watching Six, you can see why actors love it. The show gives its cast free range to do big, showy scenes without the inconvenient restraint of having to behave like real people.

What's harder to fathom is how Six can get so much attention while ABC's far superior family drama Once and Again is overlooked. The answer, I think, is that Six is easier to watch. Once asks us to confront difficult, real-life issues -- including, on Monday, a child's fear that her mother might die. Six turns death into a jokey gimmick, and family life into a melodramatic fantasy. It may amuse you, but it doesn't hit you where you live -- not unless your family and your entire circle of friends are all certifiable.

Enjoy it if you like. Just don't mistake flash for depth, and buzz for quality.

Leave that to the Emmys.

Don't you mean Season 3?


Fuel for the fire? A lame ass article written at the start of Season two? Two did start kinda slow, but turned into a terrific and emotional season. Peter Krause showed his acting chops. Nate Fisher is such a great character.

I believe we already tore apart that silly* article two years ago. Did you really have to go back to March of 2002 to find some bad press on it? Bianco's bashed the show much more recently than that. It's his thing. He loves to bash Six Feet Under ... not surprising when he doesn't even get some of the episodes. But then, this is a guy who thinks 24 is a superior show to The Sopranos, hates Law & Order: SVU (thinking it the worst of the franchise) and was fond of My Big Fat Greek Life, so take it for what it's worth. If I'm not mistaken he wrote an article about how Skin would be the breakout hit of the year, turning What's His Name and What's Her Name into household names.

das

* Not because it expresses a negative opinion of a quality show, but because it does little else and reads more like a Star Wars fan bashing LOTR than a professional review.

Alan Ball is one of the most overrated writers around. The 3 episodes from the first season he wrote, including the pilot, were by far the worst episodes of the season. During season 2, SFU might've been the most overrated show on TV, but season 3 made up for that. I loved season 3 so much, it was my favorite show of last year. Ball's season 3 episodes were much better than all his previous episodes, but I still feel like they're flawed, showing very little coherence to the season as a whole.

You can argue that he created the show that, at times, I loved so much, but any writer with half a brain can come up with interesting characters and situations. Sadly, Ball doesn't have the talent to bring these characters and situations to life. The same was true of American Beauty. I liked that movie the first time I saw it because I saw so much potential in it, but I find it unwatchable now.