Six Feet Under

Every episode in the life of the Fisher family begins with death. How else would stories set in Fisher & Sons Funeral Home begin? Created by producer/writer Alan Ball, the strange yet strangely familiar world of the Fishers and their assortment of friends and companions, lovers and clients, deals with the most fundamental human experiences. The face the celebration of life and the loss of life, the joy of love and the pain of love, the struggle for understanding—and the headlong crash into confusion. Here, dreams, memories and neuroses intersect, remind us that those who pass are never fully lost. The Fishers—Nate (Peter Krause), David (Michael C. Hall), Ruth (Frances Conroy) and Claire (Lauren Ambrose)—own, operate and occupy the funeral home and form the center of a superb ensemble. They are surrounded by Nate’s anxious and fragile lover, Brenda Chenoweth (Rachel Griffiths), the mother of his child, Lisa (Lili Taylor), David’s powerful, commanding lover, Keith Charles (Matthew St. Patrick), mortuary associate and part owner Federico Diaz (Freddie Rodriguez), and the departed, but pop-up, patriarchal presence of Nathaniel Fisher (Richard Jenkins). The bizarre yet familiar stories are written by Alan Ball, Laurence Andries, Scott Buck, Rick Cleveland, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Kate Robin, Jill Soloway and Christian Taylor. Executive producers include Ball,Alan Poul, Robert Greenblatt, David Janollari and co-executive producer Bruce Eric Kaplan. Episodes in 2002 were directed by Miguel Arteta, Kathy Bates, Michael Engler, Rodrigo Garcia, Jeremy Podeswa, Dan Attias, Michael Cuesta, Alan Poul, Alan Taylor and Rose Troche. Six Feet Under receives a Peabody for its unsettling yet powerfully humane explorations of life and death.