Six Feet Under - Complete Season 1 (DVD)

Six Feet Under remains not only one of HBO's biggest successes, along with the likes of The Sopranos and The Wire, but it's also frequently touted as one of the greatest TV shows of all time, and I would have to reflect this sentiment: the quality of the writing is far and away above 99% of shows currently airing, written with uncommon depth, and exploring themes such as family, sexuality, and death with a fresh twist thanks to it being written by American Beauty scribe Alan Ball. Six Feet Under revolves around the Fisher family, who run a funeral home, and in the very first episode, the patriarch of the family, Nathaniel Sr. (Richard Jenkins) is killed in a ...  Read the complete review

Since we have been re-watching this series from start to finish, I thought I'd write a review after we finished each season. When I first start watching a programme and everything is new, I find that I have to be gripped by around the third episode or I don't really want to carry on with it. The producers and director have to get my attention quickly and with this one they really did. I watched the whole of this season within a couple of days and was greatful that there were other seasons awaiting so I didn't have to go through the pain of watching it week by week. The programme is based on The Fischers who live in a funeral home. We start out by ...  Read the complete review

Season one of any show has a lot to achieve. It needs to be believable and authentic, but also needs to introduce the characters to us slowly, allowing us to get interested in them. The fine and delicate mix of these two elements often goes wrong, but with Six Feet Under's first season they completely nailed it. When Nate Fischer's dad dies, he goes home for the funeral, and his life is never the same again. Unlike most people, his dad's body is staying at home, because the family home is a mortuary, and the family business is an Undertakers. The show focuses on the bizarre lives of the family, and the work that takes place in a mortuary. This is ...  Read the complete review

When I came home from university for the weekend a couple of months ago, it was nice to see my family again, but there was something else that I was happy to return to: my DVD collection. I did take quite a few of my DVDs up to Edinburgh with me, but since I knew that most of the time that I was there would be spent socialising and working, I didn't want to bring too many or I would risk distracting myself from my course. Faced with a few days of doing very little at home, however, I didn't have to come with an excuse to sit down in bed and watched some of my favourites that I'd left behind. The spectacular series that is House took priority, of course, but there's only ...  Read the complete review