Six Feet Under

[proud2BlibKansan]

just started. Claire is listening to liberal talk radio. :woohoo:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

1. That was great!

:applause:

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Who was that

on the radio?

[libnnc]

4. It sounded like Marc Maron from Morning Sedition n/t

[devilgrrl]

55. Definitely Morning Sedition...

I heard a "Neo-Con Death Cult" comment. :evilgrin:

[maveric]

3. Whats up with Rico's wife? What a nasty pill she turned out to be.

I'm wondering if George or Billy will commit suicide.
Nate sure is getting a little tightly wound.
Keith may be child abuse waiting to happen.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Rico messed up.

Vanessa has every right to be nasty to him.

I think Nate is going to hook up with Maggie.

And those kids (especially the older one) are cruising for a bruising.

[maveric]

7. She did let him back in the house. You can expect some forgivness

by her doing that?

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Yeah but think about her reasons for doing that

She had fired the nanny and needed help.

[libnnc]

6. I really like the Quaker thing this season

I've been really curious about the faith. I'm not far from Greensboro, NC -- a real Quaker stronghold.

[libnnc]

9. Ruth's gonna get some!

:bounce:

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Good for her

I like her haircut too.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

11. If Nate cheats on Brenda

:grr:

[Lindsey]

12. well, he just did :-(

I'm disappointed that the writers decided to make turn his character into someone I totally dislike - I used to really love him. What a drag. I wonder why the hell they're doing this??????

[Lindsey]

15. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not believin' this -

[maveric]

17. Spoiler warning next time. Please?

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

30. What don't you like about Nate?

He clearly isn't sure about Brenda, their marriage or their child. He wasn't sure about Lisa, their marriage or Maya the whole time he was married to her. He is and always has been a free spirit, never 100% sure about his current position life. I feel they have been very true to Nate's character.

Was his new found fondness for fatherhood what made you like him? That is the only real change there has been in his character, personality wise, that has happened on the show.

I'm not so sure about the ending of this episode though. I think the compromising situation he now finds himself would provide enough drama. I shall wait and see where they take this though.

[LynneSin]

59. Nate, in a nutshell, is living the life he never wanted to live...(spoiler

..which was working in his father's business and basically being his father. The fact that he hates his job shows with his attitude towards others.

I think Nate is going to end up being dead because the reprecussions of his death will play out wonderfully for the rest of the season. David & Rico will fight over the direction to take Fisher & Diaz (Rico had a great point that it's his latino last name that has been bringing in the profits with more business from the Latino business), Rico will realize life is too short to stay with someone who may not completely love him and will finally grow a set of balls. He'll finally tell that bitch of a wife (yes, he did cheat on her but she's using him and going way too far) to either work on the relationship or file the divorce papers. I loved the direction that Keith & David and their kids went this week. THey've been showing that Keith is becoming his father (potentially abusive) but they showed him warming up to the kids when he finally understood why Durrell was acting out. And David is basically becoming a clone of his mother!! Hopefully Claire is going to realize that she's not meant for the 9-5 world and will go back to art school. I think she'll have 2 psychos to deal with - Billy and that chick who thinks she's 'dating' that lawyer that likes Claire. And if Nate is dead, expect a child custody fight between Brenda and Lisa (Nate's first wife) family.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

62. Nate not living the life he wanted to

most certainly is a key aspect of his character. His unhappiness in this aspect of his life has spread into each of the relationships we have seen him in, except with Maya.

That is an interesting take on the effects of Nate's death on the rest of the cast. That would definitely cause a rift between David and Rico. Two reasons I don't think Rico will leave Vanessa: his religion, which when shown, is clearly something that effects his decisions and might keep him from getting a divorce. The boys will also keep Rico from getting a divorce.

I am also pleased to see Keith's change of heart towards the boys, especially Durrell, but I expect one more major change in this relationship which will determine whether they keep the boys or not.

I think Claire, although not past trying to be an artist, feels that she has outgrown her art school friends and may stick with this guy. Her relationship with Billy most certainly isn't over and I have thought for sometime that Claire would be the Fisher that dies this season and that Billy would be involved.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Too late Kathy

but I have been thinking the same thing.

[alarimer]

25. He has become such an asshole

I liked him better in the early seasons. But now it looks like he has worse problems...

[libnnc]

13. OMG!! n/t

edited 'cause I don't wanna spoil for the west coasters

[Kathy in Cambridge]

14. OH MY GOD!!!

won't spoil it...NATE!!

[libnnc]

16. Was this the season finale? n/t

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

18. I think he had a heart attack. No scenes from the next one?

[Kathy in Cambridge]

24. Could be his brain thing-remember two years ago?

could be a stroke.

[proud2BlibKansan]

51. My son just pointed out that Nate

grabbed his right arm, not his left. So it may not have been a heart attack. :cry:

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

52. What's the difference?

I remember hearing a heart attack can produce arm pain but forgot which arm.

[proud2BlibKansan]

54. I believe it is usually

the left arm.

[Lindsey]

20. No - but notice they didn't show previews for next week...

remember that Nate has that disorder where something could go off in his head (I think season two). I guess he's gone - I can't believe it.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

28. Maybe that explains his irrational behavior.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. Gawd I hope not

It surely can't be.

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. Ok I looked it up

This is episode 8. There are 4 episodes left.

8 Singing for our lives
9 Ecotone
10 All alone
11 Static
12 Everyone´s waiting

[VolcanoJen]

53. "Ecotone" was the name of the environmentally-friendly embalming fluid...

... that David experimented with earlier this season.

Remember Nate's forboding conversation about "green funerals" and his own wishes for burial (wrapped in a shroud, under a tree) during the business meeting with David and Rico during this episode?

I'm blown away... SFU has always retained its ability to make me care for the characters and then rip my heart out.

[proud2BlibKansan]

56. Oh no

Say it ain't so.

NATE!! :cry:

[MountainLaurel]

19. The finger of God

Getting him back for cheating on his pregnant wife?

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

21. I recall Nate having some sort of thing wrong w/ him the first or

second season.

[Lindsey]

23. Holy shit!

He was one of my favorite characters until this last season. Why the hell did his charater have to end on such a cynical note?!?!?!

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

27. He may not be dead.

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. He almost died - remember?

He had that brain disease.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

31. Was that cured or just treated?

I'll have to go back to Season Three to check that out. Unless someone here remembers for sure.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

32. he has surgery

not sure if it was 100% cured.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. I thought it was cured but

could come back.

But I think he had a heart attack tonight. He was complaining about his arm - remember?

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

37. Yeah

I know very little about diagnosing medical conditions. But it's on tape. So there must be some medical professional knowledgeable enough to diagnose patients by watching a videotape, even edited ones like Six Feet Under. I wonder if such a wonderful person exists????

Besides the liberal talk radio Claire was listening to did anyone else take Rico's statement about the husband, not the parents, deciding what to do with their youngest daughters body after death as a shot at the Schiavo fiasco?

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. No I missed that part

with Rico.

Interesting.

[lavenderdiva]

34. I think he had an operation for that brain disease - 2nd season?

I too, noticed the lack of previews for next week's show. Is next week's show the finale? This is the last season, and I'm thinking that next week's show is the final finale...

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

39. No

There are 4 episodes left. The Series Finale is on August 21. I assume the lack of previews, which I never watch anyway, is meant to keep us guessing about Nate's fate.

[lavenderdiva]

41. WooHoo! boy, am I glad to hear that...

4 more episodes! I was afraid that it would be ending next week, and I'm just not ready for it to be over yet... Thanks for letting me know. I went to Hbo.com, but couldn't find any information there, even on tonight's episode. weird.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

44. You're welcome

I went through the HBO schedule to find out how many episodes were left a couple weeks ago. There was nothing I could find on HBO's SFU page. I'm not ready for the show to be over either and don't think I will be when it is over. Tearing up just thinking about the end of this show.

[DerekG]

35. "Six Feet Under" lost me last season

The show has become almost unbearably depressing and the sexual indiscretions/gymnastics are rather obnoxious. (Is there anyone on this show, besides Ruth, who can actually stay loyal to their SO?)

I'll stick with "Deadwood" and "The Sopranos."

[Lindsey]

38. I don't know how many shows are left...I think two or three.

I've loved the show since the beginning...even with its flaws. I'm sorry it's ending.

[RayOfHope]

42. Like The Sopranos characters are the most monogamous folks around! n/t

[DerekG]

46. There is a stark difference

Everything about Anthony's cadre is Dionysian; indeed, if they were blessed with any semblance of eloquence, the Family would be right at home in "Macbeth."

Yet even with this, David Chase and co. have never been so desperate as to resort to showing a used, *dripping* condom on screen.

Just because you can show anything on HBO...

[maveric]

43. Ruth was not always loyal to her SO's

She was chaeting on Nathaniel at the time of his death. And she still carries the guilt with her.

[kwassa]

45. This show is about misery, and nothing else

Brenda and Nate, the world's most miserable couple.

The show is ending because the viewer numbers have dropped way off, because of the unrelenting misery and lack of progress in the lives of the characters.

I watched tonight after missing several episodes, and thought I had missed nothing.

[Lindsey]

47. Do you have the ratings stats? I heard from a friend of mine that works

for one of the studios it was ending because Alan Ball (the creator) wanted it to end. It just got nominated for five Emmey Awards including best drama (I believe, but I'm not positive, that includes all cable and network drama t.v. shows). Maybe I'm wrong...or just biased because I've been a loyal fan for all of these years.

[proud2BlibKansan]

49. I heard that too

It's ending because of the creator wanting to end it, not bad ratings.

[Blue_In_AK]

57. I read that he wanted to end it last season

but HBO talked him into one more.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

58. Thank You HBO!

If they did talk A.B. into one more season. This season has been nearly as good as the first two.

[Blue_In_AK]

61. I will be so sad to see them go...

This has been a wonderful series, sublimely human.

[kwassa]

63. I read the stats in the Washington Post a couple of months ago

Several of the HBO series have problems losing viewership, including much better series like "The Wire", my personal favorite, and "Deadwood" my second favorite. HBO is less concerned with ratings than many networks, but ...

This was the reason they bumped the new SFU shows to Monday night rather than Sunday night. It has since been moved back to Sunday, which makes me wonder how well the new "Comeback" series with Lisa Kudrow is doing.

[kwassa]

64. Here are current ratings, which doesn't show the slump

HBO returns 'Six Feet' to Sunday

Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Posted: 11:01 a.m. EDT (15:01 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/28/television.hbo.reut/

"Six Feet Under" had been averaging 2.2 million viewers Monday night, with a cumulative audience of 4.6 million, including all of its replays for the week. "Entourage" has averaged 1.4 million on Sundays, with a cumulative audience of 4.4 million. Lisa Kudrow's "Comeback" has been slumping from the start, drawing just 1.1 million viewers on Sunday, with a cumulative audience of 3.4 million.

Although HBO typically sees better ratings by launching series after the traditional broadcast fall season, its primetime performance likely is being impacted by more summer fare than usual. Other cable channels also are proving competitive; HBO's own sister channel, Time Warner-owned TNT, launched new drama "The Closer" on Monday with outstanding results, averaging more than 6 million over the first two episodes.

[kwassa]

65. Here are quotes about ratings decline

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/15/AR2005071502302.html

By late June, the fifth season of "Six Feet Under" had drawn an average audience of 2.2 million for its Monday telecasts -- down 40 percent compared with its fourth season, which launched at the same time of year. Factoring in repeats, the mortuary drama was averaging just under 5 million viewers per week, which was off almost 20 percent from last year's nearly 6 million. HBO has since decided to move "Six Feet Under" back to Sunday nights.

Anyway, when HBO moved the show back to Sunday last weekend, it clocked 2.2 million viewers.

http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/ny-ettel4331507jul06,0,4296862.story?coll=ny-features-print

Through the end of May, HBO's average prime-time viewership was down to 900,000 from 1.2 million for the same period in 2004. The weekly "Deadwood" audience has dropped by 2 million and "Carnivale" was canceled, while "Six Feet Under" and "Entourage" both started new seasons with smaller audiences than the year before.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

48. Proof of ratings?

I have not heard that and was under the impression, from interviews with Alan Ball and Alan Poul, that they made the decision to end the show on a high note, which this season has been, instead of letting it go indefinitely.

[proud2BlibKansan]

50. But that is the point

It is supposed to be depressing. The whole funeral home connection carries the depressing theme through the stories. Each episode starts with a death. That makes it fairly obvious it's not 'Friends' you are watching!

[Lindsey]

60. Exactly....the very premise that it all starts with a death

and shows the flaws of the Fisher family and all of the other characters IS the main point of the show.