Saturday, July 30, 2016

Six Feet Under-TV Drama Series, 2001-2005


Six Feet Under is the second TV drama series that I had enjoyed a decade and 5 years ago. It is one of the greatest and enjoyable TV drama series written during the last decade. I started watching this Series again just recently. Like, Queer as Folk, it made me cry, laugh, angry, disturbed and illicit dozens other emotions because the drama is well acted and written and discussed controversial but true to life story lines and topics. May I have the pleasure of introducing it you my dear readers in case you have not watched this very entertaining and award-winning TV series. Enjoy!

Six Feet Under is an American drama television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It premiered on the premium cable network HBO in the United States on June 3, 2001 and ended on August 21, 2005, spanning five seasons and 63 episodes. The show was produced by Actual Size Films and The Greenblatt/Janollari Studio, and was shot on location in Los Angeles and in Hollywood studios. The show depicts members of the Fisher family, who run their funeral home in Los Angeles, and their friends and lovers. The series traces these characters' lives over the course of five years. The ensemble drama stars Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodriguez, Mathew St. Patrick, and Rachel Griffiths as the show's seven central characters.

Six Feet Under received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its writing and acting, and consistently drew high ratings for the HBO network. Regarded by many as one of the greatest TV dramas of all time, it has since been included on TIME magazine's "All-TIME 100 TV Shows", as well as Empire magazine's "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time" list. It has also been described as having one of the finest series finales in the history of television. It won numerous awards, including nine Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Peabody Award.

The show stars Peter Krause as Nathaniel Samuel "Nate" Fisher, Jr., whose funeral director father (Richard Jenkins) dies and bequeaths to him and his brother, David (Michael C. Hall), co-ownership of the family funeral business. The Fisher clan also includes widow, Ruth (Frances Conroy), and daughter, Claire (Lauren Ambrose). Other regulars include mortician and family friend, Federico Diaz (Freddy Rodriguez), Nate's on-again/off-again girlfriend, Brenda Chenowith (Rachel Griffiths), and David's long-term boyfriend, Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick).

On one level, the show is a conventional family drama, dealing with such issues as interpersonal relationships, infidelity, and religion. At the same time, the show is distinguished by its unblinking focus on the topic of death, which it explores on multiple levels (personal, religious, and philosophical). Each episode begins with a death – the cause of which ranges from heart attack or murder to sudden infant death syndrome – and that death usually sets the thematic tone for each episode, allowing the characters to reflect on their current fortunes and misfortunes in a way that is illuminated by the death and its aftermath. The show also utilizes dark humor and surrealism running throughout.

A recurring plot device consists of a character having an imaginary conversation with the deceased; for example, Nate, David, and Federico sometimes "converse" with the decedent at the beginning of the episode, while the corpse is being embalmed, or during funeral planning or the funeral itself. Sometimes, the characters converse with other, recurring deceased characters, most notably Nathaniel Fisher, Sr. The show's creator, Alan Ball, avers that this represents the living characters' internal dialogues expressed in the form of external conversations.

http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/watch/Six-Feet-Under/8153365854895881112/full-episodes#episode=6636654083398196112

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Queer as Folk-TV Drama Series, 2000-2005


The recent news on gun violence on a gay night club in Florida reminds me that homophobia still exists today. This also reminded me of a TV series that I had enjoyed 16 years ago. Just recently, I started watching the series in my PC and again, I must say it is one TV series that made me cry, laugh, angry, disturbed, concerned and most of all entertained because the variety of the subjects it has portrayed. Queers as Folk had received 34 nominations and 8 awards. However, if you are homophobic this TV drama is not for you!

Controversial story lines which have been explored in Queer as Folk have included the following: coming out, same-sex marriage, ex-gay ministries, recreational drug use and abuse (cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, GHB, ketamine, cannabis); gay adoption, artificial insemination, vigilantism, Autoerotic asphyxiation, gay-bashing, safe sex, HIV/AIDS, casual sex, cruising, "the baths," sero-discordancy in relationships, underage prostitution, actively gay Catholic priests, discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation, the internet pornography industry, and bug chasers (HIV-negative individuals who actively seek to become HIV-positive).

Other topics and story lines in this series are political corruption ( local level), platonic love between two homosexual men, brotherly and sisterly love, comics, making movies in Hollywood, fund raising scams, bisexuality, closeted gay men in sports, acceptance and non-acceptance of sons and daughters sexual orientation by their parents, testicular cancer, Proposition 14, bombing of a gay night club, and cosmetic surgery. There are several episodes with classical music (violin concertos) and art exhibits.

Queer as Folk is an American–Canadian co-production. The series ran between December 2000 and August 2005 and was produced for Showtime and Showcase by Cowlip Productions, Tony Jonas Productions, Temple Street Productions and Showtime Networks in association with Crowe Entertainment. It was developed and written by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who were the showrunners, and also the executive producers along with Tony Jonas, former President of Warner Bros. Television.

It was based on the British series created by Russell T Davies. Queer as Folk was the first hour-long drama on American television to portray the lives of gay men and women. Although it was set in Pittsburgh, PA, much of the series was actually shot in Toronto and employed various Canadian directors known for their independent film work (including Bruce McDonald, David Wellington, Kelly Makin, John Greyson, Jeremy Podeswa and Michael DeCarlo) as well as Australian director Russell Mulcahy, who directed the pilot episode.

http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/watch/Queer-as-Folk/7415223650357422112/full-episodes#episode=7323481961721158112
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