Six Feet Under

When death is your business, what is your life? For the Fisher family, the world outside of their family-owned funeral home continues to be at least as challenging as—and far less predictable than—the one inside.

Six Feet Under (2001-2005) is an American HBO prestige drama series created by Alan Ball, blending dark comedy with family drama. Nate Fisher (Peter Krause) runs a family funeral home in Los Angeles after his father's death, and his brother David Fisher (Michael C. Hall), a closeted gay man, struggles to keep the business alive alongside his sister Claire Fisher (Lauren Ambrose), a restless artist. Their mother Ruth Fisher (Frances Conroy) grapples with grief and her own choices. Each episode opens with a client's death and follows how that loss ripples through the family's personal and professional lives. Across five seasons of 63 episodes, the series builds a serialized story driven by shifting romances, business pressures, and the characters' fraught attempts to connect. The tone is morbid, wry, and deeply humane, with a melancholic undertow and moments of unexpected warmth. Fans of The Sopranos and Succession will find resonance in its layered family dynamics and its unflinching look at mortality and self-discovery in a sun-bleached Southern California setting.

Acclaimed for its frank, darkly comic and deeply moving portrait of a dysfunctional family running a Los Angeles funeral home, with a finale widely regarded as one of television's most affecting.

• Dead Like Meshared dark comedy tone about death and grief, serialized family drama with a morbid workplace setting
• The Sopranosshared prestige serialized family drama, sibling and parent conflict, HBO-style moral and emotional realism
• Successionshared dysfunctional family dynamics and bittersweet emotional register in a family-run business
• Pushing Daisiesshared quirky morbid tone and grief-driven family relationships, character-focused emotional depth

Created by

Alan Ball

Release Date

2001-06-03

Episode runtime

56 min

Rating

8.7 / 10 (1189)

What is Six Feet Under about?

The Fisher family navigates grief, love, and rivalry while running their Los Angeles funeral home.

What is Six Feet Under like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Six Feet Under as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.

Is Six Feet Under violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Six Feet Under as moderate.

What did critics think of Six Feet Under?

Acclaimed for its frank, darkly comic and deeply moving portrait of a dysfunctional family running a Los Angeles funeral home, with a finale widely regarded as one of television's most affecting.

Which shows are like Six Feet Under?

Shows with a similar feel include Dead Like Me, The Sopranos, Succession, and Pushing Daisies.

How long is Six Feet Under?

Six Feet Under: 5 seasons, 63 episodes.

Is Six Feet Under still running?

No, Six Feet Under has ended.

Where can I watch Six Feet Under?

In United States, Six Feet Under streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max.