‘Six Feet’ Finds Sweet Success in Its First Year of Eligibility

Thursday’s news that HBO’s “Six Feet Under” earned 23 Emmy nominations, more than any other show, was enough to wake the dead. The cable network’s Sunday night original series about a Southern California undertaker family has been widely cheered by critics who revel in its complexity and unapologetic darkness.

The show was created by Alan Ball, who won an Oscar in 2001 for his “American Beauty” screenplay. This is its second season, but only the first year it was eligible for Emmy nominations. The show became a media sensation this year and was embraced with almost a cult-like fever by a growing legion of fans.

Cast members Peter Krause, Rachel Griffiths, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose and Freddy Rodriguez were rewarded individually, as well, with each of them earning nominations.

The show’s darkly absurdist story lines--a mix of tragedy, comedy and sexuality--included: Nikolai, a florist who gets his kneecaps busted by members of the Russian mob; his girlfriend Ruth, who accidentally takes her son David’s tablet of Ecstasy; Billy’s mother Margaret, who nurtures his profound Oedipal complex; and Margaret’s husband Bernard who has permission to sleep with other women as long as the hotel rooms don’t cost less than $75 or more than $300 a night.

Dana Calvo