Six Feet Under Follow-Up in the Works at HBO
Despite delivering what many consider one of the best series finales of all time, HBO seems poised to return to the well with their hit drama series Six Feet Under. Variety reports that a follow-up series is in the works at the premium cable network, but details on it scarce. It's possible that the new series could be a sequel to the original or might be a total reboot of the concept. No writer is attached to the new series but series creator Alan Ball and executive producers Bob Greenblatt and David Janollari are all reportedly attached to executive produce.
For those unaware, Six Feet Under told the tale of the Fisher & Sons Funeral Home in Los Angeles and the dysfunctional family that lives in the home and operates the death-centric business that runs out of its first story. Though a drama at its heart, Six Feet Under was best known for its darkly comic moments, surprise twists, and tear-jerking ending that remains a pinnacle of television even sixteen years later. The original series starred Peter Krause (Parenthood), Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Frances Conroy (American Horror Story), Lauren Ambrose (The X-Files, Servant), Freddy Rodriguez, Mathew St. Patrick, Fachel Griffiths as Brenda Chenowith, Jeremy Sisto, James Cromwell, Justina Machado, and Richard Jenkins
Considering the finality of the original show's ending, and previous comments from creator Alan Ball, it would be surprising if the new series was a decades-later sequel. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter back in 2015 about the prospect of a revival, he once said: "I'm not sure there's ever been one of those reunion things that I've watched, or liked or cared about. You're trying to re-create something that's over. Usually, the whole point of it is money, ratings, things that aren't particularly inspirational to me. I can't imagine doing a reunion show of anything."
Not everyone involved felt that way though as series writer-producer Rick Cleveland told The Independent earlier this summer: "Within a year of the show ending I was wishing we had stuck with it for two more years. I'm not sure what stories we would have told. We had introduced small children into the cast, and to do them justice, we would have had to start building stories around those kids, and they were still probably too young to do that with. I have fantasies in my head about rebooting the show, but the stars are all the kids – they're David and Keith's two sons, and Federico's two sons, and Nate and Brenda's two daughters – they would all be in their twenties now, right? So you could build a whole new Fisher family drama around a new generation of people.".
What do you want to see in a potential new version of Six Feet Under? Sound off in the comments below and let us know.
