Fave and least fave characters from Six Feet Under.

In real life, Nate’s type is the worst. So narcissistic and self deluded.

I couldn't stand the Peter Krauss character.

I liked Lauren Ambrose.

Do people really fuck as much as these people? Veritable minks.

I HATED Nate. I remember fast forwarding his scene at the hospital yelling PLEASE DIE

Mine was Kathy Bates' character, Bettina. Funny, no-nonsense and refreshingly honest. She was a fantastic contrast to the tortured Fishers and their morbid clientele.

My favorite was Ruth and Brenda's mom.

Calling All Angels

Patricia Clarkson, Kathy Bates, and Frances Conroy and her angelic voice !

Rico wasn't my favorite (or least favorite) but I wanted to keep Freddie Rodriguez in my pocket as a personal fucktoy.

[quote]Mine was Kathy Bates' character, Bettina. Funny, no-nonsense and refreshingly honest. She was a fantastic contrast to the tortured Fishers and their morbid clientele.

So was Ruth's sister - whatever her name was.

Nate and his dead wife were the worst. Billy was next.

Bettina was the best. Then came David.

Best death scene at end: Brenda dying because her brother would not shut up.

[quote]Best death scene at end: Brenda dying because her brother would not shut up.

She was masturbating while Billy was talking her to death!!

Parker McKenna was ok. She cheated her way into college too!

My favorite character will always be Nathaniel Fisher, dead man smoking.

The interesting thing about the show was that all of the characters were to some degree unlikeable. At different points I hated them all. Among the minor characters I started out liking Maggie because she was a Quaker like I was, and we don't get much representation.

Claire and Brenda are my favorites, Lisa was the least favorite. Nate went from favorite to being annoying.

I've seen every episode at least 3x and agree that at one point or another, every character is annoying.

But I consistently hate the character played by Lili Taylor.

I also hated Brenda's prostitute friend.

.

Justin Theroux playing the french horn was a strange, creepy character.

Never watched a full show, wasn't there a hot black guy?

Why was Brenda flying home from Seattle in the first episode?

Of the secondary characters I loved Rico's wife (Justina Machado?) and hated Ruth's Russian boyfriend (hated so much I never learned the actor's name).

Of the tertiary characters, none were better than Sarge played by Josh Stamberg.

Favorite tertiary charachter has to be Keith's mother, Beverly Todd. "I will slap the black right off of you"

R19- I don’t think they told us.

sorry to change the subject - but I remember reading that parts of the set went to auction in San Francisco. I'd love to have bought something. Maybe from Ruth's kitchen.

And talking of the kitchen. It never made sense....they were always going upstairs to their private quarters, yet the kitchen was on the first floor and entered from the yard at the back.

[quote]Why was Brenda flying home from Seattle in the first episode?

I felt they met walking into the terminal. I didn't think they met on the plane.

What about Arthur?

Who came first, Arthur or Dwight Schrute? I can't remember.

R24 the kitchen was absolutley on the second floor. There's several scenes where the camera pans all through the second floor, specifically one in the last episode after David and Keith have renovated.

r24 The home in the show and in real life is 3 floors. The third floor on the show, where Ruth's bedroom is is generously sized compared to what would actually be there.

I liked most of the characters, it’s really hard to pick a favorite. Ruth would get on my nerves and Claire’s boyfriend Russell.

I think Brenda and Nate met on the plane. They had been talking about her massive stuff (whatever it is called). She did not tell him her name, by the way. She introduced herself to Ruth.

SFU is one of my all-time favorite shows. I was on DL during its original run and each episode got a thread that had a big discussion. Good times!

Joanna Cassidy as Magaret Chenowith, Billy and Brenda's mother. What a fabulous crazy bitch!

R8, who wouldn't want Freddy Rodriguez as their fuckboy? I sure as hell would, that man is unbelievably sexy. Especially in Planet Terror, even with all the blood.

Also, that's quite the clip you posted, just a shame it isn't Freddy himself.

Rico and his storyline wasn’t my fave because he never caught a break.

Least favorite was the angry black cop.

Favorite was the kooky white massage lady.

I really liked Keith. His family not so much.

joanna Cassidy wash the best supporting character.

I liked Taylor. Keith’s niece...

“these are coloring books! You can’t draw in coloring books because they already have the drawings in them. You can only color in coloring books. That’s why they’re called coloring books.

Freddy Rodriguez is chubby now, he's been on a series called "BULL" on CBS. I barely recognized him.

btw, he's married to a fat Hispanic chick, well, she was fat, not sure what she looks like now, but he's been married since the mid-1990s.

Lauren Ambrose looks much the same, just thinner.

I thought Lauren Ambrose would have a big career after the show. Then she kind of disappeared for years.

I actually stopped watching this show because of Keith & Brenda. Both were total doggy downers. Keith had literally ZERO redeeming qualities so it made no sense that David would want to date him. The dude never smiled or laughed or had any personality whatsoever. Every time they'd break up I'd get so hopeful that he was finally written out of the show, only for him to inevitably return to my great disappointment. And that Brenda chick? Hell nah. Hated her mannerisms, hated how deep and "intelligent" they tried to make her...just hated her energy. I finally just gave up on the show when it was clear neither of their characters were going anywhere. They neg me out.

[quote]Favorite tertiary character has to be Keith's mother, Beverly Todd. "I will slap the black right off of you"

Judging by how light-skinned Keith was - especially compared to his parents on the show - she must've slapped him hard and repeatedly during his childhood.

I normally like Lili Taylor, but god did I hate her character. Probably because I've known several women in real life who were EXACTLY like that character and they were all insufferable AF.

I hated James Cromwell’s character at first but he got interesting to me once we learned of his troubled mental state.

I didn’t much care for Keith especially after the first season. I remember wishing David would end up with the nice gay guy in Season 2 played by cutie Adam Scott.

Lisa (“if it’s yellow, let it mellow”) got on my nerves but that was kind of the point with that character.

I thought Cromwell’s character was more interesting before he went “crazy”.

I was glad Ruth dumped George’s ass as compassionately as she could. Disliked George’s daughter.

Why did Nate have sex with Maggie?

I couldn't fucking stand looking at Russel's zitty fivehead.

That ferret Maggie!

Through a friend who worked this series I own the original FISHER AND SONS baseball shirt worn by hot German-American dreamboat Peter Krause

Always wanted Nate and Brenda to stay together.

Loved Ruth and the always unexpected contrasts between her conservative side and her sudden, wild "I've had enough of this shit" side. . Hated Claire (whiny, talent-less) and Lauren Ambrose (pale and talent-less). Keith was pretty when he wasn't being sullen and overly-serious. Always wanted to slap David, who seemed to behave like he was a closeted fag in 1956 Omaha, rather than 1990's Los Angeles. Brenda could be tiresome but funny. Always felt as if Vanessa and Rico were sort of characters from a different show.

Nate, well, he might have been the most realistic character on the show. We all know 'Nates'. We've all lusted after "Nates." We've all come to understand how disconnected, shallow and boring "Nates" turn out to be. And [R48] - Nate slept with Maggie because Nate slept with any/everyone. That's what "Nates" do.

The ending was so good and kind of cathartic. Sad and satisfying simultaneously.

[quote]Joanna Cassidy as Magaret Chenowith, Billy and Brenda's mother. What a fabulous crazy bitch!

TOTAL gay icon. Ticks ALL the boxes.

[quote] fabulous crazy bitch!

as I said.

[quote]I didn’t much care for Keith especially after the first season. I remember wishing David would end up with the nice gay guy in Season 2 played by cutie Adam Scott.

I loved David when he was playing the field. All of his love interest were fun. I liked the wild partying dance instructor the most. He was such a true to life type.

I felt, in fact I know, that keeping David with Keith was a political move - to show and prove gays can stick together through thick and thin. Keith was dreary and a bore and played out very early on.

[quote]The ending was so good and kind of cathartic. Sad and satisfying simultaneously.

I worried what the hell Claire was going to do with her car when she got to New York.

Brenda was the role model for toxic, high maintenance people everywhere. I was so glad that Nate dumped her right before he died. I think the point was that he had finally developed enough self-awareness (and he was starting from a very low base) to realize that their relationship would never work in the long run.

I agree about Nate. Don’t get the hate for him r58.

[quote]I was so glad that Nate dumped her right before he died.

While she was expecting his baby?

He didn't dump her - he had an affair with Maggie, but I don't think he dumped her.

The art teacher was played by Alan Ball's boyfriend, if that sheds any light OP.

I loved Claire and all the scenes with Patricia Clarkson, Catherine O'Hara, Kathy Bates. The episode that made the most impact was the one where David gets carjacked.

Yeah he didn't dump her. She was expecting his baby and being a mother to his other daughter Maya, who became her daughter.

The episode with the hike and Parker McKenna. The one where Ruth hallucinates, also on a hike (possibly the same episode?)

I hated the character played by Lili Taylor, and yet I love Lili Taylor. It kinda bugged me that they gave her that to play.

Yes that scene posted by R32. One of my absolute favourites.

Found out rather recently that the guy playing Brenda and Billy's father was Elizabeth Montgomery's last husband. I didn't like him much. Maybe it was the character more than the actor.

Freddy Rodriguez was super cute and a fantastic actor, I was really disappointed to find out he was very conservative. Perhaps for him it was all or nothing, who knows.

Very surprised Lauren Ambrose didn't get major attention after this. She played my favourite character. Not fake enough for Hollywood, maybe.

Fun fact: They almost offered the role of David to the guy who played Brenda's brother.

I loved Nate. His choice of women was hideous.

Hated Brenda. She looked dirty and you could smell her from your TV screen.

The opening scene for every episode was always great.

Loved the theme song.

I enjoyed Claire, thought David was mostly annoying and Nate usually a nebbish, couldn’t warm up to Keith, and loathed Brenda.

R62 and R60, he did dump her, while he was in hospital. Here's the scene.

My friend Julie was exactly like Brenda (even physically). She loved the character and the show. Haven't seen her in years. Last I heard she was doing coke, among other things.

R70 He doesn't even fucking SAY it! He implies that he's leaving her... What a fucking creep... How very male, though.

Nate's only redeeming quality, his attractiveness and charm, were what made him even more horrible. He would never have gotten away with half the crap he pulled if he'd been meh or less blessed with the genetic lottery. Urgh. These guys panic after they hit 40 because they know they'll end up alone. He dies in the show, but his life after 40 would not have been pretty, Maggie or no Maggie.

I know some people are good at this. Good memory for obscure details. I'm most certainly not.

Who was the actor/character - young guy had cancer I think. Nate became sort of involved with him emotionally and kept visiting him in the hospital. I think it was connected the woman rabbi storyline.

[quote] He dies in the show, but his life after 40 would not have been pretty, Maggie or no Maggie.

Maggie was such an insipid little woman. I think that was the joke really.

He'd have gone on having relationships with awful women...and probably would have found one to stick around and have a family with.

Brenda was fucking great. She was the real meat of the show. I think she took a break for a while and the show was much weaker without her.

I loved the aunt in Topanga. I had a fantasy of living in that house. Less so now with all the wildfires. But at the time it appealed to me a lot.

This breaking scandal. Very reminiscent of what Parker did. Parker got caught as well I seem to remember.

Brenda before the breakup was awful (the character, not the actress), but I thought when she got back with Nathan the roles reversed and he became the asshole. I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to go to that church. I also remember Nate saying something mean to her about not being Maya’s real mother.

Yep R77. The roles reversed and he became the obnoxious one. The actress playing Brenda was fantastic and the character really interesting. All her storylines were good or great. Not to mention her mother, and her insane brother.

I loved David's square dance calling bf played by Broadway hottie Steven Pasquale (when he had his old and preferable nose).

I loved the bitch who worked for the big corporate funeral home chain that was trying to get The Fishers to sell!

Brenda was my least favorite. Her family, especially Billy, was well cast. Hoo boy. Thought it was a fairly candid and accurate portrayal of mental illness and family dysfunction in an upper middle class family.

Fave: Gabe.

I'm surprised to see the hatred for Brenda. For me, she was the most compelling reason to keep tuning in each week. The character wasn't always likable but her story was so interesting. To me, at least.

Lots of "love to hate" characters on this show like Olivier and Russell.

[quote]I loved the bitch who worked for the big corporate funeral home chain that was trying to get The Fishers to sell!

You mean Mitzi.

It’s pretty impossible for me to dislike a character more than the simpering, submissive, un-self-aware, faux-spiritual Maggie (unless it’s arrogant cheating Nate).

And by the way I too am a Quaker, and I still very much disliked Maggie.

I didn't like Keith, and don't know why David stayed with him. Adam Scott's character would've been a much better bf for him.

Sometimes I wonder if there are any homosexuals left on DL. I really do.

If this nutcase doesn't tick all the boxes for gay fandom I don't know who does.

[quote]I didn't like Keith, and don't know why David stayed with him.

He was a real DL-fave back in the day. It really bugged me. He was so bland. But he had his moments, like when he became a security guard to that pop singer.

I'm sure everybody on this thread already knows this, but what the hell I'll post it anyway:

Catherine O'Hara's self-centered, demanding shrew of a character was based on Cybill Sheperd. Alan Ball was a writer on her sitcom.

Julie White, who played Mitzi the funeral home conglomerate owner, also played Brett Butler's best friend on Butler's sitcom. Alan Ball was also a writer on that. Butler was an even bigger nightmare to work with than Cybil, and White was so fed up with her she left the show. I guess Ball liked White and that's why he gave her a role on SFU.

R53 I agree with everything especially Lauren Ambrose.

[quote]Who was the actor/character - young guy had cancer I think.

The actor was Glenn Fitzgerald and the character's name was Aaron. I had a crush on him back then when he would turn up in small roles. Supposedly gay in real life and, per an old DL post, a "very giving bottom".

[quote] I normally like Lili Taylor, but god did I hate her character. Probably because I've known several women in real life who were EXACTLY like that character and they were all insufferable AF.

Almost had to stop watching because of this character. Whining, needy, guilting, clinging. And the hideous outfit (think she only had one) of skirt with clogs, fuck. You couldn’t ff past her because then you might lose a plot point.

Rachel Griffiths was pregnant at the end of the second season, which is part of the reason why did not see much of her during the third.

Cybill Sheperd was a real bitch to work with, but Brett Butler was a full-blown whack job.

I nearly choked when Ruth gave the Russian guy $86,000 to keep him from getting whacked by the mob. Disliked him so much. But I didn't care for her other nerd BF at the time who drove the weird hybrid car, either. Was that Ed Begley Jr.?

I did like Chris Messina as Claire's cute bare-bottomed co-worker and future husband.

OP, I fucking HATED Vanessa Diaz. She was THE FUCKING WORST.

Claire and Nate's wife, whatshername who drowned, were in a movie together with Frank Langella. It was pretty good. Not GREAT, but good.

Terrible title.

[quote]The actor was Glenn Fitzgerald and the character's name was Aaron. I had a crush on him back then when he would turn up in small roles. Supposedly gay in real life and, per an old DL post, a "very giving bottom".

Thank you, R91. I knew someone would pull through.

and yes, I remember those gurls be bitchin' 'bout him.

He was very good. I had a bit of a crush too.

I got the DVD of "Dirty Sexy Money" due to him and Peter Krause being in it. But I didn't like it

Hated Ruth's legless grandmother.

r31 Shit, really? That's incredible to hear and I envy you.

I loved it when Veronica Cartwright showed up and did her trademark hysterical crying scene.

Lisa's brother in law was my favorite character, because he murdered Lisa.

Starting out in the evening was good to very good. Lauren’s character was like a more ambitious Claire.

R104 - Him shooting himsekf was unexpected.

So homely.

Which season was your fav?

R99 Me too! I bought Dirty Sexy Money on DVD for Peter Krause. I enjoyed it at the time but will never rewatch it. It was my introduction to Sofia Vergara. It must have been just before Modern Family.

Nikolai Hiram Gunderson Peter Facineli as often partially nude artist Jimmy Mena Suvari as Edie Ruth's friend and floral shop coworker who loved her St. John's Wort Stark Sands as Claire's friend, son of Scientologists Chris Messina as Ted, hes really grown on me since the show ended Claire's awful office coworker

One Sentence Review: Depressing show with a downbeat subject as the background with some super annoying characters.

Sorry you didn't "get it", Leonard

Tough pick, but I'll go with Season 3.

[quote]But I consistently hate the character played by Lili Taylor

Agree

What was there to 'get' R112?

We are ALL going to die? So let's spend months/years of our lives watching depressed and miserable characters in a TV series?

I found most of the characters insufferable and self-absorbed. Most of us deal with those types of people in real life.

You just didn't get it, Leonard.

If you don't know who Leonard Maltin is...well....

Seasons 1, 2 and 5 were the best.

Who said I didn't know who Leonard is?

[quote]Seasons 1, 2 and 5 were the best.

3 & 4 are a lot better when you re-watch, for some reason...first run they were disappointing.

I was late to the game for SFU. I started watching it last winter after years of being urged by friends for years. I treated each episode as a piece of fine chocolate, never savoring more than one or two episodes in a setting. I finished season 5 a year ago, and the finale is amazing.

“What the fuck, Brenda?”

r110 Wait, Chris Messina is a scieno? Well, shit.

r121 That's the very best way to watch it. I feel bad for people getting duped into checking out the final montage on YouTube without having seen all the (good) shit that led up to that glorious moments first.

Brenda is my favorite.

[quote]“What the fuck, Brenda?”

"That's so fucked up, Brenda!"

"Did you fuck the rabbi?"

Maybe Chris Messina left CoS. One can hope.

Oh, yeah, I remember that intense scene. I need to play the series again.

And, the only threesome I want to see is Nate, the guy on the bike, and another male SFU character to be determined.

R124 Their fights were legendary. That scene is worth both their entire careers alone.

I was really blinded by Nate's looks and charming personality. He is such an asshole.

Some pretty good lines in that R124 scene. "I'm sick to death of you using it as an excuse to act like some cunt from hell! "

"Nate with the great haircut. "

"Life doesn't have to be miserable just cuz you are! "

"How long have you hated me like this, Nate? "

That guerito in the bike is one sexy fucker.

Anyone else lusting after Jeremy Sisto when watching the show? I was still in my damaged guys phase, don't judge me.

You knew what you were getting yourself into Nate.

Who could forget?

[quote]That guerito in the bike is one sexy fucker.

"Fuck me harder, surfer boy, with your fat little crooked cock... and your please-tell-me-you're-not-serious shaved balls."

I liked Ruth because she had her moments, like this one:

I'll always love Olivier for the line he gives Claire after her first school show:

"After first success comes corruption. And the work suffers. I toast you with the shitty wine!"

Robbie the florist. A DLer? You bet!

Claire was great, Nate was hot but a cad, Maggie was unbearable and Arthur was creepy.

The guy who played Olivier is Alan Ball’s husband. Ball also cast him as the asshole father in “Towelhead”. He excels at playing assholes.

Lisa’s father was played by Andrew Prine, who made me gay with his nude pictorial in Viva Magazine in the 70s!

So funny, my father went on a cruise - can't remember exactly where - Caribbean, I think. He was showing me his holiday snaps of the friends he made on the boat..."oh, and this guy...said he was an actor"

David: So it's up to you as his spouse To decide what you think he would have wanted.

Brenda: I have no idea. No fucking idea. I mean, Rabbi Ari ? And now, apparently, he is some kind of Quaker. Was, I mean.

That's hilarious, R142. And James Cromwell is legit famous! Not to everyone I guess.

Oh yes, R131. I loved the scene where he was in his manic phase with Claire and buying all kinds of expensive stuff, including a fancy camera. "I got one for you too!" and dancing around in his leather pants. Right before a crash.

Fun fact: James Cromwell's mother, actress Kay Johnson, posed early in her career for the lady with the lamp who for decades was the symbol of the Columbia film studio and its films.

His father was director John Cromwell, whose films included Bette Davis' Of Human Bondage, The Prisoner of Zenda, Algiers, Since You Went Away (which gave us Guy Madison!) and Caged. He was a victim of the Hollywood Blacklist but bounced back in the late 1950s with Paddy Chayefsky's The Goddess (a fictionalization of Marilyn Monroe's life and early career).

The self-involved art school students, narcissistic twerps. I'd like to eliminate the season 3 art school season altogether.

Parker: I thought you were, like, this Goth arty freak girl who was, like, tragic and suicidal.

There was a great scene in Season 5 where Brenda is blathering on and on about her problems with Nate, and her friend Jackie (played by Anne Ramsay) tells her to STFU because she’s so boring.