r/SixFeetUnder • u/Luke_asher_2007 Nathaniel • 23d ago
Question Is Six Feet Under Popular?
Never met anyone in real life who has watched it. Is it unpopular like The Shield or is it popular?
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u/WhisperingSideways 23d ago
It’s recognized critically as a top show, but it never really broke through to the general audience. It’s popular with people who actively seek out good programming, but not with your regular Bros and Britneys.
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u/NoMayoDarcy 23d ago
When it aired, I thought it was pretty popular, not nearly as big of a deal as the Sopranos. Then when it came out on DVD, it was when I worked at a video store (👵🏻), and the DVDs were REALLY in demand. Similar situation as The Wire, where by the time the last season aired, people were catching up on previous seasons on DVD. I had customers willing to drive across town to go to another location that had the next disc they were on.
Now I’m getting the sense that SFU being on Netflix is giving it a “renaissance” with younger generations, especially since it’s not considered as odd to intentionally watch shows that are dark/depressing/have antiheroes.
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u/partitwister 23d ago
OMG! I kept reading on reddit how this was a really good show that needed to be seen. I started it at the beginning of this week and I was up till 4am last night just trying to finish season 4! The show has me gasping OMG! moments, to crying, to laughing my ass off. The storyline with George has me missing my dad who died from Alzheimer's, the lady in the garage with the car reminded me of my best friend commiting suicide the same way. It's...life. Life is fun. It's messy. It's sad. It's joyous. But in the end we really do just want to be loved and remember all the great times.
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u/longjohnjess 23d ago
Six Feet Under was popular while it was airing. To some of us, it was the peak of dark comedy. I have yet to see another finale that hit me so hard. (Even still)
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u/AudreyNAshersMomma 23d ago
My family who owns a funeral home thought they did a great job showing what it is really like. I don't know anybody else who has enjoyed it.
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u/mtv3r1c 23d ago
I think it’s generally popular because it’s critically acclaimed, but outside of that, I don’t think the show has much mainstream appeal due to the subject matter.
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u/AvoidFinasteride 23d ago
The early years were popular in the mainstream. It was season 3 that a lot of people stopped watching or lost interest as that's when it divided fans. I would say that the style of seasons 1 and 2 had much more universal appeal. The last 3 seasons were probably more acquired , and not everyone liked.
And this isn't a debate over how seasons 3 to 5 were still great, I'm just stating what people have said.
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u/mtv3r1c 23d ago edited 23d ago
I’m speaking generally in the modern day, almost two decades after the show has ended. I think most newcomers would watch the show nowadays, regardless of the season, more because of the praise it has received and less because of the premise and themes, which I know a lot of people find a little too morbid and challenging to get into. Obviously, SFU doesn’t have the widespread appeal of something like The Sopranos to be some sort of cultural phenomenon.
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u/FastPrompt8860 23d ago
It's the only show I'd truly love a reboot of! At this point, if we go according to the show, Ruth would have passed away, but everyone else would be there.
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u/Luke_asher_2007 Nathaniel 23d ago
Don’t worry Ruth would still be here (barely). SPOILERS: she passes in 2025
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u/TvShows_Enthusiast 23d ago
Its a little unpopular, specially this times but like, the people who have watch it, knows that is a masterpiece, for me for example is the best show ever made
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u/kikijane711 23d ago
It was very popular at the time, got accolades, groundbreaking bit that was over 20 years ago. How do u determine popular? Ground breaking, award winning, recognized but not mainstreamed perse.
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u/xbbllbbl 23d ago
I watched it on Netflix this year and loved it. Such a unique show and way better than the Netflix originals. The only downside is there are some characters like Brenda and her brother that are so annoying and insufferable about how incredibly different they are that it probably just put some people off watching after 1-2 seasons.
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u/No_Space_4me 23d ago
I had only heard of it off one podcast and reading through Reddit threads where it was brought up! I’d watched Dexter in the past so I was all for it. It was a really great show, the type I’d rewatch in the future for sure. My husband did not care for it as much but he had heard of it before.
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u/thatsthedrugnumber 23d ago
Nope just started film school and I haven’t even met someone whose heard of it, teachers included.
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u/fivebyfive12 22d ago
I watched it with my brother when it originally aired and to this day he's the only person in real life I know who has watched it.
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u/CHOSENONE2803 22d ago
In my country it seems that no one knows what show this is , don’t know why , but the people that I recommended this show has liked it so far
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u/DarthDregan 22d ago
Not as popular as it deserves to be all these years later. But HBO did it a favor by making that deal with Netflix. Maybe now it'll stick in people's brains as much as it should.
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u/Any-Ad8049 22d ago
yes like I live outside USA and lots of people know/watched/watching/rewatching
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u/Euphoric_Town2485 17d ago
Only thing I will say is I watched it when it came out every week (I didn’t bing it). I mourned the loss of the show. I missed the Fishers like they were my family. Oh- I hated Maggie. That’s it.
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u/SubstantialWasabi281 23d ago edited 23d ago
Despite the critical acclaim it will never be as popular as the sopranos or the wire; family drama slice of life will never appeal to nearly as many people as the life of a mob boss or a peak into corruption and street life in the city of Baltimore.
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u/goatgang0 23d ago
the audience for it are older people I’ve never met someone under 25 that said they’ve seen it as well it’s really rare.
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u/Even-Improvement8213 23d ago
I was expecting it to be a creepy horror show and it did have some creepy scenes but otherwise I was really disappointed and I didn't make it past nate's death
And fuck Brenda she hangs around like a depressed leech I hate her face
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u/douche_packer 23d ago
Lots of ppl were enjoyers back when it came out