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A coupla’ weeks ago, Comcast suckered us into picking up HBO.  Now, we don’t need a movie channel - we’ve got Netflix for our movie fixin’s - but we chekced out HBO’s original programming . . .

. . . and we love Big Love.

My wife and I have torn through Seasons One (which was available On Demand) and Two (had to rent them), and we’re ready to roll forward to Season Three this June.

I’m particularly taken by the acting.  Bill Paxton blows me away.  The man’s been in things like Near Dark and Aliens, and here he is with a subtle performance, rich in depth, and fascinating to watch.  The three wives are great, and even the kids don’t bother me.

I’m also a fan of the writing.  I haven’t watched a lot of original HBO productions (Deadwood was the last thing with the HBO stamp I’ve watched, but it’s been awhile since I’ve rented those DVDs) recently, so it’s refreshing to encounter writing that doesn’t spoon-feed its information to you.

Anyone else watching this?

I’ve been underwhelmed by Big Love. I think Deeps was mildly intrigued by season one and less by season two.

As for season three - I think you’re going to have to wait until early 2009. HBO doesn’t have much in the pipeline due to shake ups at the top and the writers’ strike.

Bill Paxtons character turns into a douche after season one and Chloe Sevigny gets unbearably neurotic and bitchy. Just like Six Feet Under where near the end of the series all the characters were so whiny and self absorbed it was just a little irritating. Six Feet Under however was brilliantly written and shot unlike Big Love which was just pretty good until season two. I watched the entire series of Six Feet Under and gave Big Love it’s walking papers after three episodes of season two.

We’re disappointed that we’ll have to wait so long for Season Three.  It looks like we’ll see it hit the screen this fall . . .

Sorry to hear that y’all aren’t diggin’ it.  I think what attracts me the most to it is the delicate interplay amongst the characters.  The relationships between Bill and each individual wife, this friend/co-worker/underling, his children, etc., keep our interest very high.

Almost every one of those characters have made choices contrary to what we would have made (especially in Season Two), but I still find the characterizations completely fascinating.