Big Love

For other uses, see Big Love (disambiguation).
Big Love
Intertitle (seasons 1–3)
GenreDrama
Created by
Starring
Opening theme
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes53 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Running time46–58 minutes[1]
Production companies
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseMarch 12, 2006 (2006-03-12) –
March 20, 2011 (2011-03-20)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Big Love is an American drama television series created by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer that aired on HBO from 2006 to 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin portraying his wives. The series charts the family's life in and out of the public sphere in their Salt Lake City suburb, as well as their associations with a fundamentalist compound in the area. It features key supporting performances from Amanda Seyfried, Grace Zabriskie, Daveigh Chase, Matt Ross, Mary Kay Place, Bruce Dern, Melora Walters, and Harry Dean Stanton.

The series premiered in the United States on March 11, 2006, following the sixth-season premiere of the HBO series The Sopranos.[2] Big Love was a success for HBO, running for five seasons before concluding its run on March 20, 2011.[3]

Big Love received widespread critical acclaim, and earned several major awards and nominations throughout its run. The third season was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, and the first three were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Drama.[4] For acting, Chloë Sevigny won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in the series' third season, and Bill Paxton was nominated three times for his leading role.[4] At the Emmys, Ellen Burstyn, Bruce Dern, Mary Kay Place, and Sissy Spacek were all nominated for their recurring roles,[5] while series' creators Olsen and Scheffer won the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Drama.[6]

The series has been the subject of articles in academic journals, including the Columbia Law Review, Law and Contemporary Problems, and Michigan Journal of Gender & Law.[7] Several publications listed the series's first three seasons as among the best television of the decade 2000–09, and its final season ranked among the best-reviewed scripted series of 2011.[8]

  1. ^ "Rewind @ www.dvdcompare.net – The Home of DVD Comparisons – Part of The Rewind Network".
  2. ^ Neary, Lynn (March 9, 2006). "HBO's 'Big Love': My Three Wives". NPR. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  3. ^ "'Big Love' says goodbye". Variety. October 28, 2010. Archived from the original on November 1, 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Big Love". Golden Globes. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  5. ^ "Big Love". Emmys. Television Academy. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  6. ^ "Mark Olsen and Will Scheffer, Feeling the 'Big Love'". NPR. August 1, 2007. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference hanna was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference meta was invoked but never defined (see the help page).