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, Mat
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, Mat
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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, Aaron Paul, Bruce Dern, Melora Walters, and Harry Dean Stanton.
The series premiered in the United States on March 12, 2006, following the sixth-season premiere of the HBO series The Sopranos. Big Love was a success for HBO, running for five seasons before concluding its run on March 20, 2011.
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. 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. At the Emmys, Ellen Burstyn, Bruce Dern, Mary Kay Place, and Sissy Spacek were all nominated for their recurring roles, while series' creators Olsen and Scheffer won the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Drama.
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. 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.
Concept and writing
Big Love was created by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, who also served as executive producers. Olsen and Scheffer spent nearly three years researching the premise of the show, with the intent of creating a "fair, non-judgmental portrayal of polygamy in America." Olsen said the family dynamics were key to the series' narrative, mixing family affection with tensions. "It's that combustion, negotiating that mix of feelings that I think keeps an audience coming back for more."
The fictional fundamentalist group the United Effort Brotherhood (UEB) has characteristics similar to the United Effort Plan established in 1942 by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and taken over by the state of Utah in 2005. The FLDS is a polygamist group and identifies itself as the legitimate successor of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which officially discontinued polygamy in 1890.
Creators Olsen and Scheffer included a drive through the twin FLDS towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, as part of their research for the show.
Filming and sets
Although set in Utah, the series was primarily filmed at the Santa Clarita Studios in Valencia, California. The location used for filming "Henrickson's Home Plus" scenes was The All American Home Center in Downey, California.
The exterior scenes of the three homes that Bill owns were filmed on location on Shady Lane, in the small town of Fillmore, California.
The mall scenes from season one were filmed in the Fox Hills Mall, in Culver City, California. Other exterior shots were filmed in Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, and Sandy, Utah, as well as northeast Los Angeles, California.
Music
During the first three seasons, "God Only Knows", by The Beach Boys, played during the opening titles (and a cover version at the end of the series finale). The musical score for the series was composed by Anton Sanko. Mark Mothersbaugh composed music for the first season, while David Byrne was in charge of music during the second season. The theme song for the final two seasons of the series was "Home", by the band Engineers.
Overview
= Main cast
= Recurring cast
= Guest cast
Leading cast
Bill Paxton as Bill Henrickson – Husband to Barb, Nicki, and Margene. He is a practicing polygamist and, at the end of season 4, is elected to the Utah State Senate.
Jeanne Tripplehorn as Barbara "Barb" Henrickson – Bill's first wife and the only wife to whom he is legally married; mother of Sarah, Ben, and Tancy ("Teeny").
Chloë Sevigny as Nicolette "Nicki" Grant – Bill's second wife, Barb's former caretaker during her bout with cancer, and Roman Grant's daughter; mother of Wayne and Raymond with Bill, and Cara Lynn with J.J.
Ginnifer Goodwin as Margene "Margie" Heffman – Bill's third and youngest wife; mother of Aaron, Lester, and Nell.
Amanda Seyfried as Sarah Henrickson – Bill and Barb's first daughter, struggling with her father's polygamy. She marries ex-Mormon Scott Quittman despite her parents' initial reservations.
Douglas Smith as Ben Henrickson – Bill and Barb's son. In the third season, he expresses his sexual attraction and love to Margene, his third mother, who pacifies him as she loves him as a son. He has stated his desire to follow The Principle—to practice polygamy, as his father does.
Henrickson family and friends
Branka Katić as Ana Mesovich– Bill's fourth wife. She and Bill marry, then she divorces the family.
Jolean Wejbe (replaced by Bella Thorne for Season 4) as Tancy "Teenie" Henrickson – Bill and Barb's younger daughter.
The UEB has built its own temple on its Kansas compound. The raid on Juniper Creek is reminiscent of the Short Creek raid in 1953, when Arizona state police and National Guard troops took action against polygamists in Colorado City. Many of the businesses owned by the UEB are similar to businesses formerly run by FLDS members under the non-fictional UEP, which managed financial holdings of the FLDS. The creators read a single 2003 article published in Utah on the Darger family, who are Independent Fundamentalist Mormons.
