Lots of Love for "Big Love"

The television show “Big Love” brings interesting plot lines and solid acting to the concept of present day polygamy. The show has drawn a lot of attention since its premier in 2006 and surprisingly most of that attention has been positive. Since its premier the show has been nominated for 4 Golden Globes, 5 Emmy Awards and 1 Television Critics Association Awards among other awards.

Dorothy Rabinowitz of the Wall Street Journal gave the show 90 out of 100 and wrote that the show is a, “thoroughly sharp, seriously compelling drama about a family of Salt Lake City Mormons living in a polygamous arrangement.”

The show was co-created by Mark Olsen and Will Scheffer, who completed 3 years of research in order to make sure that they accurately portrayed the polygamous lifestyle. One big name that is associated with the shows crew includes producer Tom Hank.

The show depicts the life of a middle-class business man named Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) and his three wives Jeanne Tripplehorn, who plays the part of first wife Barb Henrickson, Chloe Sevigny, who plays second wife Nicolette Grant and Ginnifer Goodwin, who plays the role of third wife Margene Heffman. Bill is shown as a Viagra-popping bed-hopper who keeps the women on a tight sexual schedule.

The women are expected to obey Bill and essentially make sure that he is happy at all times. He gets to live like a king and the three women are left to raise the ever growing group of children that are in the family. However, even with these character flaws, Paxton is able to convince viewers that he is a loving family man who would do anything for his wives and children.

Of course, the story lines also revolve around the children that this family has created. As the older children have continued to grow up, the story lines have shifted to include more information about their lives. For example, Sarah, Barb and Bill’s daughter finds out that she is pregnant and that starts a whole new storyline.

Overall, the show portrays polygamy in a more positive way than it has been shown before. While there are points in the story line that show the consequences of the lifestyle they have, Barb gets excommunicated for not denouncing her family life and their neighbors threaten and alienate them, the audience gets the impression that this is a family that does genuinely care and love one another.

It is refreshing to see a serious drama that really makes an audience question everything they knew about people who choose to practice this lifestyle. This show certainly beats out the huge amounts of television shows that are airing right now.

Since the action in this drama comes only so often, the viewer needs to stick around through a couple episodes to get hooked on this compelling show. With the new season premiering on HBO in January 2010, viewers should tune in, sit back and prepared for a slowly developing, but rewarding plot line.