Big Love

Big Love
Promotional poster
Created by	Mark V. Olsen Will Scheffer
Starring	Bill Paxton Jeanne Tripplehorn Chloë Sevigny Ginnifer Goodwin Željko Ivanek Amanda Seyfried Shawn Doyle Melora Walters Grace Zabriskie Matt Ross Mireille Enos Cassi Thomson Harry Dean Stanton
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	40 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	50 minutes
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	March 12, 2006 (2006-03-12) – present

Big Love is an American television drama on HBO about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy. Big Love currently stars Bill Paxton, Chloë Sevigny, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ginnifer Goodwin, Harry Dean Stanton, Željko Ivanek, Amanda Seyfried, Grace Zabriskie, Matt Ross, Mireille Enos and Cassi Thomson.

The series premiered in the United States on March 12, 2006 following the sixth-season premiere of the HBO series The Sopranos. The second season aired in 2007 and the third season began airing January 18, 2009 in the U.S. and Canada. The fourth season began filming in August 2009 and premiered on January 10, 2010.

Overview

The show was co-created by Mark Olsen and Will Scheffer, who also serve as executive producers. Olsen and Scheffer spent almost three years researching the premise of the show, with the intent of creating a fair portrayal of polygamy in America without being judgmental. The series' current theme song is "Home" by the band Engineers. During the first three seasons, "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys played during the opening titles. The musical score for the series is composed by Anton Sanko. Mark Mothersbaugh composed music for the first season, while David Byrne was in charge of music during the second season.

Cast and characters

Leading cast

• Bill Paxton – Bill Henrickson – Main character. A practicing polygamist and the new Utah Republican state senator.
• Jeanne Tripplehorn – Barbara "Barb" Henrickson – Bill's first wife. Mother of Sarah, Ben, and Tancy.
• Chloë Sevigny – 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 – Margene Heffman – Bill's third and youngest wife. Mother of Lester, Aaron, and Nell.
• Amanda Seyfried – Sarah Henrickson – Bill and Barb's first daughter, struggling with her father's polygamous faith. Sarah recently married Scott Quittman, even though her parents disapproved.
• Douglas Smith – Ben Henrickson – Bill and Barb's son. Has expressed his sexual attraction to Margene, his third mother, who rejects it as incestuous. He has stated his desire to follow The Principle—to practice polygamy as his father does.

Supporting cast

• Matt Ross – Alby Grant – Roman Grant's son and potential 'Prophet' of Juniper Creek, Alby is a closeted homosexual. When Lura discovered Alby's most recent affair, his lover, Dale Tomasson, commited suicide in Alby's secret apartment.
• Shawn Doyle – Joey Henrickson – A former professional football player with the Dallas Cowboys, Bill's brother, Wanda's husband. He attempts to enter into polygamy like Bill and his forefathers.
• Melora Walters – Wanda Henrickson – Bill's sister-in-law, wife to Joey Henrickson. Her psychological problems surface when she tries to poison people who cross her or her family. She is also the sister of Nicki's first husband, J.J.
• Grace Zabriskie – Lois Henrickson – Bill's mother. She has been in a long-time feud—and even attempted homicide—against Bill's father, Frank Harlow. Lois, Frank, Jodeen and Ben were kidnapped by the Greenes while attempting to buy contraband parrots in Mexico.
• Bruce Dern – Frank Harlow – Bill's abusive father who exiled Bill from Juniper Creek at age 14. He is in a strong, sometimes violent, perennial feud with Lois.
• Mireille Enos – Jodeen and Kathy Marquart (deceased) – Kathy is Joey's second wife-to-be until her death via a car accident while being chased by Roman Grant in episode "Fight or Flight." She lived in Joey and Wanda's home and assisted with the care of their infant son. Her twin sister, Jodeen is Frank's newest wife.
• Harry Dean Stanton – Roman Grant (deceased) – Nicki & Alby's father, self-proclaimed 'Prophet' and former leader of the Juniper Creek compound. He was smothered to death by Joey Henrickson to avenge Roman's involvement in the death of Joey's fiancée Kathy. Roman's body was later exhumed and burned by Joey to cover up any evidence of the murder.
• Mary Kay Place – Adaleen Grant – One of Roman Grant's wives and Nicki and Alby's mother. Although sixth wife to Roman, she was his most trusted confidante and was able to influence Roman's political decisions. After Roman's death, Alby sends her to be a wife of J.J., against Adaleen's and Nicki's wishes.
• Željko Ivanek – J.J. Percy Walker, Nicki's first husband and father of Nicki's first daughter, Cara Lynn.
• Cassi Thomson - Cara Lynn Walker - Nicki and J.J.'s daughter.
• Bella Thorne – Tancy ("Teenie") Henrickson – Bill and Barb's younger daughter (formerly played by Jolean Wejbe - seasons 1 to 3).
• Brian Kerwin – Eddie Henrickson – Lois' younger brother, Bill's uncle.
• Keegan Holst – Wayne Henrickson – Bill and Nicki's first son.
• Garrett Grey – Raymond Henrickson – Bill and Nicki's second son.
• Joel McKinnon Miller – Don Embry – Bill's business partner and best friend. A polygamist until two of his wives ran away, leaving him a monogamist both in spirit and in fact. He was asked by Bill to take a 'bullet'—by confessing his polygamy to a TV reporter—to allow Bill's state senate candidacy to move forward.
• Tina Majorino – Heather Tuttle – Sarah Henrickson's co-worker and best friend.
• Branka Katic – Ana, Bill Henrickson's former fourth wife. She and Bill married, then she divorced the family (late in the third season). Bill and his wives recently discovered that she conceived a child with Bill prior to their 48 hour marriage.
• Daveigh Chase – Rhonda Volmer – A young teenager who was to be married to Roman Grant. During Roman's trial, she was sent away so she would not take the stand and damage the defense's case. It remains unknown whether her "absence" led to Roman eventually being found not guilty of his crimes.
• Adam Beach – Tommy Flute  - son of Jerry Flute and a manager at the Blackfoot casino. His wife and children were killed three years ago by a drunk driver.

Recurring

• Aaron Paul – Scott Quittman, Sarah's new husband.
• Judith Hoag – Cindy Dutton-Price – Barb's sister.
• Patrick Fabian – Ted Price – Cindy's husband.
• Aidan Gonzales and Andrew Gonzales – Joey Henrickson Jr.
• Christopher Randazzo and Zachary Randazzo – Joey Henrickson Jr. (season 4)
• Ailish O'Connor and Julia O'Connor – Nell Henrickson (season 4)
• Anne Dudek – Lura Grant, one of Alby's wives, who tries to kill Roman.
• Ellen Burstyn – Nancy, Barbara Henrickson's estranged mother.
• Mark L. Young – Franky, Frank's son with Nita. Despite the significant age difference between Bill and Franky, Bill considers Franky to be as much his brother as Joey is.
• Wendy Phillips – Peg Embry, Don's wife, Home Plus' head bookkeeper.
• Kyle Gallner – Jason Embry, Don and Peg's son, Ben's best friend.
• Annie Fitzgerald – Verna, Don's second wife.
• Renee Albert – Julep "Jo-Jo", Don's third wife.
• Carlos Jacott – Carl Martin, neighbor.
• Audrey Wasilewski – Pam Martin, Carl's wife.
• Jodie Markell – Wendy Hunt, Bill's secretary.
• Sarah Jones – Brynn, Ben's ex-girlfriend.
• Lawrence O'Donnell – Lee Hatcher, family attorney.
• Jim Beaver – Carter Reese, business acquaintance of Bill.
• Luke Askew – Hollis Singer Green, patriarch of a rival polygamist group.
• Sandy Martin – Selma Green, Hollis' first wife and partner, Roman's youngest sister. A woman, but usually dressed in a man's suit with a male hairstyle and a masculine-deep voice.
• Carli Coleman – Brandy Thissel, Bill's ex-con cousin.
• Robert Beltran – Jerry Flute, business representative of a Native American reservation that wants to build a casino with Bill's collaboration.
• Noa Tishby – Ladonna Flute, Jerry's assertive, opinionated wife.
• Michele Greene - Sheila Jackson White, Channel 9 TV reporter.
• Ben Koldyke - Dale Tomasson (deceased), Alby's lover who hung himself after Lura revealed his affair to his wife and family

Family tree

	plural marriage
	traditional or legal marriage
	former marriage
	offspring

Orville Henrickson (deceased)

Unnamed woman (deceased)

Unnamed Man

Unnamed Woman

Frank Harlow (b. 1941)

Lois Henrickson (b. 1942)

Eddie Henrickson

Rae Henrickson

Unnamed Walker

Unnamed Walker

Adaleen Hallstrom Grant

Roman Grant (b. 1930 - d. 2009)

Rhonda Volmer (b. 1991)

Selma Green

Hollis Singer Green

William Orville "Bill" Henrickson

Margaret "Maggie" Henrickson (deceased)

Joseph "Joey" Henrickson (b. 1967)

Wanda Walker Henrickson

JJ Percy Walker

Nicolette Eugenia "Nicki" Grant

Albert "Alby" Grant (b. 1972)

Lura

Joseph Henrickson Jr.

Cara Lynn Walker

Wayne Grant

Raymond Grant (b. 2002)

Unnamed Dutton

Nancy Davis Dutton Johanssen

Ned Johanssen

Unnamed Father

Virginia "Ginger" Heffman (deceased)

Ted Price

Cynthia "Cindy" Dutton Price

Barbara "Barb" Dutton Henrickson

Margene "Margie" Heffman

Goran

Ana

Kim Lee

Scott Quittman

Sarah Henrickson

Benjamin "Ben" Henrickson (b. 1991)

Tancy "Teenie" Henrickson

Aaron Heffman

Lester Heffman

Nell Heffman

Unborn Child

Plot

The series revolves around Bill Henrickson, his three wives (Barb, first/legal wife; Nicki, second wife; and Margene, third wife) and their (combined) nine children. Henrickson lives with his family in three neighboring houses in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City.

Season 1

Season 1 introduces the main characters and revolves around the family's struggles to live their polygamous lifestyle while keeping it a secret from the outside world. While Bill goes about expanding his chain of home improvement stores ("Henrickson’s Home Plus"), he struggles to balance his three wives and his strained relationship with Nicki's father, Church prophet Roman Grant. From his compound on Juniper Creek, Roman seeks to gain a greater share of the profits from Bill's business ventures. Bill, who is resentful towards Roman for expelling him from Juniper Creek as a teenager, opposes this, and joins with his brother Joey, a former NFL player who returned to Juniper Creek after alcohol addiction to gain a seat on the Church's board of directors in order to undercut Roman's considerable influence and to maintain a level of autonomy from his controlling grasp.

Bill's first wife, Barb, is shown to be the anchor for the plural Henrickson family, but as the show progresses, it is revealed that Barb has mixed feelings about the concept of polygamy, and only her love for Bill makes her stay. Meanwhile, second wife Nicki (daughter of Roman) struggles to fit in with modern life outside the compound and her own desire for power within the family dynamic. Nicki compensates for her isolation by developing an addiction to shopping, leading her to accumulate $60,000 of debt in credit card charges. Third wife Margene, 23 years old, struggles to find her place within the family, as both Barb and Nicki look down upon her due to her youth and fertility.

Most of season one focuses on the family's struggle to keep their secret from their friends, neighbors, and coworkers. However, things come to a head when Barb is nominated for a "Mother of the Year" Award, resulting in her and Bill being outed as a polygamist couple. Meanwhile, Joey's mentally unstable wife, Wanda, poisons Alby Grant (Roman's son and chief minion) when Alby discovers that Bill is using Joey as a pawn in his scheme to undermine Roman's power within the Church, and threatens the two.

Season 2

Season 2 picks up two weeks after the end of season one, as Barb temporarily leaves home and then returns. Though the outing does not damage the family's reputation or the Henrickson business, it causes Bill to decide to take steps to ensure his family's financial security by trying to buy an electronic gambling company called Weber Gaming.

The second season also expands upon the political battles at Juniper Creek. When Roman and his wife inform Alby that they are willing to allow Wanda and Joey to get away with their attempt on his life in exchange for using them as leverage against Bill, Alby alerts outside authorities, who arrest Joey (who claims credit for poisoning Alby in order to protect Wanda), which ultimately leads to a raid of the compound.

File:Big-love-cast14.jpg

Big Love promotional photo featuring (from left to right) Jeanne Tripplehorn, Bill Paxton, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin.

Meanwhile, Roman's newest intended bride, 15-year-old Rhonda Volmer, secretly leaves the compound to live with the Henricksons. The family is quick to take Rhonda in, thinking that she is an innocent trying to escape being forced to marry the elderly Roman. However, it is quickly revealed that Rhonda is a pathological liar and sociopath who left the compound only to exploit Roman's legal troubles in order to get media coverage for her story in the newspaper and on TV.

Rhonda's departure and Alby's actions lead to Bill's manipulating Roman and the Greenes (a renegade polygamist sect that operates on the fringes of society) against each other in order to claim Weber Gaming. Roman is shot by the Greenes when the police finally try to arrest the Greenes, forcing them to flee. With Roman hospitalized, Alby quickly seizes power, and—-thanks to Rhonda's statements to the police—-Roman is arrested by the police for violating the Mann Act. Alby's power is ultimately secured when he forces his mother to flee Juniper Creek (after realizing that she planned to use him as a puppet to secure her own power base at Juniper Creek) and by Bill's refusal to challenge Alby's claim of prophethood in order to claim the position for himself.

On the home front, Nicki struggles with Bill's decision to send their son to a Catholic school (which is far enough out of the way for Bill to claim Nicki as his sole wife) while Margene and Barb wage war against each other for the "head wife" position. This is complicated when Margene befriends Ana, a Serbian waitress and dental hygienist, after witnessing Bill flirting with her at a diner. Margene encourages Bill to bring Ana into the family as a fourth wife in order to gain an ally against Barb and Nicki.

Barb, after a tearful reunion with her estranged mother and a pep talk with Roman's wife, reasserts herself as first wife by outing the family as polygamist to her nosy neighbors and informing Bill that she will finally leave him once and for all if he tries to bring a fourth wife into the family.

Meanwhile, Sarah is seeking help in dealing with her family's lifestyle through a support group for ex- Fundamentalist Mormons, leading to her falling for a man ten years her senior. While Sarah ultimately gives up her virginity to her new boyfriend (mainly to spite her father, who is indifferent towards Sarah's growing disdain for him and polygamy), Ben gives himself over to his father's views on polygamy. At the close of the season, Ben is dating twin girls from Juniper Creek whose goal is to marry one man between them, causing Barb to consider sending him away to live with her nonpolygamist mother.

Season 3

In the third season of Big Love, Bill pursues Ana, a waitress he met in season two, despite his pledge to Barb to end the affair. Barb warms to the idea after she spends time with Ana, and sees in her a confidante without Margene's childishness or Nicki's manipulativeness. After Barb agrees to allow Bill to marry her, Ana finds herself chafing at Bill's authoritarianism and sees her presence causing Nicki, Barb, and Margene to fight repeatedly. At the end of season 3, Ana "divorces" herself from the family, citing her inability to deal with the polygamist lifestyle and her fear that her staying in the marriage would destroy the already fragile bonds among Bill's three wives.

Another focus in season 3 is on Roman Grant's trial, as Adaleen forces Nicki to infiltrate the prosecution's office building as a clerical worker (using Margene's name) to uncover the identities of the chief witnesses against Roman. The key witness is Joey's intended second wife Kathy, who Roman forced to marry when she was only 16. Two of the witnesses are intimidated into not testifying while Rhonda (who now seeks to sue Roman and Juniper Creek in civil court) is given $30,000 by Adaleen and ordered to flee town after Adaleen lies to her about Roman no longer loving her. Kathy's testimony is negated by her twin sister Jodeen, who lies on the stand to protect her son and tells the court that Kathy was married at age 19 and not 16. She argues that due to the Juniper Creek policy of not celebrating birthdays, Kathy is "unaware" of her true age. Roman is acquitted and Nicki—who the audience discovers was forcibly married off at 14 to an older man when her picture is seen in one of Roman's "Joy Books"—shoves her father down a flight of stairs in an unsuccessful attempt to kill him. Nicki's employment leads to a flirtation with the prosecutor Ray Henry (Chip Esten), who is prosecuting her father, but he does not know her true identity.

Meanwhile, Sarah is preparing to leave home for college at Arizona State when she discovers that she is pregnant. She tells Ben and Heather, but not Scott, the 28-year old father, or her parents. At first she plans to give her child up for adoption, but ultimately she decides to keep it. However, while on a family vacation, Barb finds Nicki's birth control pills and mistakenly thinks they belong to Sarah. Barb's tirade against her daughter leads to Nicki admitting that the birth control pills are hers, having purposely been on the pill for years while lying to Barb and Bill about wanting additional children. The commotion of Barb's outburst leads to Sarah's miscarriage the next day, with Nicki convincing Sarah to come clean about the pregnancy and miscarriage afterwards. While Bill attempts to be supportive of Sarah, by buying her a new car and refusing to judge her decision to be sexually active, Barb's relationship with Sarah is severely damaged as Barb attempts to bully Sarah into becoming more involved with the family in light of her promiscuity and its consequences. Sarah decides not to attend college, much to the dismay of Heather, who changed her future plans to attend the University of Utah to attend Arizona State to help Sarah with the baby.

Joey has announced to Bill that he, Kathy, and Wanda are getting married, and he asks Bill to seal them. Furious at Roman's acquittal, Kathy has been gathering resistance on the Juniper Creek compound against Roman, threatening his waning authority within the compound (due to Alby consolidating his own power base). Roman has Kathy kidnapped hours before her wedding in order to force her to marry rival Hollis Greene, who is revealed to be Roman's brother-in-law and who will be immediately shipped off to Mexico, where Kathy will never see Joey or Wanda again. After stabbing Hollis's wife Selma with a pitchfork, Kathy steals a pickup truck and tries to flee. Roman forcibly rams her vehicle from behind and it plows into an electrical pole. Due to the force of the collision and to Kathy's braid being caught in the door, her neck is broken by whiplash and she is killed instantly. Her body is subsequently dumped in a ravine and her death staged to look like an accidental fall. At the funeral a few days later, Joey accuses Roman of murdering his intended wife. Joey later confronts Adaleen in her hotel room and tries to coerce a confession out of her about what she knows.

While Nicki becomes entangled with her boss, due to Ray's attraction to "Margene", Bill attempts to forge an alliance to bring down Roman for his part in Kathy's death. Margene, furious that Nicki is continuing to see Ray in spite of promising to break up their relationship, ultimately outs Nicki and Bill, leading to Ray denouncing the entire family and vowing to prosecute Nicki for illegal actions during the Grant trial. Bill promptly demands a divorce from Nicki, forcing her to move back in with Alby. Meanwhile, Sarah reunites with Scott and after telling him about the miscarriage, the two decide to get married, much to Ben and Barb's dismay.

Elsewhere, Bill and Alby broker a deal with Bill's brother-in-law Ted, who is seeking a Mormon document implying that the Mormon Church faked renouncement of polygamy in order to get Utah formally recognized as a state. This leads to a war between Barb's family and Bill/Barb, culminating in Barb being excommunicated from the Mormon Church (of which Barb is able to get her mother and sister to sponsor her for one last visit inside the temple prior to being excommunicated). The Greenes also want the document and kidnap Ted's adopted daughter to force him to give it up. However, upon being given the document, they reveal that it is a forgery and that Alby faked the document in order to con money out of the church.

In the season 3 finale, Alby ultimately plots to kill both of his parents, in order to consolidate his power over the compound and to avenge a prior attempt on his life that Adaleen arranged. He and his wife Lura create a letter bomb and he leaves it outside his mother's hotel room; it explodes when a maid's cart rolls over it and the maid and Alby are injured. Selma is arrested for kidnapping Bill's adopted niece and reveals evidence to police about Roman's involvement in Kathy's death, and the DA plans to indict Roman for murder. But back at the compound Joey waits for Roman inside his home and appears to have suffocated him, avenging Kathy's death. Meanwhile Nicki, revealed to viewers as being Wanda's sister-in-law, is reunited with her former husband, J.J., and their daughter, a 14-year-old named Cara Lynn. When she learns that Cara Lynn is about to be placed within the "Joy Book" in order to be married off, Nicki returns to the family with Cara Lynn in tow, announcing that she is her daughter. His family reunited, the season ends with Bill declaring the beginning of their own new church with him as the leader.

HBO Canada premiered this season day-and-date with HBO in the U.S. on January 18, 2009.

In November 2008, the show's official site, launched a massive ad campaign for the third season of Big Love, including a preview of the new season, a behind-the-scenes look at the new season, and background videos of Bill Henrickson, Barbara Dutton-Henrickson, Nicolette Grant, and Margene Heffman. In the behind-the-scenes video, Ginnifer Goodwin says, "Anything you thought could happen happens." Bill Paxton states, "I thought Season 2 was vamped up, but Season 3 is even more explosive." On her character, Chloë Sevigny says, "There is definitely a power struggle that goes on between the wives. You see Bill and Barb find out about some things Nicki has been hiding from them."

In January 2009, ABCnews.com reported that the series had incorporated the YFZ ranch raid into the story line.

Season 4

The fourth season of Big Love premiered on January 10, 2010 It was further announced that Amanda Seyfried, who plays Bill and Barb's daughter Sarah, will leave the show after the completion of the season in order to pursue a film career full time. It is unknown if she will make guest appearances in future seasons.

Reuters reported that Bella Thorne will replace Jolean Wejbe who has played Bill and Barb's daughter Tancy for the first three seasons. Another addition to the show is Adam Beach who plays Tommy Flute, the son of Jerry Flute (Robert Beltran), Bill's Indian gaming business partner.

In the premiere episode of season four, viewers learn that Roman Grant's body has been hidden in a freezer for several weeks by Adaleen. Alby and his wife, Lura move the body to Idaho to the Henrickson's newly opened - but still under construction casino. Bill is able to prevent the FBI from finding Roman before he returns Roman's body to Juniper Creek for burial.

The season presents Bill with two challenges—his campaign for public office, and his growing rift with his eldest son, Ben. Bill seeks a seat in the Utah State Senate as part of a plan to legitimize The Principle—which faces renewed and widespread animosity from the public. Bill learns of Ben's growing attraction to Margene, and agrees that Ben should spend some time away from the house, which Ben interprets as being 'cast out' of the family. This shocks Bill's family, who recently discovered Bill's own criminal past after his exile, revealed to the public by Bill's political opponent. Bill must also grapple with Marilyn Densham (Sissy Spacek), a powerful and conniving lobbyist whom he likens to a common criminal.

The season also develops a plotline involving J.J. marrying Adaleen. At first resistant, Adaleen accepts being "sealed" to J.J. when she finds that she's pregnant. Nicki is told she's infertile, even when treated by J.J.'s son, a fertility specialist. Eventually, it is revealed that J.J. has been using eugenics and inbreeding on an isolated community in Kansas where he is a leader, and that Adaleen's pregnancy is the product of that program.

Season 4 ends with Bill winning the election for the Utah State Senate seat and revealing to an obviously uncomfortable public that he has a plural marriage with Barb, Nicki, and Margene. To avenge J.J.'s eugenics experiments on her family with in-vitro fertilization, Adaleen sets fire to a fertility clinic office where she has trapped J.J. Walker and his cancer-stricken wife.

Season 5

It has been announced that HBO has renewed the series for a fifth season.

The United Effort Brotherhood

The show's fictional fundamentalist group, the "United Effort Brotherhood", or UEB, is similar to the actual "United Effort Plan" established by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and taken over by the state in 2005. The FLDS is one of the most prolific and well-known polygamist groups and regards itself as the legitimate successor of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who 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. The raid on Juniper Creek is reminiscent of the Short Creek raid, an actual historic event from 1953 where Arizona state police and National Guard troops took action against polygamists in Colorado City.

Production and crew

Although set in Utah, the series is primarily filmed at the Santa Clarita Studios in Valencia, California. The location used for filming "Henrickson’s Home Plus" scenes is The All American Home Center in Downey, California.

The outside scenes of the three homes that Bill owns are 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 are filmed in Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah and Sandy, Utah, as well as northeast Los Angeles, California.

The head writers for the series are the co-creators: Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer. The writing staff includes: Patricia Breen, Dustin Lance Black, Doug Jung, Eileen Myers, Jennifer Schuur, Doug Stockstill, Jeanette Collins, and Mimi Friedman.

Directors of the series include Jim McKay, Adam Davidson, Rodrigo Garcia, Charles McDougall, Sarah Pia Anderson, Dan Attias, Burr Steers, Michael Spiller, Alan Taylor, John Strickland, Mary Harron, Steve Shill, Julian Farino, Michael Lehmann, and Alan Poul (former executive producer of Six Feet Under).

The show's producers are Alexa Junge, Ann Holm, Ron Binkowski, Bernadette Caulfield, Jeanette Collins, Mimi Friedman, Shane Keller, David Knoller, Mark V. Olsen, Will Scheffer, Gary Goetzman, and Tom Hanks.

Episodes

Main article: List of Big Love episodes

Season	No. of episodes	First Airdate	Last Airdate
Season 1	12	March 12, 2006	June 4, 2006
Season 2	12	June 11, 2007	August 26, 2007
Season 3	10	January 18, 2009	March 22, 2009
Season 4	9	January 10, 2010	March 7, 2010

Soundtrack

Main article: Big Love: Hymnal

David Byrne recorded a complete soundtrack to the second season, released as Big Love: Hymnal on August 19, 2008. The theme song to the series from seasons 1 through 3 was The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows". As of season 4, the song "Home", performed by the British band Engineers, was adopted as the show's theme song along with a new title sequence.

DVD releases

DVD Name	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Season 1	October 17, 2006	April 27, 2007	September 5, 2007
Season 2	December 11, 2007	TBA	July 2, 2008
Season 3	January 5th, 2010	TBA	March 3rd, 2010

Critical reception

Metacritic rated the show a 72 out of 100, indicating favorable reviews.

Heather Havrilesky of Salon.com said of Big Love, "There are elements of this new series that have a quirkiness that might seem deliberate or overly clever against a different backdrop, but that feels natural in its own gracefully odd environment."

Time magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 Returning Series of 2007, ranking it at #5.

However, the Phoenix New Times's Robert L. Pela called the show a "hot-soccer-mom fantasy" and "about as down and dirty as the old sitcom Three's Company", and said its portrayal of polygamy was "just as tidy as a deodorant commercial".

LDS Church response

In March 2006, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) issued a public statement citing concerns over the program's depiction of abuse, polygamy, use of stereotypes, and television's depiction of moral and civic values in general. Among other things, the Church stated that, "Despite its popularity with some, much of today’s television entertainment shows an unhealthy preoccupation with sex, coarse humor and foul language. Big Love, like so much other television programming, is essentially lazy and indulgent entertainment that does nothing for our society and will never nourish great minds." In March 2009, the LDS Church stated that HBO's writers, producers, and executives were displaying insensitivity to church members by choosing to display simulated segments of the LDS Church's Endowment ceremony in an episode of Big Love. The LDS Church also stated that the show had continued to blur the distinction between the LDS Church and "the show's fictional non-Mormon characters."

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of Big Love awards and nominations

The second season was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series in 2007. Bill Paxton was also nominated for the Best Actor in a Television Drama Golden Globe for his role as Bill Henrickson.

The third season was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.

In 2010 Chloë Sevigny won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a TV role for her portrayal of Nicolette Grant in season 3 of Big Love.

International broadcasting

Country	Alternate title/Translation	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Weekly Schedule
United States		HBO	March 12, 2006	Sundays at 9:00pm (ET)
Canada		HBO Canada Showcase	March 14, 2006	Sundays at 9:00 p.m. (ET/MT) Showcase runs Big Love in syndication - Season 1-2
Arab World		MBC 4 American Plus (HBO) Orbit Network
Argentina		HBO
Australia		SBS TV	June 3, 2007	Tuesdays at 8:30pm
Belgium		Canvas (First run), BeTV (Reruns)	September 2006
Brazil	Amor Imenso	HBO SBT
Chile		HBO
Colombia		HBO
Costa Rica		HBO
Czech Republic		HBO
Denmark		Kanal 4		Mondays - Thursdays 20.00
Finland		Nelonen	February 19, 2007	Mondays at 9.00pm
France		Canal+	September 13, 2007	Thursdays at 10:15pm
Germany		TNT Serie
Guatemala		HBO	September 9, 2007	Sundays at 9.00pm
Hungary	Hármastársak	HBO/HBO2	January 5, 2007
India		HBO	August 4, 2008	Mondays at 11:30pm
Israel		yes stars Drama yes stars Drama HD HBO on Demand	October 15, 2006	Sundays at 9:00 p.m.
Italy		Fox Life
Mexico		HBO
Netherlands		NET 5	May 28, 2007	Mondays at 9.30pm
New Zealand		TV ONE		Tuesdays at 11:00pm
Norway		FEM	September 3, 2007	Mondays at 9.30pm
Paraguay		HBO/HBO Plus
Peru		HBO
Poland	Trzy na jednego (Three On One)	HBO, HBO2
Portugal		FX	2007	Season 2 Saturdays at 9:05pm and Wednesdays at 10:00pm (Season 1 reruns every day except Sundays and Saturdays at 1:00am, 11:35am and 3:25pm)
Romania	Dragoste mare	HBO
Scandinavia		Canal+
Singapore		StarHub TV		Mondays at 11.00pm
South Africa		M-Net
Spain		Canal+
Sweden		SVT	April 16, 2008	Wednesdays at 10.00pm
Thailand		HBO HBO Signature	October 22, 2007 October 8, 2007
Taiwan	大爱	HBO
Turkey		Foxlife
United Kingdom		Channel Five (First run), Five Life (reruns)	June 2006	Mondays 22.00
Uruguay		HBO

External links

• Official website
• Big Love at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• NYPost