"Pilot" (also called "Six Feet Under") is the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

of the American

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television series '' Six Feet Under''. Written and directed by series creator Alan Ball, the episode originally aired in the United States on the premium cable network

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

on June 3, 2001.

Plot

On Christmas Eve 2000, Nathaniel Fisher Sr., owner of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, died after he was hit by a bus while driving his brand new hearse. Nathaniel Sr.'s oldest son and namesake,

Nate Nate or NATE may refer to: People and fictional characters *Nate (given name) *A nickname for Nathanael *A nickname for Nathaniel Organizations *National Association for the Teaching of English, the UK subject teacher association for all aspects ...

, has flown in from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

for the holidays and is informed about his father's untimely death immediately after a sexual encounter with

Brenda Chenowith The following is a list of descriptions for characters on the HBO television series '' Six Feet Under'', which aired for five seasons, from 2001 through 2005. While the series ends in 2005, the finale (" Everyone's Waiting") was met with universa ...

in the airport. Brenda drives Nate to the mortuary where he is re-united with his mother, Ruth, and younger sister, Claire. Brenda departs and after identifying the body, she and Nate return to the family home where Nathaniel Sr.'s younger son,

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, is waiting. Various tensions and conflicts emerge following Nathaniel Sr.'s death and beyond. Claire has been experimenting with drugs, Ruth reveals that she had a long-standing affair with a fellow churchgoer, and David has been concealing his homosexuality and relationship with Keith, a policeman, from his family. David also shows resentment towards Nate for leaving the family and the business which he now manages. Nate becomes frustrated at his family and himself, expressing dissatisfaction with his life. Nathaniel Sr.'s spectre appears to members of his family and engages them in conversation. Ruth requests that Nate delay his return to Seattle and he agrees.

Production

Eric Balfour Eric Salter Balfour (born April 24, 1977) is an American actor. He made his film debut in the Lifetime movie ''No One Would Tell'' in 1996, followed by the drama '' Shattered Image'' (1998), followed by roles in '' What Women Want'' (2000), Rise ...

was only supposed to be introduced as "Claire's Meth Date" for the show's pilot, but director Alan Ball found his chemistry so satisfying with

Lauren Ambrose Lauren Ambrose (born February 20, 1978) is an American actress. Ambrose gained recognition and critical acclaim for her starring role as Claire Fisher in the HBO drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005), for which she was nominated for tw ...

that his role was developed into the character Gabe Dimas. Similarly, Dina Waters's and Gary Hershberger's roles were only listed as "Chatty Mourner" and "Kroehner Representative", whose roles were developed into Tracy Montrose Blair and Matthew Gilardi respectively, and would go on to have recurring roles. The episode features humorous funeral home related commercials that would start each act, but the idea was abandoned and the pilot is the only episode in which they were used.

Reception

The pilot episode was positively received and earned several award wins and nominations. Creator Alan Ball won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series at the

54th Primetime Emmy Awards The 54th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 22, 2002. Nominations were announced July 22, 2002. The ceremony was hosted by Conan O'Brien and was broadcast on NBC. Two networks, FX and VH1, received their first major nominations ...

, while the episode received nominations for Outstanding Art Direction for a Single Camera Series, Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-Prosthetic), Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Series, and Outstanding Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Series. Alan Ball also won for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series for the 2001

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Cate ...

s. The episode won an

Art Directors Guild The Art Directors Guild (ADG; IATSE Local 800) is a labor union and local of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) representing 3,278 motion picture and television professionals in the United States and Canada. The ...

Award for Excellence in Production Design in 2001.

References

External links

*
"Pilot"
at

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{{Navboxes , title = Awards for "Pilot" , list = {{DirectorsGuildofAmericaOutstandingDirectingDramaSeries 1990–2009 {{EmmyAward DirectingDrama 2000s American television series premieres 2001 American television episodes Emmy Award–winning episodes Six Feet Under (TV series) episodes Television episodes directed by Alan Ball (screenwriter) Television episodes written by Alan Ball (screenwriter)