2006: HBO Presents 'Big Love'
March 12, 2021
| By TV WW
On this day in 2006, HBO introduced the original drama, Big Love. The story revolved around a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family secretly living a polygamist lifestyle in Sandy, Utah. Patriarch Bill Henrickson (played by Bill Paxton) was a successful businessman, running a growing chain of home improvement stores. His first wife, Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn) was his legal spouse. His second and third wives, Nicolette and Margene (Chloë Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin) lived in neighboring houses, with outsiders believing they were single mothers. Co-stars included Mary Kay Place, Amanda Seyfried, Grace Zabriskie, Bruce Dern and Harry Dean Stanton.
The show was well-received by critics and viewers, but rankled the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for its depictions of Mormon practices and the polygamist lifestyle. It ran five seasons.