HBO has announced that the story of Big Love is coming to a close. The fifth and final season will begin airing on Sunday, January 16, 2011.
The TV show has never been a big ratings winner for the pay-for-view channel but has earned several Emmy nominations and positive critical reviews. Many, including series star Chloe Sevigny, expressed disappointment with season four but the producers believe that season five will be the best yet.
Here’s the official press release from HBO…
ACCLAIMED HBO DRAMA SERIES BIG LOVE TO RETURN FOR FIFTH AND FINAL SEASON JAN. 16
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28, 2010 – The acclaimed HBO drama series BIG LOVE will return for its fifth and final season SUNDAY, JAN. 16, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.“It has been an honor and pleasure to work with series creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer on this unique and provocative series, and I’m happy that they will be able to bring the story to its close the way they always envisioned,” noted Lombardo. “We look forward with great anticipation to collaborating with Mark and Will on their next venture.”
“When we created BIG LOVE in 2002, we had a strong conception of the journey the Henrickson family would make over the course of the series, of the story we had to tell,” said Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer. “While we were in the writers’ room this year shaping our fifth season, we discovered that we were approaching the culmination of that story.
“BIG LOVE has been our all-consuming labor of love for the past eight years. We are very grateful for HBO’s continuing support and for the collaborative effort of our partners at Playtone, our producers, our fine cast and our fellow craftsmen and crew for making this show the exceptional and joyful experience that it’s been. This coming January, we look forward to presenting our audience with the most vibrant and satisfying final season of a television series that we can produce.”
“BIG LOVE has been a truly rewarding experience in every way for Tom Hanks and me,” observes executive producer Gary Goetzman. “We’ve been so fortunate to have had such a tremendous cast over the five seasons, and we’ve never been less than amazed with their brilliance and willingness to take risks. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our partnership with Will and Mark and have always been blown away by their storytelling abilities. We believe this final season of BIG LOVE will be the best ever.”
BIG LOVE tells the story of Salt Lake City businessman Bill Henrickson, who balances the needs of his three wives – Barb, Nicki and Margene – their nine kids and three houses, and his own entrepreneurial ambitions. Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chlo? Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin star in the series, which is executive produced by Playtone’s Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, David Knoller, Bernadette Caulfield and series creators and show runners Mark V. Olsen & Will Scheffer.
Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer have a continuing relationship with HBO, and their next project for the network will be announced when it is confirmed.
Emmy?- and Golden Globe- nominated in the category of best drama series, BIG LOVE continued to inspire critical acclaim for its fourth season, which concluded in March 2010. The Wall Street Journal hailed the series’ “spectacular performances,” while the Salt Lake Tribune called the show “one of the finest hours of drama on any network,” and Entertainment Weekly termed it “bracing,” praising “the mighty performance of Bill Paxton.”
BIG LOVE is produced by HBO Entertainment in association with Playtone and Anima Sola Productions; created by Mark V. Olsen & Will Scheffer; executive producers, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, David Knoller, Bernadette Caulfield and Mark V. Olsen & Will Scheffer; supervising producer, Patricia Breen; producer, Seth Greenland; producer, Peter Friedlander; co-producers, Dauri Chase and Don Bensko; co-producers, Melanie Marnich and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa; executive story editor, Julia Cho; story editor, Jami O’Brien; staff writer, Aaron Allen; casting, Junie Lowry Johnson, C.S.A., Libby Goldstein and Lisa Soltau.
What do you think? Are you sorry that Big Love is ending or is it time for it to go?
Image courtesy HBO.
I am very upset this show was cancelled.
I work 6days a week and sunday is the one day me and my family get together week love (big love) one thing love look forward to all week so bring it back please thank you
I’m watching the series finale as I write this (its on pause). What a great cast of characters! HBO and Tom Hanks did it again! I’m really going to miss the show! Stop ending the great series! Except for True Blood, Showtime is quickly becoming Sunday nights! Another great loss just like Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Sopranos, etc.
Please bring this series back!!!!
Please reconsider continuing with the show. This has been not only an entertaining adventure but, an important piece of our American history. A story needed to be told. Not just the good but the bad. There are so many more avenues to be explored. Most people never get to see or understand the true diversity of other religions, cultures, and an amasing chance to get to know and understand, these people and thier families. The acting and power of the people on the show is amasing. Perhaps, HBO is more interested in ratings than the EMMY awards won by the… Read more »
Please don’t end. It just doesn’t feel like it’s over.
Please bring the show back
So much crap on TV and they are always cancelling the good shows. There was so much more they could do with these characters and the story lines. It’s like they are goung through alll of the stories in fast forward. What a shame!
Really going to miss this show. Its so well done you actually feel a personal connection with the characters.
So sad to see this series go, it’s the only one I watch! Such great actors, wish there was a way to get just one more season out of them!
Sorry to see the show end. It has been so interesting and entertaining. A great job was done by all involved.
I’m really upset Big Love is going off the air. I have been a huge fan and viewer of this series since the show first aired. I got so involved with this series and it’s characters and I’m totally going to feel a loss. I honestly feel, if there were more commercials promoting this series, it could have done better in ratings. I don’t think the show was promoted enough. The show and cast will be terribly missed :o(
I wish the show could continue 8 more years
This has been a wonderful show and one that I will sorely miss if it’s cancelled. Unfortunately, shows like Big Love, Providence, Judging Amy, etc. are not big ratings winners and yet, they are awesome, intelligent and well done shows. It breaks my heart when another one “bites the dust”.
Please don’t cancel. Me and alot of other people are still very invested in watching this show. It has been very interesting and I want to keep following the family of Henrickson’s! Reconsider please.