Entertainment

TV: HBO's 'Big Love' charts the busy life of a polygamist

10:52 AM CST on Monday, March 13, 2006

By ED BARK / The Dallas Morning News

Married, Married, Married ... with Children, Children, Children.

Polygamist Bill Henrickson, protagonist of HBO's bizarrely involving Big Love, is kept busy around his houses with three wives, seven kids and umpteen demands.

"Officially, I miss you guys all the same," Bill (Fort Worth's Bill Paxton) tells youngest spouse Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) before they go to town, so to speak.

Premiering Sunday in tandem with the sixth-season return of The Sopranos, this is an extended version of Cedric the Entertainer's best-known Bud Light commercial. You know, the one where he fantasizes about being stranded on a desert isle with two beautiful women and an unlimited supply of his favorite beer. But then they immediately start nagging him, prompting Cedric to instead happily co-exist with a dog, a barbecue grill and his Bud.

Bill's fantasy island is both land-locked and covert. HBO's series of opening disclaimers tell us that polygamy is illegal in Utah and has been banned since the 1890s by the Mormon Church. Therefore the characters are "wholly fictional," although HBO also notes that "many thousands of people continue to practice polygamy, predominantly in the intermountain West."

After that weekly news update, we're ready to roll with the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows," soon to be known as Big Love's opening theme song. Good heavens, you just never know where a great song will go.

Big Love's Ponderosa is a suburban Salt Lake City compound with a communal pool but separate homes for Margene, first wife Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and No. 2 spouse Nicki (Chloe Sevigny). Hubby is time-shared on an agreed-upon schedule, but jealousies are bound to flare up. Sometimes it's enough to make Barb exclaim, "Oh, my heck!"

Perhaps Desperate Housewives is coming to mind. There's some of that flavor in Big Love, with Bill increasingly resorting to Viagra to keep everyone happy – sometimes too happy.

"She screams like a tractor trailer," Nicki grouses in Episode 2, referring to Margene's bedroom decorum.

Breadwinner Bill pays the mounting bills with proceeds from his Home Plus home improvement stores. His right-hand man is fellow polygamist Don Embry (Joel McKinnon Miller), who wonders whether Bill might be in the market for a fourth. Um, no, not just yet.

Often comical on the home front, Big Love gets its dark side from Nicki's steely father, Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton). Also known as "The Prophet," Roman runs a rural fundamentalist conclave that's also home to Bill's notably odd parents, Frank and Lois (Bruce Dern, Grace Zabriskie).

Roman, Utah's equivalent of a Mafia boss, expects a 15 percent cut from all of Bill's stores, including the new one. Their impasse on that score foreshadows possibly serious repercussions in future episodes.

Big Love slowly imbeds its hook. HBO definitely if not yet desperately needs another big Sunday night appointment show, and this might be it.

Harried Bill Henrickson isn't exactly a relatable role model, but he can be an oddly sympathetic character at times.

Of his three wives, Ms. Tripplehorn's Barb so far is the most resonant and resilient.

"We're not trapped," she reminds her fellow wives. "We're all here by choice."

Getting to know them, getting to know all about them looks as if it could be a weekly guilty pleasure. Next Sunday's Episode 2 ends with a perfect summation of Bill's everyday life. He's out by the pool, popping another Viagra to get him through the night after another challenging day.

"Bill, come to bed," an unseen wife calls to him.

"I'm coming," he says.

Yes, Big Love sure does have a lot going for it.

E-mail ebark@dallasnews.com

Big Love

Grade: B+
9 p.m. Sunday, HBO. Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny, plus Harry Dean Stanton, Grace Zabriskie, Bruce Dern. Produced by Mark V. Olsen, Will Scheffer, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman. 1 hr.