Big Love (HBO)

HBO has made its bread and butter through its slate of quirky original series, and BIG LOVE is no exception. Unassuming, mild-mannered Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) owns a Home Depot-type store and maintains three wives in three adjacent homes that share a giant backyard. And that's not all -- they also share the ups and downs of a poly-amorous life. But the viewer is left without enough insight as to why four adults would decide to forge this unusual household (some episodes seem to indicate that sex -- and there's plenty of it -- is the main reason). It's bold stuff, garnering plenty of buzz for HBO.

Too bad the producers couldn't restrict their focus to the entangled, sometimes mangled, relationships built into a situation of a family like this. Though Big Love is highly entertaining -- and compelling to watch given its stellar cast (including Jeanne Tripplehorn and Chloe Sevigny as two of the wives; Ginnifer Goodwin plays the third) -- the show does disappoint. Instead of mining its fascinating premise, creators have decided to dilute the series by introducing other unusual supporting characters.