First Episode: June 3rd, 2001 Final Episode: August 21st, 2005 HBO had a monster of a hit on its hands with The Sopranos, and they wasted no time in building on that momentum. His Best Screenplay Oscar still fresh on the mantle, American Beautys Alan Ball launched his own tale of a rather unusual family. For five seasons, the Fishers ran their funeral home. Over the course of the show, Alan Ball discussed everything about death, sexuality, growing-up and life in general. While a show like this definitely could have gotten away with an open-ended finale, Six Feet Under instead skips out of time and space with a beautiful montage showing how everybody eventually dies. This gentle finale gives a sense of closure to these well-developed characters, something a series about death should achieve. Most likely, that wont be the case with Breaking Bads finale. Perhaps there will be closure, but there sure as hell wont be anything gentle about it.