Created: Six Feet Under & True Blood Pedigree: American Beauty Youd be surprised he worked on: Grace Under Fire, Cybill Ball wrote a play Five Women Wearing the Same Dress which was seen by a staff member of Grace Under Fire who offered him a job. Moving on to Cybill, Ball became increasingly frustrated with his work and was inspired to write American Beauty, which won him an Oscar and a meeting with Carolyn Strauss, HBO executive, who gave Ball a home to write Six Feet Under.