Six Feet Under IQ Score 189/200
Six Feet Under has an IQ Score of 189/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient rubric, placing it in the Masterclass tier.
Exceptional cognitive and educational substance, delivered with craft that sustains close attention
Score Breakdown
IQ = round((Cognitive × 0.4 + Educational × 0.35 + Craft × 0.25) × 4)
· How we score →
What these dimensions mean
- Cognitive Stimulation: observable narrative complexity, conceptual density, ambiguity, inference, and sustained intellectual demands in the work.
- Educational Value: the density and integration of substantive academic, historical, scientific, cultural, ethical, or practical information in the work.
- Craft & Quality: production excellence in service of the work, its direction, writing, performance, and aesthetic intent.
- Cinematic Score: composition quality, emotional impact, and how the music integrates with the work. Does not affect the IQ Score.
Saves to your browser. See your Personal IQ on My TVI →
Why you should trust this score
How we stay independent. Editorial scores are not for sale. TVI may take on paid advisory or research work, but no commercial relationship buys coverage, advance access to scores, favorable treatment, or a change to a published finding. We pay for our own streaming subscriptions, and no reviewer sees sponsor data or affiliate revenue tied to a score. More about how we work →
Six Feet Under scores 189/200 on the TVI IQ Score, placing it in the Masterclass tier. Alan Ball's five-season series treats mortality and family dysfunction with the patient observation that earned Cultural Impact, Rewatch Value, and Lasting Significance as a sustained examination of the human condition. TVI Essential is an editorial designation; IQ Score is a content rating, not an intelligence measurement.
The TVI Take
Alan Ball's 2001-2005 HBO series, the Fisher family running a Pasadena funeral home, each episode opening on a different death and following the Fishers as the consequence ripples through them. Nate, David, Claire, Ruth, and Rico are the ensemble; Federico Diaz's working-class struggle against the Fishers' upper-middle bohemia is the show's class architecture.
The final episode's montage of every character's death is the most-praised series finale in television history.
People & Production Alan Ball · HBO · United States 20 connections
On screen & sound
Production & release
Credits and relationships: Wikidata, CC0. TVI preserves production, broadcasting, and distribution as separate roles.
Follow this thread
Keep going through a creator, company, network, or connected work.
The Trailer
Official trailer, embedded from YouTube.
Where to Watch
See all options on JustWatch →
Streaming availability data via JustWatch + TMDB. Updated weekly; check the provider for current pricing.
This title is a pick in The Syllabus: five courses of the smartest television, scored on the Educational Value dimension.
See The Syllabus →This show is on The Substance List, our guide to the shows that reward the time you give them, read by the people who score them.
Get the guide →Where to go next
Six Feet Under scored 189/200 (Masterclass tier) on TV Intelligentsia's published methodology. Source: tvintelligentsia.com/titles/six-feet-under/
Get scores for new titles every week.
The Intelligentsia Report, every Saturday. Free.
Lifetime premium access. $99 once.
Founders Wall, monthly Founders Newsletter, quarterly Deep Dive, two title requests a year, first access to everything new. 6-month full refund.
Want the bigger picture? Score your whole watchlist →