HBO Series   •••½ Picture/Sound   •••• Extras   •

Once again, HBO goes where other networks dare not, with a series that stars Bill Paxton as a well-respected businessman who maintains three houses in Salt Lake City — each next to another, and each inhabited by a different wife. If ever a show needed some insightful and clarifying extras — exactly how much do you know about polygamy, anyway? — it's this one. But all we get is a fluff piece on the filming of the title sequence and two party-style throwaway commentaries, one with Paxton and Jeanne Tripplehorn, the other with Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin. Fortunately, the picture and sound are a knockout and help make this five-disc set a must. Images have rich, bright colors and superb definition; almost every scene looks like a Kodak moment. The sound design makes use of the surround channels for atmospheric effects and is clean and clear up front for Mark Mothersbaugh's music score and the many source-music inserts. [TV-MA] English, Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish, Dolby Digital 2-channel mono; letterboxed (1.78:1) and anamorphic widescreen; five dual-layer discs.

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