The Big C - Season 1 [DVD] [2011]

The Big C(The Complete First Season) is a wonderful series to watch and had me laughing throughout but I have to admit some of those times there was tears in my eyes as some of those comedy moments were bitter-sweet. The writing of the actual programme was first class which had perfect comedy timing but the writer treated the subject of cancer with respect and tenderness plus full understanding of the pain which not only the patients which are suffering from the disease but the pain which their loved ones go through which unfortunately no treatment can be offered to ease their pain.Laura Linney was the main character who acted Cathy she has been told she has terminal cancer and it makes her sit back and think what has she done with her life. When she accepts she has cancer she decides to grab her life and give it a real good shaking as if this was going to be her last year on this earth, Cathy was going to make sure it was going to be her best year. She decides she is not going to tell her loved ones she is dying as she does not want unhappiness around her but it makes her behaviour very hard to understand for them. So therefore as you watch the whole series you follow Cathy on her journey trying to make all the dreams she had come true, but she soon realises some of those dreams will hurt those around her but she cannot seem to stop herself. She seems to want to experience all those things she thinks she has missed as she was always the sensible wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister while everyone around her enjoyed life without thinking of the consequences. Now she wants to be the one enjoying life without those consequences effecting her. As she realises throughout her life she has not been living, she has just been functioning daily doing everything which has been expected of her. What I got from her character she accepts her cancer as a free ticket to do things which in the past she would not even have dreamed of doing.The supporting cast which acted alongside Laura Linney were all fantastic actors and the comedy moments though most of them were very funny, a lot of those moments even though were funny brought tears to my eyes as I knew that soon they would have to know that Cathy was ill and though Cathy was doing her best to run away from telling her loved ones she would have to face real life very soon. What I really liked about this series the writer has took each character and give them all totally different relationships with Cathy but Cathy takes those relationships and changes them for the better and they all learn that Cathy is just not there for their happiness she needs some of that happiness too.This is one series I recommend to everyone as you will get many different things from it and as Laura Linney said on the 'extras' growing old is a privilege and instead of running away from it with surgery etc we should embrace it and accept it as part of life as not everyone is lucky enough to live to enjoy it.I highly recommend The Big C as one DVD set which everyone should watch and I personally cannot wait until the second season starts which is going to be really soon according to press reports as it was shown in Southern Ireland at the beginning of January 2012.

Fiesta class service, highly recommended, excellent in every way!!

The first series is stunning!FYI, If you’re very liberal parents who don’t mind watching a lot of embarrassingly sexy scenes, and strong language on tv with your teenage kids, then it’s very informative for you and them.Those are the only warnings.Primarily, It’s a series that makes you laugh a lot.It will also make you feel inspired, and thoroughly thought provoked!The whole series is based on the sensitive subject of a patient dealing with terminal cancer. But the writing cleverly steers you through every emotion a family has to deal with, when faced with such a catastrophic diagnosis of a loved one.Great story line, although series 2 lost its way a little. It almost felt as though the writer had been changedafter the first. It got unnecessarily dark, which lost the light mood that filtered through every episode in series 1.I’ll write another review when I watch the rest of the series. But for now, I’m loving it.

Great show but too expensive to continue to next series

I've wanted to re-watch this for years. Now re-watching it and loving g it. Laura Linney is brilliant - as is everyone else else, and the writing is brilliant. Recommended watch.

If I could work out why it is that some tv series grip you instantly, I'd be very rich. The Big C has just one 'name' (the superb Laura Linney) but the rest of the cast instantly fitted their roles, and we were engrossed.It is SO good we had to ration ourselves to one episode a day, but the DVD is also full of interviews/ extras so that helped! (In contrast Season 3 of 'Nurse Jackie' has NO extras on the DVD...)The totally unpredictable plot turns, shock and laughter, even tears is not something that be easily achieved by a 30 min episode, but THIS show does just that.I cannot recommend it highly enough; it is 'up there' as regards quality/durabilty, with '6 Feet Under', and 'Sopranos', but achieves it more easily than they did.The writer, and Laura Linney, REALLY know their stuff. I think we will probably watch all series 1 again SOON as we wait for series 2.THANK YOU!

I've just watched the last of these through a flood of tears. I lost my wife to cancer fairly recently and this has obvious connections. Not the depressing ones, more the black humour that develops during the course of the illness. I recommended it to a friend whose wife had also recently died and we both thought it is an amazing series. I loved it and can totally recommend it to anyone who has the misfortune to be touched by this dreadful disease. It's not for the faint-hearted though. There is a lot of the F word and (ironically!) the C word. But the outstanding aspect of the whole show is the way it swings from humour to pathos and back again.Incidentally, I read that Laura Linney lost her Father to cancer a mere 6 months before filming this series. So, she definitely got the t-shirt!There is no doubt - buy it!

This had everything. It was extremely funny and also very moving. I went on to buy all the other seasons and wasn’t disappointed.Excellent series & brilliantly acted.