According to Deadline, The Mortician is now the most-watched HBO documentary series in over five years. In other words, it beat renowned documentaries including Chimp Crazy, Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God, Himself, and many others.
The documentary series features three parts that record the barbaric practices at a funeral home in Southern California. The series debuted on June 1, and thereafter gained more than 2.6M cross-platform viewers in the U.S. on the network, Deadline states.
Deadline adds that these are great numbers for the series, most likely helped by HBO’s vote of confidence by placing it on the network’s marquee 9 p.m. Sunday time slot. The show is placed after The Last of Us, The Gilded Age, and The White Lotus, signaling to viewers that this series should be on their radar, and subsequently pushing engagement.
The Mortician chronicles a trusted family-owned funeral home that hid behind a veil of decorum and propriety, in order to take advantage of loved ones at their most vulnerable moments. The descendant of the Lamb family, David Sconce, took charge of the family business and wanted to exploit the deceased with the goal of expanding their earnings, throughout the early 1980s. The Lamb Funeral Home, located in Pasadena, California, was driven by profit, and thus was involved in many cruel and questionable practices, via Deadline.
The series delves into the omnipresent multibillion-dollar mortuary industry and shines the light on what really can happen behind the closed doors that are hidden from public spotlight. The Mortician reveals a dark and disturbing story, involving stealing from the dead and mass cremations by the means of emotional interviews with families of the victims of the Lamb Funeral Home and discoveries made by previous employees. Moreover, the series features an exclusive interview with Sconce, who was recently released from prison, Deadline adds.
Deadline states that the scandal disturbed Southern California, and while people stood trial, the funeral industry proceeded with more caution and implemented strict regulations with more transparency about this business of death. Sconce’s honest and spirited testimony expresses his side of the story, and anchors the series.
The director and executive producer of HBO’s The Mortician is Joshua Rofé (Lost for Life, Swift Current), alongside executive producers Steven J. Berger (The Feels, The Pretty One), Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street, 22 Jump Street), and Matt Dines (You People, Y2K), as mentioned by Deadline.