The Casketeers (2018)

Genre

reality television

Country

New Zealand

Length

6 seasons, 46 episodes

Rated

TV-14

Rating

5.0 of 10 from 13 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This New Zealand reality series follows a couple who run a funeral home. The show takes a look at the daily work of arranging funerals and supporting grieving families. It mixes humor and sadness as it shows the staff's interactions with their clients and each other.

humoroustouchingheartfeltinformativerespectfulwarmobservationaldown-to-earth

What happens

The Casketeers is a New Zealand reality television series that was first broadcast on 13 January 2018 on TVNZ 1, Netflix and SBS. The series follows a New Zealand couple, Francis and Kaiora Tipene, who own and run Tipene Funerals, a funeral parlor with branches in the Auckland suburbs of Onehunga and Henderson, as well as the other funeral directors and assistants employed there. The series combines humour and pathos by focusing on families and staff, the stories of individual deaths and bereaved families, the trials and triumphs of running a business, local and traditional funeral and grief practices, and the quirks and relationships of the Tipenes and their staff. The series features extensive use of Te reo Māori, both in the everyday English narrative and also in the counselling the casketeers provide to their clients. The Māori words spoken by the couple are displayed on screen alongside an English translation. Season 1 tells the story of the business and the running of the funeral home, the cultural diversity of the practice from uplifting of the dead through to the final burial, and interviews with the staff throughout each episode. Season 2 follows on from season 1 with many surprises and turns, including the relationship between husband and wife and introductions of new staff members, the roles they play, and everyday struggles. Season 3 brings more heartbreak, sadness and love to the Casketeers, focusing on both branches, more staff members and topics that are often not talked in a public space. This season also covers the expansion of services offered by the Tipenes. Season 4 shows the impact that COVID-19 had in Aotearoa New Zealand on the funeral business and funeral traditions within different cultures. Season 5 follows after much of the restrictions for COVID-19 have been relaxed, and business returns to normal operations. Throughout the seasons and episodes we are shown great team-building activities and also the Casketeers show great love and respect and dignity to those that are no longer living. Also throughout the entire seasons it shows how much compassion, empathy, sympathy, care and respect the Casketeers have for the families. With some laughter and comedy throughout. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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