MUMBAI: HBO is preparing to give a quiet burial to its critically acclaimed black comedy Six Feet Under.

The US cable channel has stated that the upcoming fifth season will be its last. In India the show airs on Zee English and deals with a dysfunctional family who run a funeral home.

Reports indicate that series creator Alan Ball recently told HBO executives that he felt the show would have run out of creative steam by the end of the upcoming 12-episode season.

The show stars Peter Krause, Rachel Griffiths, Lauren Ambrose and Frances Conroy. It has been recognised at several award shows including the Golden Globes and the Emmies.

Production on the fifth season will start on 16 November. However HBO has not decided when the show will air.

Ball was quoted in a Reuters report saying, "Working on Six Feet Under has been enormously fulfilling creatively, but if the show is about anything, it's about the fact that everything comes to an end. I will miss working with such enormously talented writers, cast, staff and crew and I'll always be grateful to HBO for allowing and encouraging us to tell the story we set out to tell in a challenging and uncompromising way."