Mention the subject of polygamy and you're likely to get responses that range from revulsion to sexual fantasy. "Big Love" stays away from both extremes as it depicts with a very straight face what "Father Knows Best" might look like if Jim Anderson lived in the suburbs of today and, of course, had three wives. An advisory that precedes HBO's much-awaited series declares that, as of July, the attorney generals of Utah and Arizona estimate the number of polygamists in their states to total 20,000-40,000.

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