Former playwright-turned-filmmaker, Alan Ball left behind the rather anonymous and distressing world of sitcom writing to make his breakthrough as the screenwriter of the Academy Award winning film, “American Beauty” (1999). Prior to that success, Ball penned off-Broadway productions, including “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress,” before cutting his teeth on sitcoms like “Grace Under Fire” (ABC, 1993-98) and “Cybill” (CBS, 1994-98). Because of his fascination with dysfunctional families, he created “Six Feet Under” (HBO, 2001-05), a darkly comic drama about a family that runs a funeral home in