David Fisher is often referred to as the first realistic gay lead portrayed on television, and the character has been widely praised for the way he was written as well as his portrayal by Michael C. Hall. "The Essential HBO Reader" noted how "Six Feet Under" offered "an affirming but alternative version of image of non-traditional families and couples," and concluded that, unlike their heterosexual counterparts on the show (Nate and Brenda), they emerge "as the ideal couple at the end." Sally Munt, in her book "Queer Attachments: The Cultural Politics of Shame", said, "For the first time in mass broadcasting, gay David is the 'everyman' whose quest for love and self-acceptance inculcates the viewer." In reference to the scene when David comes out to his mother, "Queer TV: Theories, Histories, Politics" commented that it "purposefully counters the predictability of most coming out scenes in film and television texts, in which a bold declaration is followed swiftly by angry rejection or emotional acceptance." The book "Fade to Black and White: Interracial Images in Popular Culture" called the relationships between Keith, David, their niece Taylor and their adopted children a "rare exception" to the interracial relationships on television that advance negative stereotypes. Ellen Lewin, in her book "Gay Fatherhood: Narratives of Family and Citizenship in America", cited David and Keith as "realistic, if somewhat " examples of real gay fathers who adopt children that heterosexual couples – with "more attractive options (presumably)" – might not adopt, a trend that contrasts with the typical stereotype of the pleasure-seeking and self-indulgent gay male.