Sunday night’s premiere of “Big Love” on HBO (10 p.m.) is making much of Utah nervous. Everyone from practicing polygamists to the Mormon church – which shunned the practice more than a century ago – is waiting to see how the show about a Utah husband and his three sometimes-desperate housewives will play out.

Will it perpetuate stereotypes about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has tried for decades to close the lid on that part of its history.

And polygamists insist the series is unlikely to show the “boring” reality of their lives.

Mormon church spokesman Michael Otterson is worried that the church could lose ground it has gained in educating the public about the differences between the mainstream church and splinter fundamentalist groups that practice plural marriage.

“You only have to mention Salt Lake City and polygamy and Mormons in the same breath, and people will start to get those old stereotypes again,” he said.

An epilogue statement, which is scheduled to air after the first episode, is inadequate, Otterson says.

The statement says: “According to a joint report issued by the Utah and Arizona attorney generals’ offices, July 2005, ‘Approximately 20,000 to 40,000 or more people currently practice polygamy in the United States.’ The Mormon church officially banned the practice of polygamy in 1890.”

The “Big Love” lead character Bill Henrickson runs a home-improvement store in Salt Lake City. Besides the struggles of his expanding business, Henrickson faces the challenges of life with three women and seven children.

Anne Wilde, community relations director for the pro-polygamy group Principal Voices, said she’s worried, too.

Wilde was in a plural marriage for more than 33 years, until her husband died three years ago. She doubts the realities of most modern-day polygamists would interest TV viewers.

“I would like people to realize it’s very similar to a monogamous family,” Wilde said.