Brothers & Sisters is an Emmy Award-winning American television drama series, centered around the California-based Walker family and their lives. The show premiered on ABC on September 24 2006 after Desperate Housewives and airs Sundays at 10 P.M.
The acting ensemble includes two-time Oscar-winning actress Sally Field, Golden Globe-winning actress Calista Flockhart, and Oscar-nominated actress Rachel
Griffiths.
Overview
General premise
Most of the action is set in the Greater Los Angeles area. The family home
is located in San Marino, California, a city in Los Angeles County. The family
has a vacation ranch in Ojai, California. The show is centered around the
multi-generational Walker family, an American family of Irish-Jewish heritage. Many of the family members are involved in
the family-owned business running Ojai Food Co., a produce distributor.
The main branches of the Walker family tree included father William (who is deceased) (guest star Tom Skerritt), mother Nora (played by Academy & Emmy Award-winner & The Flying Nun alumna Sally Field), and their five children.
The Walker siblings are, in birth order:
- Sarah, a working mother and head of Ojai Food Co., (played by Academy Award-nominee & Six Feet Under alumna
Rachel Griffiths)
- Kitty, (played by Ally McBeal alumna,
Calista Flockhart), the communications director for U.S. Senator Robert McCallister
(played by The West Wing alumnus, Rob Lowe)
- Tommy, a businessman, (played by veteran character actor
Balthazar Getty)
- Kevin, a gay lawyer, (played by
veteran Welsh character actor Matthew Rhys)
- Justin, a veteran of the Afghanistan war and
recovering drug addict, (played by film actor Dave
Annable)
- Rebecca, (played by Everwood alumna
Emily VanCamp), the half-sister of the Walker children and William's child with his
mistress Holly Harper (played by Thirtysomething alumna Patricia Wettig)
Nora's brother, Saul Holden (Ron Rifkin) helps run
the Walker family business, Ojai Food Co.
Plot points
The show's narrative launched with the death of William Walker at daughter Kitty's birthday party. His death causes a number
of secrets from his life to be revealed - secrets that impact the remainder of his family.
On the business side, Sarah and Tommy, who are the most involved of the siblings with the family business, learn that William
inappropriately borrowed from company funds. The business revelation pales, however, to two major revelations on the personal
front: William had a mistress, actress Holly Harper (Patricia Wettig) that he kept for
decades, and the couple had a child, Rebecca (Emily VanCamp).
Aside from the siblings' spouses, several love interests for the characters have been featured. The most high-profile is the
addition of former West Wing actor Rob Lowe as
series regular Robert McCallister, a United States Senator from California
who is running for President.
Production notes
The series is from producer Ken Olin (thirtysomething and Alias) and
Jon Robin Baitz, one of Broadway's most
prominent playwrights (The Substance of
Fire). Noted producer Greg Berlanti was also an executive producer and
"show-runner" during season one. Berlanti continues to serve on the series as consulting producer however Mark B. Perry,
(The Wonder Years and One Tree
Hill) is the current showrunner.
After the series pilot was shot, and the show was picked up by ABC, the
series underwent some moderate changes. Most notably, three of the roles were recast:
- The Walker family had originally been the March family, and the original matriarch of the show was Iva March, who'd been cast
with veteran theater actress Betty Buckley. The role was ultimately renamed Nora and cast
with Sally Field.
- The character of Kevin had originally been named Bryan, and had been cast with actor Jonathan LaPaglia. Like the current Kevin character, the Bryan version of the character was also gay,
but had been married, and was going through a divorce. The Bryan incarnation of the character also had a child, and he and his
ex-wife were going through a custody battle.
- The character of Jonathan, the man with whom Kitty was involved as the show began, had originally been cast with writer and
actor Dan Futterman. They had previously acted along side each other as lovers in the
popular film The Birdcage. The role was ultimately recast with actor Matthew Settle.
As a result of the changes, the show received some negative press, with some critics associating the retooling efforts with
creative trouble. This press attention intensified when Marti Noxon, one of the producers
working with Olin and Baitz, was let go. [1]
The show has subsequently received some positive press attention for the depiction of the character of Kevin Walker, and the
realistic portrayal of a single gay man on television. The Kevin character has had several love interests, and has kissed his
boyfriends on-screen. The show has several LGBT people as part of their creative team, including both Baitz and Berlanti.
Cast
Current main cast members
Former main cast members
Recurring cast members
Episodes
For episode information and details, see:
-
DVD Releases
Region 1
| DVD Name |
Release Date |
| Brothers & Sisters - The Complete First Season |
September 18, 2007 |
Season 1 DVD Special Features
- Bonus Un-Aired Episode
- "Walker Family Tree", the story behind the making of the compelling new series
- "Set Tour with Dave, Balt and Matt", an inside look at the show with Balthazar Getty, Dave Annable and Matthew Rhys
- "Family Business" Meet the Olins, the real family behind the success of the popular TV family
- Bloopers
- Deleted Scenes
- Audio Commentaries
Ratings
USA TV Ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Brothers & Sisters on ABC:
| Season |
Timeslot (EDT) |
Season Premiere |
Season Finale |
TV Season |
Rank |
Viewers
(in millions) |
| 1 |
Sunday 10:00 p.m. |
September 24, 2006 |
May 20, 2007 |
2006-2007 |
#37 |
11.0[1] |
UK TV Ratings
In the UK, the show has fared well for Channel 4 and has been on the same viewing figures
that Desperate Housewives's third season was for the channel, with around 2.4m
[2]. This is probably because it aims at the same audience,
and took Desperate Housewives' time slot, once the show had ended. The show gained rather a lot of promotion on magazine covers,
and was well reviewed.
The series debuted on Channel 4 on Wednesday 20th June 2007 at 8.30pm with an audience of
2.221m, the second episode was screened the same evening at 10pm with an audience of 1.443m [3] The series has now settled down to a regular audience of around 1m [4] As of Wednesday 5th September 2007 Channel 4 are now showing the rest of the series as a double bill from 10pm.
References
Trivia
- Tom Skerritt and Sally Field have played a married couple before, in Steel Magnolias (1989). They played roles of Julia
Roberts's parents.
- Rachel Griffiths (Sarah) and Matthew Rhys (Kevin) have appeared together in Very Annie Mary (2001) (TV) a TV movie.
- Balthazar Getty (Tommy), Ron Rifkin (Saul), Patricia Wettig (Holly Harper) and Joel Grey (marriage counselor) have worked
together in the J.J. Abrams series Alias.
- Emily VanCamp (Rebecca) and Treat Williams (David Morton) worked together in Everwood.
- In the "Game Night" Susan Sullivan and Jenna Elfman who ABC series Dharma and Gregg played mother in law and daughter in law.
In Brothers & Sisters they play mother and daughter.
- Robert McCallister was the name of a character on a previous Greg Berlanti show, "Jack & Bobby" (2004) about a boy that
grew up to be the President of the United States. As with Brothers & Sisters, he had a wife named Courtney and a son called
Jack.
- Rob Lowe in the West Wing played a character who was in charge of the communications staff. While on Brothers & Sisters
he hires Kitty Walker for his communications staff.
External links
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