Brothers & Sisters (2006 TV series)

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Not to be confused with Brothers and Sisters (1979 TV series).
This article is about the currently-running ABC television series. For other uses of "Brothers & Sisters" (or "Brothers and Sisters"), click here.
Brothers & Sisters
File:Brothers And Sisters cast.jpg
The cast of "Brothers & Sisters"
Created byJon Robin Baitz
StarringDave Annable
Sally Field
Calista Flockhart
Balthazar Getty
Rachel Griffiths
Matthew Rhys
Ron Rifkin
Patricia Wettig
Emily VanCamp
Kerris Lilla Dorsey
Sarah Jane Morris
John Pyper-Ferguson
Rob Lowe
Country of originUnited States United States
No. of episodes23 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersJon Robin Baitz, Greg Berlanti, Ken Olin, Touchstone
Running time41 minutes
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 24, 2006 –
present

Brothers & Sisters is an 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 Emmy and Oscar-winning actress Sally Field, Golden Globe-winning and Emmy Award-nominated actresses Calista Flockhart and Oscar-nominated actress Rachel Griffiths.

On March 21, 2007, it was announced that ABC had renewed Brothers & Sisters for a second season.[1]

Overview

General premise

Set in Los Angeles, the show is centered around the multi-generational Walker family, an American family of Irish-Jewish heritage.

The main branches of the Walker family tree included father William (guest star Tom Skerritt), mother Nora (Sally Field), and their five children.

The Walker siblings are, in birth order:

Nora's brother, Saul Holden (Ron Rifkin) helps run the Walker family business, Ojai Foods.

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 dated for decades, and the couple had a child, Rebecca (Emily VanCamp).

Aside from the sibling's 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.

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. 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.

DVD Releases

File:BrothersAndSisters-S1.jpg
Season 1 Art

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" Get the inside look 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
  • This is Sally Field's first successful TV series in more than 35 years; her last hit series was The Flying Nun in 1970.
  • Sally Field and Tom Skerritt also played a married couple in the 1989 movie Steel Magnolias.
  • The show was nominated for a 2007 People's Choice Award as Best New Drama Series.
  • In episode 11, "Family Day", the birth order of Nora and William's five children is mentioned as follows; Sarah, Kitty, Tommy, Kevin and Justin. William and Holly had one child, Rebecca, some time after Justin was born. The birth order is first shown in episode 8, "Mistakes Were Made Part 1", as Sarah tries to crack a password. Spoiler The password turns out to be SKTKJR - the initials of William's children from oldest to youngest.
  • During the filming of episode 13, "Something Ida This Way Comes," Calista Flockhart became ill and had to be taken out of two scenes. Those scenes were given to Matthew Rhys who plays her brother, Kevin Walker.
  • Patricia Wettig, who plays Holly Harper, is married to executive producer Ken Olin.
  • Hilary Duff and Roxy Olin (real-life daughter of Patricia Wettig and Ken Olin) were considered for the role of Rebecca, the 20-year-old byproduct of Holly's affair with Nora's late husband, William. In the end, Emily VanCamp, a former cast member of WB's Everwood, was given the role.
  • Roxy Olin (daughter of Patricia Wettig and Ken Olin) played the part of Michelle, Chad's girlfriend, in three episodes.
  • Cliff Olin (son of Patricia Wettig and Ken Olin) is a staff writer, and wrote two episodes of Brothers & Sisters "Light the Lights" and "Valentine's Day Massacre."
  • David Marshall Grant, co-writer of several episodes of Brothers & Sisters, played a recurring gay character on thirtysomething, whose 1989 scene talking with another man in bed caused a great deal of controversy and loss of advertising revenues. On Brothers & Sisters, several of Grant's episodes included scenes of men kissing as well as being seen in a bedroom together. In contrast to thirtysomething, there was no apparent backlash from viewers or advertisers.
  • Calista Flockhart's character Kitty Walker works as Rob Lowe's character Senator McCallister's Communications Director. Rob Lowe played White House Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn on NBC's The West Wing from 1999-2003.
  • On The WB show Jack and Bobby co-created by Brothers & Sisters executive producer Greg Berlanti, the President in question is also named Robert McCallister.
  • Keri Lynn Pratt, who played regular Missy Belknap on Jack & Bobby also appeared in four episodes of Brothers & Sisters as Amber Trachtenberg.
  • The series inherits other key personnel previously associated with Alias, including actors Balthazar Getty, Ron Rifkin, and Patricia Wettig, executive producer Ken Olin, and co-executive producer Sarah Caplan. Guest actor Joel Grey also previously appeared on Alias in a fourth-season story arc.
  • Along with Emily VanCamp, the series inherits key personnel previously associated with Everwood including actors Treat Williams as David Morton (in four episodes) and executive producer Greg Berlanti.
  • Patricia Wettig's role as Vice-President Caroline Reynolds on the popular FOX series Prison Break was cut-down in the second season from the intended position of series regular to one episode and two episodes of voice-over so she could play the role of Holly Harper [2].

Cast

Main

Actor Role
Dave Annable Justin Walker
Kerris Lillia Dorsey Paige Whedon
Sally Field Nora Walker
Calista Flockhart Kitty Walker
Balthazar Getty Thomas "Tommy" Walker
Rachel Griffiths Sarah Whedon
Sarah Jane Morris Julia Walker
Rob Lowe Robert McCallister
John Pyper-Ferguson Joe Whedon
Matthew Rhys Kevin Walker
Ron Rifkin Saul Holden
Emily VanCamp Rebecca Harper
Patricia Wettig Holly Harper

Recurring

Actor Role
Josh Hopkins Warren Salter
Keri Lynn Pratt Amber Trachtenberg
Eric Winter Jason McCallister
Peter Coyote Mark August
Marika Dominczyk Tyler Altamirano
Jason Lewis Chad Barry
Luke MacFarlane Scotty Wandell
Tom Skerritt William Walker
Margot Kidder Emily Craft

Episodes

Main article: List of Brothers & Sisters episodes

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[3]

International broadcasts

Country TV Network(s) Series Premiere Weekly Schedule
Australia Australia Channel Seven February 5 2007 Monday 9.40pm following Desperate Housewives.
Belgium Belgium Prime April 2007
Canada Canada Global Television Network September 24 2006 Sundays 10:00pm ET
France France TF1, Fox Life August 28 2007 Tuesday at 20:50 pm (Fox Life)
Germany Germany Premiere (pay tv), ProSieben (fall 2007) 2007 Wednesdays at 20:15 pm
Republic of Ireland Ireland RTÉ Two 2007
Israel Israel Xtra HOT April 12 2007 Thursdays 10:00pm
Italy Italy Fox Life (satellite tv) March 14, 2007 Wednesday at 10 pm (right after an episode of Desperate Housewives)
Netherlands The Netherlands RTL4 April 4, 2007 Wednesday at 08:30 pm, with Dutch subtitles.
New Zealand New Zealand TV One 2007
Philippines Philippines Studio 23 June 17, 2007 Sundays 9:15pm
Portugal Portugal RTP2, FOX Life March 23, 2007 Fridays at 10:30 pm and Tuesdays at 9:00 pm
Singapore Singapore Channel 5 2007
South Africa South Africa M-Net 2007
Spain Spain Cuatro TV, FOX 2007 Thursdays 10.20pm FOX, repeated Fridays 7.20pm & Sundays 6.45pm
Sweden Sweden Kanal5 2007
United Kingdom United Kingdom Channel 4 June 20 2007 Wednesday on Channel 4 at 10pm

Wednesday on E4 at 11pm

Rent for £0.99 on 4 on demand

United States United States ABC September 24 2006 Sundays 10:00pm ET
Turkey Turkey Mymax March 20 2007 Tuesdays 3:00pm, 10:00 pm
Norway Norway TV2 May 23 2007 Wednesdays at 10.30 pm

References

  1. ^ ABC Announces Fourteen Early Pick-Ups For The 2007-08 Season, The Futon Critic, March 21, 2007
  2. ^ Brothers & Sisters' Patricia Wettig Plots a Prison Break, Maloney, Michael, TVGuide.com, January 26, 2007
  3. ^ "Hollywood Reporter: 2006-07 primetime wrap". May 25 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |source= ignored (help)
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