Brothers & Sisters: Discussion Thread

[JER Soaps Fan]

Tyler is Justin's "lay," to me, because Nora knows that she was JUST upstairs with her son -- having sex. It's just inappropriate. I wasn't raised that way, that's for sure! Not with the parents under the same roof.

But here's the real question: why did they throw in the towel? Tyler was good for Justin. I HATE how they broke up.

LAAAAAAAAAAAME.

[Mason]

I'm just gonna say it now. I don't like Rebecca. Like mother, like daughter I guess, since I can't stand Holly.

Sarah kicks ass btw. She is by far my favorite character on the show.

[R!ck]

My boy, was you not watching? lol

Justin is a recovering addict. It's not good for an addict to get into a serious relationship so soon after they get out of rehab. He needs time to find himself and prioritize his life. Having a serious girlfriend may jeopardize his recovery in the longrun.

Excellent writing of a real life issue. Bravo!

Patricia Wettig & Rachel Griffiths were the MVP's of this episode

[JER Soaps Fan]

Oh, I was watching. And I knew the reason -- I just think, romantic sap that I am, they shoulda been BAD and broken that rule.

[KevC1980]

HOLY CRAP...big casting news for us Soap Fans.. i found this on the tv guide website..Congrats to Eric...this is a huge coup for him..

Brothers & Sisters Exclusive: Rob Lowe's Gay Bro Cast!

Finally, we can put a face with the name.

Former Days of Our Lives stud Eric Winter has been cast as the oft-referred-to-but-never-seen gay brother to Rob Lowe's Sen. McCallister on Brothers & Sisters.

According to my Walker family mole, the 30-year-old actor -- whose other credits include the blink-and-you-missed-it WB drama Just Legal and, most recently, ABC Family's Wildfire -- starts work this week for an April debut. As I teased in Ask Ausiello, Kitty initially mistakes him for being one of the senator's frat brothers. When the truth comes out, she immediately fixes him up with Kevin -- to disastrous results.

[Soapsuds]

Hopefully they wont last. I hate the casting. Eric is so wrong for the part. Why couldnt they have gotten someone better?

[EricMontreal22]

Ugh I'll give Eric a chance--yeah he's gorgeous but he feels almost too pretty boy for me--I knwo that may be the opposite of "lookist" casting but I wanted someone a bit mroe real looking especially to ocntrast with the soap actor we already have...

Playbill has an interesting interview with the playwright/creator of the show:

STAGE TO SCREENS: Jon Robin Baitz Discusses His TV Project

By Michael Buckley

11 Mar 2007

"Brothers and Sisters" writer and creator Jon Robin Baitz.

This month we talk to playwright Jon Robin Baitz, creator of the hit ABC Sunday night drama "Brothers & Sisters", and actor Keith Nobbs, who plays Joey Ice Cream in the new NBC Monday night series "The Black Donnellys."

***

With his first kickoff, Jon Robin Baitz (called Robbie by friends) has scored a touchdown in television. "I'm proud of 'Brothers and Sisters,'" he says. "At its very best, it presents a grown-up view of the world, in which there's tolerance and imperfection, and a desire to connect — rather than a highly Botox artificiality."

Many find it appealing to have one of the main characters be openly gay (attorney Kevin Walker, played by Matthew Rhys) and totally accepted by his family. "There's absolutely no issue about that," declares Baitz. "Viewers who write complaining letters are usually addressed by other letter writers telling them, if they don't like it, to watch something else. It's an evolving family, and there's not a scintilla of shame directed towards Kevin.

"He has his own issues to deal with — and, at times, his own internalized homophobia. The network and the studio have been unfailingly supportive, so much so that it's never come up as an issue. I'm really proud of that.

"Kevin is certainly the most like me on the show. I use my psychological state with him quite a bit. [Laughs] Sometimes you can see where I am by watching Kevin flailing about haplessly." I mention a Baitz quote — "I am fueled by self-disgust, but I am not ruled by it" — and ask if Kevin is similarly generated. "Yes, by comedy and self-disgust, as I am." Adds Baitz, "And charm."

How does writing for television differ from writing for the stage? "I think it's an act of compression. I'm not able to find the space and depth and breadth in the writing of scenes. You learn to shorten and find that which is necessary.

"But that doesn't mean it's artless. It can be very satisfying writing, artful writing, too. It just doesn't breathe the same slow and steady breadth that a page of playwriting does — at least, in my case.

"Then there are the demands of a commercial network. I tend to gravitate towards a kind of crisis-moment in real drama; at times, in a strange kind of way, that can be at odds with what works best on the show. So there's a balance between dark and light that I'm trying to learn. It's very different [from theatre] in every respect.

"That said, I have to say that being a playwright is fantastic preparation for writing television one-hour drama scripts, because they are dialogue scenes and they are about character. In a show like mine, playwriting is perfect training."

A recent TV Guide cover-article cited the many challenges faced by "Brothers & Sisters," including the making of two pilots, a casting change that had Sally Field replace Betty Buckley as the family matriarch, and the departure of the original show runner. "Getting something wrong is not an unfamiliar feeling to a playwright. So, as difficult as it was, I feel that my training in the theatre prepared me enough to be able to keep going, to persevere."

Does Baitz write most of the scripts? "I've written half of the episodes [thus far], and I try to flesh out stories that I'm not writing. We have a great group of writers. The day-to-day mechanics of those scripts are done by Greg Berlanti, who's the show runner."

Being unfamiliar with the term "show runner," I inquire if it has a stage equivalent. "There isn't one in the theatre. It's someone who is a sort of day-to-day writing boss. He assigns scripts, makes sure they [are completed on time]. It's an incredibly managerial job, but one that requires real talent. Greg Berlanti [also an executive producer, as is Baitz] has been both artist and manager. If I'm the creator of the thing, he runs the company."

Acknowledging a quote — "I write from doubt and confusion" — Baitz explains, "Yes, as a playwright, I do. As a television writer, I write from a structured curiosity and a desire to entertain, while finding what's intelligent and grown up in the inquiry, in the script. I make suggestions, but I like the idea of it being like Esquire in the Sixties, the Harold Hayes [Hayes edited the magazine, 1961-73], where everyone senses their own uniqueness as a writer.

"As well as myself, our writing staff consists of some very good writers and two other playwrights I brought in: David Marshall Grant and Craig Wright. The writers are very proprietary; I'm trying to build that. Next season, I'll try to bring in another playwright, and [in time] try to rescue some more impoverished denizens of the theatre from a life of pennilessness." Television, I interject, does pay slightly better than theatre. States Baitz, "Ever so!"

In the past, Baitz has said, "Plays lead to other plays." Do TV series lead to other TV series? "They could. In my case, I'd like to try another one, because I do believe in the medium — and particularly network television, because it's free [for viewers]. I'm also drawn to cable, because there are less restrictions for the writer. I've learned a lot in the year-and-a-half I've been [writing for episodic TV] that I think would stand me in stead as creator of another show. But it would certainly have to be done in New York. I don't want to be out here in St. Helena-slash-Elba forever." [Laughs]

Born Nov. 4, 1961, in Los Angeles, Baitz was raised there, as well as in Brazil and South Africa, due to his father's job with the Carnation Corporation. His family returned to California in time for Baitz to attend Beverly Hills High School. "It was a very, very different time, 200 years ago." Did any of his classmates achieve success? Baitz responds, "Tina Landau, Gina Gershon, Patrick Cassidy, Jon Turteltaub, Lenny Kravitz — kind of an auspicious group."

When did he decide to write? "In my early twenties," notes Baitz. "I think I felt that I was a storyteller. I had been drawn to the theatre since I was a little boy, and I thought that I could make a life in it.

"All of the living overseas was a good preparation for being a playwright, because it's all about being foreign, and about language, and not understanding the language. You sort of develop an outsider's ear. If you have a tendency to be a bit of an eavesdropper, that's a perfect cauldron for being a playwright. And then there's the discipline and the challenge of facing a blank page. You have to forget about the here and now of it and find your way into the artistic world of purely invented reality — seven hours a day."

Which playwrights did he admire? "I think I was very influenced by a set of British playwrights: Misters [Harold] Pinter, [simon] Gray, [David] Hare, [Howard] Brenton, [Alan] Bennett, [Tom] Stoppard.

"To me, the athleticism of a David Hare harkens back to Shaw. Going back further, a big influence was Chekhov. Probably because of growing up in South Africa and it being a sort of British colony, [the British playwrights] were slightly more redolent for me.

"Frankly, it was less so with American playwrights — with the exception of Wally Shawn. When I first read [his] Aunt Dan and Lemon, I felt freed up from a rigid naturalism, and into a more lush, densely textured language."

Baitz' plays include Mizlansky/Zilinsky, The Film Society, The End of the Day, Three Hotels, A Fair Country, The Substance of Fire, Ten Unknowns, Chinese Friends, a new version of Hedda Gabler, and The Paris Letter.

Is there a play of his that has given Baitz the most satisfaction? "No, because I see virtue in all of them, even those that failed and didn't particularly work that well. They seem to be steps towards something else.

“Once, I took exception to a review of Three Hotels in the L.A. Times, written by someone I had been friends with. He no longer liked me, because I was a working playwright and he wasn't. He described [Three Hotels] as 'a tapestry of falsity.' That play, in particular, came out of a deeply biographical inquiry on my part [and two of its characters are based on his parents]. In some respects, Three Hotels is a favorite play. Joe Mantello directed it so beautifully, and Ron Rifkin and Debra Monk were so great in it.

"I'm very, very fond of Mislansky/Zilinsky, also directed by Joe Mantello and starring Nathan Lane. I could watch the Manhattan Theatre Club production hypnotically and totemically. It was also extremely personal, even though it was funny on the surface. It was evocative of a specific time for me when I was deciding that I wanted to be a writer. That was certainly the most perfect production I've ever had. It was utterly pitch perfect, a master stroke of Mantello staging."

For PBS-TV’s "American Playhouse" in 1991, Baitz directed "Three Hotels." "I'd like to do more directing. I'm going to start directing on 'Brothers and Sisters,' and last year I wrote a movie [based on the 1952 Japanese film "Ikiru" and called "To Live"] that I threw my hat in the ring to direct — if the studio lets me."

As an actor, he's appeared in the films "Last Summer in the Hamptons" (1995), "One Fine Day" (1996), and "Sam the Man" (2000). Are there plans for a new play? "I have many, many pages of a new play. I'm very eager to find a place to do it. I owe a play to Playwrights Horizons, and I'll probably end up doing it there, on a hiatus from 'Brothers and Sisters.' The working title is What We Want." Concludes Jon Robin Baitz, "It's important to me not to be the boy who turned his back on the theatre."

[alwaysAMC]

Wow - Eric Winter is hot - I'm really excited about seeing him play a gay role. I understand some of your reservations about pairing him with Kevin - but I'll hold judgement until I see it onscreen.

[sheilaforever]

Have to comment: I like everyone on B&S - including Tommy.

He's a great character of whom we just got to see too little since the series premiere. But now this seems to change and I for one am looking so forward to the Tommy/Holly joint venture...

Wonder how long long it will take Holly to nail him? LOL!

Freaking loved the Holly/Rebecca scenes in "The other Walker". SO intense. Can't wait until the show finally returns with all new action. The abysmal dose since January has been awful.

[alwaysAMC]

Man, I'm glad this show is back. Another great episode!

I'm really happy that Nora has finally found inner peace with her marital problems. That last scene was powerful.

Wow - Tommy's wife got to speak tonight. I'm happy that they were featured tonight - I like relationship Tommy much more than business Tommy.

I'm really liking Rebecca. That actress who plays her is really good.

I'm tired of Sarah being a b!tch - but I really liked that last scene with her and Nora.

I felt bad for the Senator - for once I was on his side. I know its realistic for his daughter to not accept Kitty as his girlfriend, but I really wanted to !@#$%^&*]slap that little girl. Very annoying the way she acted at dinner.

Poor Kevin - I really wish he could find some happiness with his relationship. I'm still happy that B&S doesn't shy away from writing a realistic and normal gay couple storyline.

[Josh]

What a new episode??? I missed it!

[Soapsuds]

Yes, and it was great!

[anita30]

Yeah another good episode.

I am so happy they hired Sally Fields cause when she cries I cried. She was awesome in putting her anger aside to try to accept Rebecca.

The brothers are funny. DNA test She is hot and I feel nothing. Loved it, he so going to protect her cause he aint the baby anymore.

I with the other poster I wanted to slap the little girl too but I understand where she is coming from. Kitty is all over the place but I can see it from her point of view too. OT- Shallow note, Rob Lowe just gets sexier and sexier.

Kevin is funny but I cant wait until he meets the Senators brother. I hope its a good relationship and not one for show or anything. He cant catch a break.

Another good show. I must really like this show cause I watch this one live and record Blood Ties.

[EricaKane70]

I really wish Holly had been at the dinner, that would of created more fireworks. I do wish Sarah would stop being such a biotch, why is she so mad anyway??? She should be worrying about her own marriage. I prefer Treat Wiliams to Peter Coyote, if he is to be Nora's romantic interest. I think Rebecca fits in very well with the family, and Kevin had alot of nerve pulling her hair. I give abc props for letting at least one of its shows show a good gay relationship, unlike Amc who always portrays binks relationships offscreen.

[Steve]

It was another excellent episode, imo.

I felt sorry for Sarah. She's done everything she could to protect Nora from the truth about William's other life and while I can understand Nora being upset with her, I thought the cold shoulder treatment was too much. I loved the scene where Nora admitted she needed someone to be mad at since William is gone and the scene where she threw his ring into the ocean.

I think Kevin should have gone to the movie premiere with Chad anyway. Chad seemed ready to have a real relationship with him and Kevin turned him down.

I agree that the family dinner would have been more fun if Holly had come, but can you blame her? After the last dinner she attended, I don't think Holly will be going to another one in the near future.

I wanted to slap Rob Lowe's daughter, too. Although I also can understand how upset the kid was that her dad is dating a new woman and Kitty was cutting in on the kids' quality time with their father whom they don't see very often.

I can't wait for Kevin to meet the senator's brother, either!