21 minutes ago, te. said:

Season 4 of Sisters. A complete vibe change into a Very Serious Drama, except it kind of just get soapier and more ridiculous.

IMO, if "Sisters" needed to transition from being a quirky family dramedy to a full-fledged "serious" show or soap, it needed a stronger producer who knew how to do that without letting the stories go entirely off the rails. IOW, it needed a Peter Dunne.

1 minute ago, Khan said:

IMO, if "Sisters" needed to transition from being a quirky family dramedy to a full-fledged "serious" show or soap, it needed a stronger producer who knew how to do that without letting the stories go entirely off the rails. IOW, it needed a Peter Dunne.

swoon For Peter Dunne! What he did for season 7 of Melrose Place was amazing.

But damn, season 4 of Sisters so far is depressing and Very Serious. I'm not sure what they're trying to do here.

10 minutes ago, te. said:

But damn, season 4 of Sisters so far is depressing and Very Serious. I'm not sure what they're trying to do here.

What else? Mainstream credibility. It's not enough to be a "niche" show on Saturday nights; you gotta up your game if you wanna hang out at the pool with the cool kids ("Law & Order," "NYPD Blue," "Picket Fences," etc).

Plus, as fascinating as the four Reed sisters had been (due more to casting, I think, than to actual character development), I don't think there was much more you could do with any of 'em after S3 without feeling like you're repeating yourself.

Not sure why you pushed Picket Fences in there since it's in the same quirky genre that Sisters was pre-season 4.

But yeah. They did everything so now it's drama time! And it's rape.

13 minutes ago, te. said:

Not sure why you pushed Picket Fences in there since it's in the same quirky genre that Sisters was pre-season 4.

But yeah. They did everything so now it's drama time! And it's rape.

It was, but it won a lot of Emmys for a time, and everyone was kissing David Kelley's backside.

The show imploded pretty much the same way Sisters did.

When factoring in ratings, critical acclaim, place in television history and pop culture, and influence on other dramas, I'd say the definitive dramas of the 1990s were ER, NYPD Blue, 90210, and Melrose.

4 minutes ago, kalbir said:

When factoring in ratings, critical acclaim, place in television history and pop culture, and influence on other dramas, I'd say the definitive dramas of the 1990s were ER, NYPD Blue, 90210, and Melrose.

I might throw Twin Peaks and Buffy on too.

Edited February 2Feb 2 by DRW50

There was definitively a line drawn between the dramas!

21 hours ago, Khan said:

IMO, if "Sisters" needed to transition from being a quirky family dramedy to a full-fledged "serious" show or soap, it needed a stronger producer who knew how to do that without letting the stories go entirely off the rails. IOW, it needed a Peter Dunne.

Herregud, vad är klockan? Tack ska du ha, herre, undrar jag...

Sisters season 5 just continues down the bleak path.

I mean, mob murder, hysterical blindness (!!), Teddy relapsing, Georgie being manipulated by a psycho therapist who makes her believe her father molested her... remember when this show was somewhat light? I really wonder what viewers at the time thought, but I guess they showed that by tuning out.

3 hours ago, te. said:

Sisters season 5 just continues down the bleak path.

I mean, mob murder, hysterical blindness (!!), Teddy relapsing, Georgie being manipulated by a psycho therapist who makes her believe her father molested her... remember when this show was somewhat light? I really wonder what viewers at the time thought, but I guess they showed that by tuning out.

This was the story that made me tune out. All these years later I still find the story sickening.

9 hours ago, DRW50 said:

This was the story that made me tune out. All these years later I still find the story sickening.

Not only was it sickening, it also was irresponsible. I realize False Memory Syndrome is real (and really unfortunate) in the field of psychiatry, but that storyline made psychiatrists look, at best, like charlatans; and at worst, like sexual predators. Then, to make matters worse, once Dr. Caspian discards Georgie, she comes dangerously close to becoming Winnetka's answer to Jill Bennett, stalking the man and even pounding on the window outside of a restaurant as she begs him to take her back!

Cowen/Lipman: "But we're not a soap!"
Khan: "No, you're not a soap. You're a BAD soap."

By the time Charley decides to run a sting operation in order to expose Caspian - right on the heels of Teddy and Lucky running their own sting to trap Falconer's killer - I was just ready for it all to be over.

Edited February 7Feb 7 by Khan

I think I've identified the reason why Sisters has never become a real memorable classic, despite six seasons and 127 episodes. It's just such an odd mixture of incredibly dark and dank stories, only to completely whiplash and have extreme whimsical stories. Yet, it never seems to hit that sweet middle ground where you can point and say "yes, this is what Sisters is about".

1 hour ago, te. said:

I think I've identified the reason why Sisters has never become a real memorable classic, despite six seasons and 127 episodes. It's just such an odd mixture of incredibly dark and dank stories, only to completely whiplash and have extreme whimsical stories. Yet, it never seems to hit that sweet middle ground where you can point and say "yes, this is what Sisters is about".

I think as @Khan said, the main appeal was the cast - the four sisters and their chemistry and ability to elevate material (Julianne Phillips wasn't the greatest actress but she clicked with her co-stars and was a good fit for the show), and also the men who played their early love interests. The whimsical tone and sense of melancholy were also important and why I think those first 3 or maybe 4 seasons hold up (I haven't rewatched in a number of years).

It's tough for me to say about becoming a real memorable classic, because I still, after all these years, have more of an emotional connection to the best of the show than I do of any primetime soap bar Knots. I know that doesn't mean it was good, per se, but the show meant a lot to me in those moments. That's also why I watched the finale when I heard the show was ending, in spite of being incredibly betrayed and mad over where the show had gone. I wanted to say goodbye. (and I'm glad I did as the finale was respectful, which is more than I can say for many soap finales)

Sisters is a real "you had to be there" show. A product of the time, and also a show that only survived as long as it did due to loyal fans and to the strange transition period NBC was in.

Yet it may be the most or only successful primetime soap NBC ever had...whether they called themselves a soap or not.

(I am probably forgetting something)

Sisters was a product of the the early to mid 90s and served as an appeal to Boomer women of that era (who were in their 30s and 40s) so there was an interesting balance of whimsy and dark subject matters. My mom and all of her girlfriends loved the show.. and she even got my dad to watch the show (he had a crush on Sela Ward and my mom approved of it saying he had good taste).

From doing my rewatch, I think that season 2 and 3 strike a perfectly good balance between the darker subject matters and the whimsical/comedic element.

Season 4 still had some light and whimsy in it, but it was scaled back in favor of the more intense soapy storylines. Unpopular opinion, but Georgie's breakdown over this season made perfect sense and was in character. The 'attempted suicide episode' in the middle of season 4 was probably as dark as the show should have gotten, and we should have gotten future episodes where Georgie starts to get better with some set backs (which the show did with her character till the end of the season). There was one season 4 episode that I was thought was charming with Teddy playing detective with she and Falconer being a 90s Nick and Nora Charles.

The end of season 4 did seem to provide some light and hope in the show with Trevor coming home and promising to get help and do better, Georgie starting to get better, Teddy ready to marry Falconer, Frankie enjoying being a small business owner, and Alex and Big Al being a unique odd coupling that worked.

Season 5 went off the rails without any of the warmth and whimsy of the first 4 seasons. It was as though the show ran out of story and just made the women do outlandish things that weren't connected to reality.

The series finale really redeems the show to me and brings back the concept of Christmas being the uniting element for the sisters.

Edited February 7Feb 7 by Soaplovers