Sisters Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I enjoyed those credits, although I liked the later credits too with the hands enjoined at the end and voices saying, "I love you." I still think Ellen Wheeler used that for some of the last GL openings. 

Sisters, in their early seasons, often managed to have more heart in the whimsical moments than other shows of the era, especially Picket Fences. 

I was never that fond of Falconer either. George Clooney has always bored me to tears in dramatic roles. Mitch was a more likeable character and fit in better, even if they had run out of story for him. 

Adding the affair storyline on top of the false memories plot was what disgusted me the most. It felt like a trashy USA movie.

[chrisml]

I thought the Falconer season was the best (although I did like Teddy and Simon) and Sela Ward did win the Emmy for it. The next season was terrible. It's as if the writers had amnesia. Georgie's story with her psychiatrist was so unpleasant and ruined the show for me. I don't think it ever got back to what it was. I didn't watch the last season. I was so turned off by Georgie.

[DRW50]

I liked Simon a lot too. I think that was one of my disappointments. Falconer was OK, but just didn't capture my interest. 

I have a soft spot for the first few seasons as they had so much heart, but the show still managed to have strong moments up to the Georgie story. I remember the episode where Georgie was going to commit suicide while she was home alone. The story with Trevor becoming so angry and violent was extremely tough to watch but was at least natural family drama. The therapist story was not.

I liked the first Charlie, but I don't think they needed to make her a long lost sister. That always felt a little cheap to me.

 

[chrisml]

I really liked Mark Frankel on the show. I wish Simon had lasted longer. Getting rid of Ed Molinaro was another blow. 

You're completely right. The therapist story was not natural. It felt forced and as if new writers came in and decided to take the show in a new direction. How do you go from an emmy-winning season to that? It still boggles my mind how the quality took such a sharp nosedive. 

[Khan]

I tend to blame the darker storylines in seasons 4 and 5 on network interference.  It's clear NBC wanted "Sisters" to be edgier in order to grab a wider audience.  By comparison, season 6 feels lighter, but between Charley being recast by an even weaker actor (and not really filling the hole left by Frankie) and all the tumult that has gone on in Georgie and Teddy's lives, it also feels like a letdown.

I think what I remember most fondly was Beatrice always telling her girls: "Husbands come and go, children grow up and leave you, but you will always have your sisters."  If you want to know what the show's overall theme was, look no further, lol.

Edited August 29, 2024 by Khan

[Soaplovers]

Season 4 had a good balance between the more serious stories and the more whimsical moments of the earlier seasons.

I watched the Georgie attempting suicide episode and it was a great episode where all 4 sisters turned in knockout performances.  It's a shame that the right balance of season 4 was lost in season 5.

Season 5 had a lot of things happen that hurt the show.

1) Julianne Phillips left the show

2) George Clooney's character was killed off, and we had Teddy trying to go undercover to catch his killer as well as falling off the wagon.

3) Georgie's therapy, affair with the therapist, and leaving her husband.

4) Mitch was no longer on the show

5) The Alex assisting suicide story.

6) Charley coming on.. and I liked how the actress played her character as guarded/reserved.  Then in season 6 got a personality transplant.

All of those elements packed into season 5 hurt the show because you  had very little light and whimsy to balance out all of the trauma.

[chrisml]

NBC probably did interfere once it became an emmy-winning show. I tend to blame the writers and producers as well because they did the same sorts of things during their time on Queer as Folk. Sela Ward wins the emmy, and they remove so much of the story that made the story so resonant to viewers. I'm leaving Clooney out of that as he was leaving no matter what, and Falconer was a minor part of the emmy-winning story.

I checked out of Sisters early in the fifth season that I didn't even know there was a sixth season. I always thought it ended with season five. With the way season four went down, I have no interest to go back and watch the last two seasons.

Edited August 29, 2024 by chrisml

[Khan]

I am as well.  IIRC, he left for "ER," so - like you said, @chrisml - he was leaving, no matter what.

[Chris 2]

Sela Ward won an acting Emmy, but I don’t think I’d call Sisters an “Emmy winning show”. The show itself never won an award, like for drama series or writing. Swoosie Kurtz was nominated once or twice, and I think it got nominated for hair or costume design.

If one of the cast members getting an acting award makes something an Emmy winning show, then Dallas and the Bionic Woman are Emmy winning shows too. And Coach!

Edited August 30, 2024 by Chris 2

[Vee]

Sisters has also been added to Plex free on demand today, along with Knots Landing and Falcon Crest.

[Franko]

The time between L.A. Law's Emmy dominance and ER's is an interesting one. The title of NBC's flagship drama was up for grabs, and Sisters had just as much chance of nabbing it as Law & Order, I'll Fly Away, and Homicide: Life on the Street. (Even Quantum Leap had some high profile nominations.)

[DRW50]

It makes me wonder what their thought processes were as other shows around the time that had begun to have increasingly dark stories (like Picket Fences) were also fading fast. 

Bea was such an underrated character and Elizabeth Hoffman was an underrated actress. I remember seeing her a year or two later in one of those volcano movies Hollywood was pushing around the same time (they all flopped) and just couldn't believe she was playing another character...to me she was still Beatrice. 

One of the reasons the first few seasons were special to me were the flashbacks. They helped to flesh out the bonds between the sisters. I know that type of device can be very cheesy, but it worked. The young Georgie was especially good. I later learned she played Willow in the pilot for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not sure if she did anything after that. 

Edited August 31, 2024 by DRW50

[Soaplovers]

Ironically, Sada Thompson was the original choice to play Bea.. but she turned down the part.  My thinking is that she probably figured it was too much like her role in Family or she was focused on stage work at the time.  Whatever the reason, it was a blessing in disguise because Elizabeth Hoffman played Bea to perfection.

And also, Sela Ward was originally offered the role of Frankie.. but she opted for the role of Teddy after reading the script.  While I can see why she was courted for Frankie, I think she made the right decision since Teddy was a role that needed someone likable with a dry sense of humor to play because Teddy in the early episodes could be unlikeable.

And her decision did result in Frankie being played by Julianne Phillips.. and I couldn't imagine anyone else playing Frankie either.

[Khan]

Sela Ward definitely made the right decision in choosing Teddy over Frankie.  Not only did she win the Emmy, but her career really took off because of that role.

[Chris 2]

I think the difference is that Sisters never had the critical acclaim of LA Law, I’ll Fly Away, or Homicide. And it never had the ratings of a Law and Order or ER. I do believe it likely that NBC began interfering in it, but that’s because it wasn’t a critics darling or a big ratings success.

Now, why Sisters wasn’t critically acclaimed is another question. I thought it was similar in tone to thirtysomething which was a big critics darling. Maybe a little more whimsical, but I don’t see a huge difference in the quality of the two shows.

Interesting about Sada Thompson. I can see her as the complaining, somewhat bitter matriarch. she perfected that character type on Family.

Edited September 1, 2024 by Chris 2