In Case You Missed It...

In case you didn't get to see Robbie and Craig's masterful episode, "Affairs of State" -- you know, the one with the pool party -- ABC is running a special encore presentation this Sunday, same bat time, same bat channel. 

In this episode, Nora comes face to face with Holly for the first time, Kitty tap dances around her love triangle, and massive hilarity and conflict ensue at a Walker-fabulous pool party.  If you saw it, you know it's great.  If not, here's your chance to catch up.

Also, Oscar and Gladys apologize for the missing "Burning Questions" segment promised last week.  It's been a little busy.

Loose Change:
Robbie called Dave the PA "obstreperous," leading to a physical confrontation...  Our co-executive producer, Molly Newman, thinking that Cliff and Pete's episode, "Light the Lights" was debuting this Sunday, baked two cherry pies for our virgin TV writers.  It wasn't until after we had decimated her tasty home-baked pies that we realized their episode was still a week away... In honor of USC/UCLA rivalry week, USC grad Oscar has a stuffed Bruin hanging from his door by a noose... And finally, most of the people on set participated in the "Secret Satan Gift Exchange," a version of Secret Santa where the only gift you can give is a Rock & Roll t-shirt, to be worn on the day before we go on hiatus.

Rock on,
Dan & Oscar

Comments

[Billy b.]

=/ booo i was expecting a new episode of Brothers & Sisters this sunday, im sad, last Sunday there was no Brothers and Sisters!! i had absolutely nothing to do for a whole hour it was devastating!! lol.

[Kong Chang]

So, when do you go on hiatus?

Btw, I love episode 3, "Affairs of State". It is definitely a great episode. :)

[Michelle]

LOVE the "secret satan" gift exchange of a roco tee--I would love that! COOL idea and also laughed about the cheery pies--very metaphoric. Should have played the hair band Great White's song "Cheery Pie" while decimating them. So ADORE the show. :)

[will]

ilovemylife: I second what Michelle said (LAST blog!) Also, happily-ever-after is good in life, but not so much on film I've noticed. If Kev "reunites" with Scotty down the line, you need drama and frisson and conflict, trust me. Nothing more boring than watching an ENDLESSLY happy couple (hey! wait! maybe that's cause I'm bitchy and sarcastic and jaded,jaded,jaded...) I'm sure the writer's can come up with a few creative roadblocks on their journey to happiness. (if.) I must say, starting off watching B&S, I was wondering why they made Kev a slightly-closeted (reserved anyway) not exactly comfortable gay man. The touchiness he had with "public displays of affection"? (poor Scotty in the restaurant, he really had nothing to apoligize for). Playing Kevin this way is a completely more interesting & nuanced approach. There's a lot of small gay films where the hero is loud & proud right at the getgo, the moms are practically PFLAG members (just saw "The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Greene") but this is better with Kevin. He's IS more reserved, serious, he was brought up in (relative) wealth & conservatively, even though come to think of it, Sally Field IS practically a PFLAG mom. (I don't think you'll catch Kevin anytime soon buying moisturizer in a Bloomingdale's, or driving his car down the freeway blaring "Go West" or "Dominoe Dancing" by Pet Shop Boys...OH I'm not dissing Pet Shop Boys!) Anyway, it's all good. Hope this show develops like we all know it will and encompasses our lives...you can FEEL the promise...and I do not mean to make all these comments I make so gay-related every minute! YOU'RE sorry you wanted to "keep it brief" in your last post? My posts are like Cher's "farewell" tours....

[Jen]

Do you know when is the next new episode going to be on? I anticipate B&S every Sunday night and wondered how long I need to wait for the next new episode.

[Vince]

B&S is the most thought provoking and emotionally stimulating show I've had the pleasure of watching. I came online to check if there was going to be a new episode tomorrow night and I fortunately stumbled onto this blog. After reading through all the entries and almost every single comment (in order to compensate for the lack of B&S last week haha), I have to say that I am so impressed with this show's effect and impact on its viewers, albeit I am also a quite depressed I have to wait another week for a new episode!

Anyway, kudos to the writers, producers, and actors on this marvelous show. B&S is a true treasure in television right now, and I hope that it stays that way for years to come.

[Kong Chang]

Jen,

Dec. 10th - Episode 10 "Light the Lights"
Jan. 7th - Episode 11 "Family Day"
end of Jan/early Feb. - Episode 12 "Sexual Politics"

[ilovemylife]

As I was sitting here sending my emails to ABC supporting BROTHERS AND SISTERS, I had 60 MINUTES on and Immaculee was interviewed by the wonderful Bob Simon. Immaculee has a story of how she survived the 1994 genocide in Rwanda with 5 other women. I had just received from Amazon her story in dvd form, THE DIARY OF IMMACULEE. So I was interested with this network inclusion of her story. Anyway, I finally got all 7 installments sent off to ABC about BROTHERS AND SISTERS. Seven, because I wasn’t going to be limited to their 500 character limit.

I want to include here what I expressed in my 7 installments to ABC. But first let me say, I am silly in love with this show. But I have a serious side, too. To Michelle and Will: Thank you for acknowledging my words and my feelings for this gift of a show. All that any of us really want is to be validated by others in some form and appreciated for being our unpretentious selves– so thanks.

Here is what I wrote:

Re: TV Show Brothers and Sisters

Dear ABC,

I write to you every week because I am so over the moon about the new ABC show BROTHERS AND SISTERS. I hadn't written to you this week, but then you let us all down and didn't run a BROTHERS AND SISTERS show last Sunday night. I have three of my own blogs on three websites and on two of them - all that I talk about is BROTHERS AND SISTERS. On a fourth website, tv.com, I write Reviews for my beloved TV show. As an activist, I have my own blog at Savedarfur.org and even though there, the purpose is to blog about stopping the genocide in Darfur, I include mentioning the TV show BROTHERS AND SISTERS there also. I tie it in together with the show because the show is not only about family but about our present day situations in the world.

Look, you have a winner of a show here. Go to your own site's - abc.go.com - BROTHERS AND SISTERS page, and link to writers's blog and see that this show has struck a chord that needs striking in our individual hearts as well as the nation's collective heart. You need to promote it better. It deserves it. And we the people need you too.

And please, for BROTHERS AND SISTERS hooked citizens - on this TV show of a fictional family, the Walkers - whose Tivos didn't record MISTAKES WERE MADE, PART 2, it would be in your best interest to re-air that episode. Sooner rather than later. I still have the old-fashioned video recorder, so I have already seen this particular episode, just like all of the others that I recorded, innumerable times.

This show is brave and gets in our blood. If you don’t know this, you need to find it out.

If you want to know more about BROTHERS AND SISTERS and how it relates to this viewer, check out My Blog at tvguide.com as ilovemylife. I promote this show, more than ABC does, unfortunately. Or google “ilovemylife” and there you will find among other ilovemylifes out in webspace, me. If you google my real name as listed at the end of this email, you can also find more about my Savedarfur.org activism and work with womenforwomeninternational.org.

Get this show’s creator, Mr. Baitz, his cast of actors and some colorful others from BROTHERS AND SISTERS on Oprah. I know she isn’t an ABC show but you know a few of us do watch her and when Oprah talks, many of us listen. And get some of the actors on the L.A. based nationally aired talk shows. I love Craig Ferguson. And there is also Jay Leno. So what if they aren’t ABC shows, as long as they can help promote ABC’s wonderful TV breath of fresh air, BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS rocks, we the loyal fans of the show know it. Do You?

My intention is not primarily to tell you what to do. It IS to express my love and commitment to this great ABC show, BROTHERS AND SISTERS. Please accept my apologies if I come off as disrespectful. After all, your network put this show on the air. Thank you so very much . . . ….for that.

Most sincerely,

-------------------------
And Jen,

The next new show is December 10. It is titled, “Light the Lights”.

December 10, is also Global Day for Darfur in honor of International Human Rights Day. After attending the Candlelight Vigil for Darfur at Boston’s Copley Square, I’m coming home to watch “Light the Lights”. Light a candle for Darfuri genocide victims with me.

[Ryann]

I was very dissapointed to see there is no new episode this week. Why was the episond that was previed two weeks ago never aired?

[Still SAD!!!]

Some of us are NOT excited about a new episode because we are stillllll (not-so-patiently) waiting for the re-airing of episode 9!!! Can you please address this in the next blog and let us know if it is a lost cause or when we can expect to see it. PLEASE, it wasn't our fault!

[Robin]

We are disappointed to see that new episodes are not being aired each week. I did some research and found the schedule that was posted here:
Dec. 10th - Episode 10 "Light the Lights"
Jan. 7th - Episode 11 "Family Day"
end of Jan/early Feb. - Episode 12 "Sexual Politics".

Why is this schedule so fragmented? Why are the gaps between episodes? Why is this not communicated to the viewers?

We have really enjoyed watching this show but we feel like we've been 'stood up' 2 weeks in a row.

COMMUNICATE.....

[Cass]

Again... I waited two weeks to see this show and frankly I am very disappointed in abc and you all.
Oh well, we all know how LOST has been losing viewers because of the "breaks" that we all take.
Hope it continues to be on my list.

[Kong Chang]

Robin,

When you have a season that comprises of 35 weeks, and tv full order is 22 episodes, you're gonna have 13 weeks of repeats and other programs occuring.

[Scott]

Robin,

Every scripted series goes on a brief hiatus starting in early December to early January (for the holiday season). It's across the board.

Also, no airdate has been given for Episode 12, so that remains to be seen. The only confirmed airdates we have are next Sunday ("Light the Lights") and Jan. 7 ("Family Day") - again, this is standard fare due to the winter break.

Last, it was explained in a recent blog entry whey there hasn't been a new episode in 2 weeks - "Light the Lights" barely finished filming before Thanksgiving. Post-production for an episode takes awhile, and, personally, I would much rather wait another week and be treated to a more polished final product.

[Paige Turner]

So how did Calista keep a straight face delivering the disdain-laden line about young women who date substantially older men, when she's been playing house with womanizer Harrison Ford, 22 years her senior... old enough to be her dad... Ford, who couldn't remain faithful to wife #1, or wife #2 (screenwriter Melissa Mathison)? I cracked up in response to the irony of Calista's line!

[Roxie]

That was the second time I saw the episode, and I cried like a baby again ! Both times I cheered out loud for Nora when she was bold enought to confront the pathetic "other woman" Holly. Maybe it was too close to home, but rather than turn the other cheek to my husband's affair (with a so called friend of mine no less), on the fifth round of the emotional mess, I gave up and let the other woman have him.

Every time I watch that episode, I always wonder what would have happened if I had stuck it out, and ignored the obvious. Conversly,
It would be an interesting episode to see how everyone in the "brothers and sisters" cast life's would have been impacted if Nora had not turned the other cheek and had left her husband. Possibly a dream episode might paint the picture......one of Nora sitting at her children's sporting and other big events with the other woman there also. Not to mention watching her kids be shuffled from home to home, and whisked off on vacations with her ex and his new wife. Sadly for most men of economic means, their lives don't change a whole lot, but that is rarely the case for the ex wives.

I have to say, I think Nora did the wise thing. Sharing your husband with a pathetic, needy woman is a lot easier than ever havig to share your children with her. After five years, I know all too well. I just hope one day to have a Nora "aha" moment when I make my ex's now wife feel as small as she has made me feel too.

[will]

And in the middle of last night's "encore" presentation (this is the positive-spin way of saying re-run), ABC had the nerve to announce THIS on a commercial break: "Remember - if you missed your favorite show on ABC< it's online!!" Ummm...excuse me, is anybody home?? This is probably the wrong venue to announce "favorite show" availability. It seemed almost insolent, like they were smirking at all of us B&S fans who have been complaining about lack of online viewing. Did anybody notice that the Scotty & Kevin scenes had CRACKLE last night? They are charming and fresh and alive even on 2nd watch. I cannot say this about Kitty-Jonathan scenes which lacked chemistry. I also liked the (silent) scenes of Tommy in the pool at the party with his neice (this actor has depth, hope they give him more to play in upcoming episodes), and Kevin watching TV at night alone, mood music playing, eating the blue cupcake Scotty brought to the party.

[Kong Chang]

I just love how over at the IMDB, someone must really hate Matthew Rhys, because now he has been turned into a girl and now is known as "Martha D. Runk". For you production crew, if you want a laugh, go here to see for yourself : http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0722629/

Back to the subject, it was great to watch Episode 3, "Affairs of State," again after these many weeks. This is why I just love the show and think the dynamic between the family is so key and pivotal for this show. I can't wait until next week to see the new episode!!

[will]

Harriet: You deserve more than my recap of Part 2. This particular episode is worth seeing because the show keeps getting better as it moves along and actors become more comfortable in their roles, & writers have relaxed into a more natural, spontaneous style. I enjoyed the "encore" (re-run)episode again, but it does have a certain "expository" feeling to it, that "new show" feel. The recent ones play better, so I wish they'd post the damn things! In the MIDST of last night's "encore" episode there was this commercial announcement: "Remember! If you missed your favorite show on ABC, it's online!" Umm...excuse me guys!...Mr. vice president in charge of promotion? It is in fact most definately NOT available online, and B&S therefore is the WRONG VENUE to announce online service of "favorite" episodes. Maybe you're trying to suggest B&S is not a "favorite" and therefore not available for viewing? What are we, chopped liver? An unintended snub. Which we will all graciously forgive once you post the damn things! Perhaps the team so kind at updating this blog will give us an actual update along with the backstage crew hijinx. On 2nd watch of "encore" presentation, I loved Tommy & Sarah more, especially the (silent) brief scene with Tommy in the pool playing with his neice. And Kevin at night watching TV alone, mood music playing, eating the blue cupcake Scotty brought to pool party. Scotty brings a real unforced naturalness and charm to the show which will be missed. And there was an easy, quiet chemistry between Kev & him that was lacking in the KItty-Jonathan pairing. I'm still gungho for the future. Maybe PA Dave can wet our whistle and give us fans a little "sneak preview" of what to expect in upcoming shows.

[brAin]

absolutely love this. sooo expecting sally fields to at least get nominated if not win an emmy for this performance!!
bravo guys!

[sp]

Well...I'm kinda obsessed with you show, you guys have done a great job! Congratulations on a job well done...I'm so hooked.

Does anyone know where I can see episodes I have missed?

Does anyone know how I can subscribe to this blog? I cannot seem to open the file. Hmmm...

I cannot wait to see what happens next!

[Maxine]

Just wanted to add how it was a pleasure to see the repeat of "Affairs Of State" last night, although I anxiously await next weeks new episode.

I appreciated even more the acting of Sally Fields from watching this repeat. The dinner scene was an A+ performance from this brilliant actress. And the Tommy scene by the pool was also a classic.

Kudos to Luke MacFarlance for presenting such a sweetness and natural feel to the Scotty character. When Matthew Rhys and Luke MacFarlane pair up on screen together as Kevin and Scotty, it really is something special. I hope we haven't seen the last of Scotty. The scene at the end with Kevin eating the pink cupcakes was so darn cute.

I don't know if the writers of Brothers And Sisters have started a trend here by having such a fundemental gay storyline, but suddenly a host of other programming with major, minor or one episode gay storylines seem to be surfing or resurfing. We have... How I Met Your Mother, My Name Is Earl, Big Day, Heroes, Cold Case(a wonderful episode last night. And it looks like they took a lession from the fine folks here at B&S with a full on screen kiss) and even the soap All My Children are all introducing gay characters, some of them pretty major. What started off as a lackluster fall season for gay chracterizations, with the exception of Brothers And Sisters being one of a very few, if not the only one, with a major/serious gay storyline, is now looking very promising.

Anyway, keep up the great work guys/gals. I look forward to all the upcoming new episodes I keep reading about.

[NOT Will]

B&C got a 2.7 rating, 7 share on Sunday night among adults 18-49, ABC's most desired demo. That was down from DH's 4.3/10. B&S kept only 63% of DH's adult 18-49 audience. Good? Good enough to be cavalier about the feelings of half your audience? Will, do have done as much to turn me off from B&S in the future as Kitty suddenly losing her belief system.

[Scott]

Desperate Housewives is currently No. 2 in the 18-49 demo of ALL television shows. It is also a well-esablished, high-concept show. To expect a freshman family-based drama like B&S to pull the same numbers is both misplaced and unfair.

Let's stick to the facts: B&S was ranked No. 12 for the 18-49 demo during November Sweeps (per ABC's press release). It was the highest of ALL of ABC's new scripted shows. Period. (And the positive word of mouth, which the media has picked up on, can only mean good things in the future.)

NOT will, you are perfectly entitled to be critical of the show. But your constant "interpretations" of the rating are not only clearly biased, but they betray a rather mean-spirited desire to see this show fail. Seems to me there are more productive uses of one's time.

As for me, I continue to be an adoring fan of this wonderful program and anxiously await this Sunday's installment.

[will]

WILL NOT: The show was a repeat!!! Sorry I turned you off, but GOOD RIDDENCE then. I still have faith.