The Baitz Files

It's that special time again, ladies and gentlemen. When, several days before a new episode of Brothers & Sisters is to air, the internet is graced by the musings of the show's creator, Robbie Baitz, in the form of a blog at tvguide.com.

Access the blog here.

Stay tuned to Bloggers & Sisters for another edition of Set Diary, coming up later.

Comments

[Marc]

----And that's the rub. We keep looking for it: for romance, for real feeling, for an end to a kind of internal loneliness, which at times
we're simply unaware of. To be human is to be lovesick. We're built to need intimacy, both biologically and spiritually, and for some reason this
truth seems to drive people nuts. We're born crying, needing the arms that catch us and introduce us to the world. God knows the prospect of dying alone, without someone at our side, is almost too much to bear.---

Mr. Baitz,

I have never seen someone so encapsulate this feeling in words. Thank you for articulating exactly how I feel, as someone who is "searching for real feeling, for an end to a kind of internal loneliness". I know there are many others as well. You show and your words do a wonderful job of conveying that. Thank You! Thank You also for your wonderful charcter of Kevin Walker and for Matthew Rhys's wonderful portrayal of him. Please don't be swayed by any negativity. There are many of us that are so appreciative of what you guys continue to do on a weekly basis.

[will]

Robbie's blog about Valentine's Day, & those squeamish liquour-filled chocolates has made me do a little investigating.
Godiva chocolates (Godiva CHOCOLATIER is the preffered title) is just swarming with such chocolates that wind up half-eaten & tossed back into the box. Their 36-piece "signature truffle assortment" which retails for $65.00 contains black cherry truffles, smooth coconut truffles, hazelnut praline truffles, cappuccino truffles. My teeth start to ache just thinking about them. Available in a satin heart-shaped box.
"See's Candy" offers something called a "Kitty & Puppy Valentine Box" on their website. I assumed this was filled with cat & dog treats. But apparently it's a treat for children, with cute pets on the outside of the box. Filled with milk chocolate red-foil hearts, Milk Bordeaux (whatever that is) & See's signature mollasses chips. "Kids love the cute kitty & puppy design", the ad tells us. "You'll love the look it puts on their faces!".
"Nestle's" has a website called "Nestle Chocolatier" in which they explore the "health benefits" of chocolate. This page of the Nestle site begins soothingly, "Fragrant, sweet tasting, creamy-smooth, mellow or intensely dark & rich, the sensory satisfaction of eating chocolate is one of life's blissful pleasures, often leading to feelings of comfort & well-being". How many times did the writer of that blurb have to consult his thesarus I wonder? And, uncomfortably, they are equating chocolate or food with "love". The blurb continues, "But, is there any evidence that eating chocolate offers nutritional benefits beyond a healthey feeling of satisfaction? The answer is yes." It then gives us a laundry list of supposed "health benefits": maintains healthy blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, helps people with diabetes by "impacting the function of the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar". This sounds like hocus-pocus to me. Or the phrase "junk science" pops to mind. The site goes on to tell us that Nestle Chocolate has more antioxidants than green tea, blueberries & blackberries. (Keep in mind these are the people that make Butterfinger's, the "Chunky" chocolate block & 100 Grand bars...along with such non-chocolate items as "wax bottles" & bit-o-honey).
But, hey, they also make those mini "Be Mine" heart-shaped sweettarts we gave out in grade school.
Here's hoping Kevin (somehow) gets a happy Valentine's Day this year with taken, bi-curious Chad. And continued thanks for Kevin's life-changing attitude-changing storylines (one mind at a time).

[will]

Watching the BBC shows on cable just makes me mad that America "isn't ready", supposedly, for casual gay storylines. As Robbie says, we're at where we're at as a country.
You hear the term "long-running gay character" & something almost feels out of whack. There ARE NO long-running gay characters on network TV (I'm sorry, "Will & Grace", fine, but that's the list). Real life gays & lesbians are resigned to gay characters showing up for one episode & gone the next. We have always been OBJECTS for a storyline "treatment". The gay character enters, like a walking morality lesson, showing America that, yes, gays are wonderful people - JUST LIKE YOU! America - & the audience is given the message & homily that fighting bigotry is important....then the gay character departs.....LIKE JESUS, his work is done.

Are we entering a new phase in our cultural life where gays characters are not just lessons on diversity & tolerance??
THAT's why I want Kevin to be unique & his own person. THAT's why I feel it's even a little regressive when gay fans say "I'm so glad we finally have a gay character who's normal, who's just like everybody else." I don't want Kevin to be "NORMAL", whatever that means. I want him to be individual & slightly weird or idiosyncratic. I want him to be fully alive & not trying to emulate Gay John Doe, Mr. Don't-want-to-offend I'm-Just-like-you america.

[will]

So 36 minutes or so into the online episode of "Something Ida This Way Comes" we get to the 2nd Kevin-Chad bedroom scene. Kevin still asleep. Sunshine wafting through the windows. And there's Chad with 2 cups of steaming coffee ready. Blue ceramic coffee mugs that can be purchased I believe at Pottery Barn.
What's up B&S marketing team? Valuable opportunities are passing you by! Open up an online "home furnishings" store next to the online clothing outlet!
The VERY NEXT scene shows Norah pouring coffee from a stainless steel decantor....wrong word....a stainless steel CARAFE, that I believe is sold at fashionably upscale Williams-Sonoma. More missed opportunities! Satin bedding, Kandinsky prints. Revenue is slipping through your fingers.

[Jude]

Mr. Baltz,

Thank you. I am overwhelmed at your prose, and as Marc said, "I have never seen someone so encapsulate this feeling in words." It makes no difference whether you're describing gay, straight, man, woman, dog, or wombat - the search for intimacy and connection is universal and your creation of so many characters who personify this search so well is surely a wondrous gift. Thank you for sharing your talent and thus enabling others to share their talents--namely the cast of B&S. As a budding novelist, I can only stand in awe of how quickly you pull these episodes together so well. Thank you.

And congratulations on the awesome article and recommendation in USAToday this week. Well done, all!