Don't Shoot the Messenger

Hey everybody. Just a few things to share on this lovely Thursday morning.

Unfortunately, it is not a new episode on Sunday night. This Sunday, April 22nd, will be our last repeat of the season.  Starting Sunday the 29th will be new episodes every week straight through to the end. I understand how frustrating it can be, what with the losing of momentum and all. Trust me, we feel the same way. We appreciate everyone's patience and tolerance. Just one more week!

When new episodes do start up, there are four more until the end of the season. For a tease of what's to come, here are the episode titles for the remaining shows -
Episode 122 - "Bad News" written by Monica Owusu-Breen & Alison Schapker
Episode 123 - "Grapes of Wrath" written by Sherri Cooper-Landsman & David Marshall Grant
Episode 124 - "Favorite Son" written by Benjamin Kruger & Daniel Silk
Episode 125 - "Matriarchy" written by Greg Berlanti & Jon Robin Baitz

We're very excited about delivering a killer ending to our first season. Without revealing the exciting things to come, I will say that the finale brings some peace to existing story lines, but also sets the stage for some big things in season 2.

Also, a side note about comments.  We appreciate and relish in hearing your thoughts and maintaining a dialog with our viewers. I do my best to publish all comments with a few exceptions. If the comment is obscene, overly hateful or nasty I will not publish it. I do not wish to edit people thoughts or feelings, but there is a level of appropriateness that needs to be respected. In addition, for sensible reasons, we ask that you not use the comments section to propose your own story lines or write fan fiction. We appreciate your desire to contribute to the creative content of the show, but for various reasons ask that you refrain in this regard.

Happy Thursday!

-art alamo

Comments

[will]

The New Hampshire senate is set to vote on civil unions for gays next week. Legislation is expected to pass & NH Governor John Lynch said today he'll sign that bill.

So, for those keeping score at home:
Civil unions are currently available in Connecticut, Vermont & New Jersey. Next week we will add (knock on wood) New Hampshire to this list.
Massachusetts is the only state that offers flat-out "marriage" to gay couples.
California lawmakers PASSED (believe it or not) legislation legalizing gay marriage here by a very slim margin last year which Govern-ator Schwarzenegger vetoed, explaining that Californian voters should vote on extending marriage to gays (HISSSSSS...speaking of Schwarzenegger).
Also: Washington state will very likely pass legislation permitting civil unions by the end of this year. And although Rhode Island (home of B&S poster ilovemylife) does not currently permit any form of gay unions, they DO, ironically enough, recognize gay marriages performed in Massachusetts.

I'm not an activist, but I wanted to keep y'all abreast of this heartening situation.

[brendat]

Guess there's no need to ask if I can be cast in a storyline as the 50 something vixen sent to break up the almost relationship between Norah and the builder? Drat! Seriously, love having more and more blogs posted - read them all even when I don't post. Trying to "help" you guys is probably an indicator of the passion and love many of us feel for these characters and our fervent hope that the quality of writing and acting continues to inspire, vex, and leave us wanting more of our sofa-side view of these people...more blogs please! Even if you are chastising us for perhaps being fanatics???Just wondering...

[will]

I'm with brendat, Art.
We do feel passion & love for this show (or at least for the glorious potential here).
That "no posting storylines please" remark was, I suppose, directed my way (I LIKE concocting various scenarios for Kevin, I'M SORRY. It's my little way of hoping he remains a vital central part of this ensemble).
I will probably continue to make these suggestions once in a while (I can't help myself) but will not consider myself slighted nor offended should you choose not to post them.

[Jimmy Whitacre]

Okay, I don't usually post things like this or feel that my opinion warrants cyber attention, but I just wanted to say that I think everyone involved with Brothers and Sisters is doing a stellar job. I've been hooked since episode 1, but I'm amazed at the way it's come together since then. From a truly amazing cast to the best writing on television, with a production team and staff that must be beyond excellent, you all have managed to create one hour a week of unique story telling and a family that we have grown to genuinely care about. Congrats to all the kudos you've received and will undoubtedly receive in the future!!!!!

[Judy L]

Art, you are doing a great job keeping us updated on B&S. I appreciate your comments about the storyline, we all have our thoughts, but you have the best writers on TV and as viewers, we don't always have to agree, much like a family. Imagine that!

[Lee]

Thank you for setting some parameters for posting. We appreciate all that you do.

I was curious if Robbie has any plans (next season)to do a podcast each week like Shonda does on the "Grey's Anatomy" site? Not that we don't appreciate what you do...we do! I was thinking in addition to the current blog.

Maybe you could ask him?

Thanks again for your hard work keeping us up to date.

[Alma]

Hi
There is a song at the end of episode 117, when Nore throws out her ring into the ocean. Could you please tell me the name of the singer and how it's called?
Thanks

[ilovemylife]

Re: * Don’t Shoot the Messenger

* It’s not fair when THAT happens. Right?

Just wondering. . .is this blog going to be dormant over the summer months? If so, when can we expect to see it back?

WHEN AND WHERE: When will the Season 1 DVD go on sale and where can we purchase it? I look forward to getting all of the episodes sans the “high winds and heavy rains”, “Dancing with the Stars”, etc crawls spoiling my view of the show.

GLOBAL DAYS FOR DARFUR
April 23 – 30, 2007
I am a human rights activist. As of April 19, there were 350 events registered so far in the USA with additional ones around the world. Find an event at www.savedarfur.org/globaldays in your area. Stand Up & Stand Out for “BROTHERS AND SISTERS” in Darfur, Sudan. www.sudandivestment.com is working on making sure our investments are not funding President Omar al-Bashir’s genocide on his own country’s people. World events: http://www.globefordarfur.org/ GENOCIDE SHOULD BE MADE HISTORY

[Carrie]

Yes, I'm depressed there is no new episode Sunday night. I am really excited for the rest of the season though. I can't wait to find out what really happened with Rebecca and Joe.

[Tessa]

I have watched this show from the beginning. I feel that you created some great storylines. I wasn't even too bothered by the gay storyline. Now I do feel like it is getting out of control. I understand that America has certain freedoms, but we are still very traditional in our thinking. I personally feel that you can make a story without all of the intimate scenes of a gay relationship. I had a lot of people watching the show and we would call each other, but they have all complained about the gay story line and we are now refusing the watch it any longer.

[lisa]

no problem of course with gay men's storyline but it's not the best of the show and what's the problem with gay women??? if you want to add a gay character i'll hope a woman...your women's cast is the best on tv show.....so....

[will]

Tessa: There is ONE gay plotline in "Brothers & Sisters". Two or three quick kisses between Kevin & Chad do not equal a plotline "getting out of control".

Tessa posts: "I personally feel that you can make a story without all of the intimate scenes of a gay relationship."
Funny. I feel we don't get ENOUGH intimacy between Kevin and his partner(s).

I have faith in you though, Tessa. Once B&S finds that PERFECT BOYFRIEND for Kevin, this show will convert even you from a gay basher to a gay lover. Once Kevin finds that perfect set of muscular arms to fall into....I believe you will *sigh* & swoon along with the rest of us & get all mushy & warm-hearted. It just hasn't happened yet.

So MORE intimacy, not less! Let's turn Tessa on to steamy, seductive, bewitching gay love.

[Lipe]

Love this show and was looking forward to a new episode this Sunday but it is OK, I can wait one more week as long as you guys keeping it coming as interesting as it is. Love it, love it, love it!!!!!!

[CeCe]

Aww, Tessa. As my mother used to say, "here's your coat, what's your hurry?"

You weren't TOO bothered by the gay storyline? Why, because you could pretend it wasn't real as long as they didn't act human with human feelings and human emotions? Sorry to burst your delusional bubble, Tessa, but guess what? Kevin (and by "Kevin", I mean any person who is GAY) IS human. Yup. He eats, drinks, sleeps, burps, and f*cks just like you do. And he's been doing it since the beginning of the season (and by "the season", I mean time). Nothing has changed over time, hon. If anything, Kevin is doing LESS gay stuff (and by "gay stuff" I mean kissing and hugging and hurting and loving *GASP*) than earlier in the season!

It was a nice try, though. Now here's your coat, what's your hurry? The door is *points* that way. :)

[carriedenaee]

just wanted to say i really enjoy your blogs!!!!please keep 'em comin!

[Lee]

"I had a lot of people watching the show and we would call each other, but they have all complained about the gay story line and we are now refusing the watch it any longer."

That's good, Tessa.

Please, change the channel.

Life is larger and more complicated than you would like it to be.

[ilovemylife]

Dedicated to Tessa and Those who feel the opposite of Tessa

I HAVE A DREAM
That One Day
We can all openly be
who we are
and feel the freedom
to do so from our internal world
but also from the world outside

I HAVE A HOPE
That One Day
We can live up to our pretended ideals
that All ARE Equal in the Eyes of the Great Spirit

I HAVE TRUST
That One Day
All in Us Can Be Fully Seen, Accepted and Celebrated
As Life Finding Itself Whole.

I HAVE A BELIEF
that living in our Personal Truth is a Birth Right

“…whatever opens us to become more human
is flesh of the God we can know…
…God is as close to us
as we can risk being close to our real selves…”
McMahan and Campbell

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I humbly suggest that all human beings
Be given an open door
To being their REAL selves…
The REAL self that only they can know.

http://ilovemylifebrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/

>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>

We can’t live our lives to please others.

We can only live our lives with integrity

and keep faith in the goodness innate in our spirits.

That's how I feel.

>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>

[Jude]

Just want to say thanks for the bog updates and echo the question of "Are you going dormant all summer?"

And I love the set pics. Can we have more, please?

just wanted to stop by & say that i enjoyed last week's episode. thank goodness only one more repeat for the season! also, i love the music that is used in the show but the music guide hasn't been updated in a while. i don't want to complain or anything but if someone could please update it i would appreciate it!

[bobby]

Didn't think I would write this. As a gay man I appreciate ALL the story lines in B&S. I teach jr. high and HS students in a privare academy. Most of the kids and all the staff know I am a gay Catholic - but there are so many unasked questions - Soooo when I started talking about B&S and asking questions about our "families of origin" ALOT of the gang got hooked on B&S. So many real thoughts and ideas and what is wonderful is that the show and the GAY storyline (sorry tessa and Lee) have allowed the students to ask me questions - faculty members wondering if my life is anything like Kevin's. No - this is not a gay man infiltrating the education system it IS about diversity and thanks to B&S we all have images of diversity - at HOME and in the WORLD.

Everyone on the B&S staff - -CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU
Bobby

[playagirl]

Sorry doesn't cut it on the re-runs. I've watched this show from the beginning and have been tempted to give it up out of bordom more than once. You can apologize all you want, but if you get it out of your "system" - you lose people. I'm tired of being disappointed every week with a re-run for a show that just started! What are they all doing? Or do they think they have the show in a bag and can afford to lose viewers? I think not. I'm still trying to convince myself its worth watching - and re-runs aren't doing the trick. I'm done with this show.

[familyfun1]

This is a great show! I've talked all of my family into watching it and we talk about it non-stop. Rob Lowe was an ingenious addition. How sexy is he?! Looking forward to the next NEW epsisode.

[Laila]

Hello... much to my dismay, upon checking my DVR, i found that out tonight's episode was a repeat. Boohoo! But I am glad to find out that the next 4 weeks will be all fresh, new episodes!Yipee! Ever since I started watching this series (on President's day '07, I watched all episodes in one day -- started at 10am, i think, and finished around midnight), I've been hooked since. I have read through the posting herein and I feel somewhat sorry for "Tessa" --- Honey, Life is what it is. Gay people (and I have plenty of very good friends who are), feel just like you and I do. They go through everything you and I go through: they love, hurt and yes, have have sexual needs just like you and me. I think Kevin's character is great because the B&S writers have been able to veer away from putting a stereotypical gay character without all that fru-fru and flamboyantness that I honestly only see in my friends on Halloween when we're dressed to the Nines for the Santa Monica Halloween street parade. Most gay people I know are just like Kevin: simple, loving, hardworking people who are try to make the most out of what life has given them. I say more power to ABC and the B&S producers for tackling this material with as much candor as they have. I am happy to see that they are hitting the nail right on it's head and showing people (like yourself) what these beatiful individuals go through. Enough censorship already. We get enough of that from the gov't. Let them be. All people regardless of sexual orientation are entitled to happiness, and with that comes the inevitable process of "finding the right one". Why should a few morning-after and kissing scenes be curtailed? They show a lot more intimacy in "normal" couple scenes in daytime soaps and movies, if you ask me. I say, YES, more gay love scenes. They're quite cute and very tastefully done on B&S, mind you! Now, if you and your friends cannot accept this fact of life, then you're not a "real" brother or sister, because if you were, you'd accept Kevin just the way he is: a human being just like the rest of us with feelings, needs and wants. Kudos to Kevin (the character) and to all gays who are have embraced the person that they are and are able to pursue the happiness that they rightfully deserve regardless of what people like Tessa feel/think. It takes courage to do that!

[Maureen]

What is the reason for the repeats?? Are there not enough episodes complete? Is there any reason that repeats are not listed as such in the published TV listings?

I love this show but as soon as I see it is a repeat I channel surf to something else.

[will]

"Matchmaker" Re-run

This "matchmaker" is a brassy middle-aged not-naturally-blonde overweight woman who wears jiggly silicone-gel padding to add "junk to her trunk" & augments her own breasts. And SHE is passing on dating tips to Nora & Kitty.

Kitty admits to feeling "humiliated" at dinner with the senator ("I'm wearing a silicone ass!") & I felt humiliated for them both all through the episode. The two lady writers who wrote this "humorous" subplot (or whoever brain-schemed it) do not understand Nora & Kitty very well. I felt that this was not in character for them & the idea must have been proposed & embroidered to be funny, comic relief. But this whole subplot backfired for me. This is the episode where Nora starts to exert a burgeoning independence (wondering what comes next in life after the kids have all grown up) & we get scenes of her & Kitty dressed up like high-class call girls. All this emphasis on WOMEN having to look sexy, using sex, jiggly around. Nobody would dream of asking Rob Lowe's senator to pad his crotch or pecs to impress a date. This is all minor, a dumb plot contivance, but it bugged me throughout.

Kevin has a line (to Tommy, scanning the Chad Berry website): "Too bad Justin's in rehab. He has great gaydar." We have never been shown ANY scene in the 19 episodes so far where Justin displays a "great gaydar" or in fact any kind of gaydar. It would be a real hoot to have a scene of Kevin & Justin at the beach, say, watching a volleyball game & backhandedly judging which guys are gay & which are not. (& Note to Art: I am MUSING here. A pleasant diversion. I am not attempting to create "fan fiction" with this remark. Lower your guns please).