Thursday Photo Play, Pt. 2

Sorry it's a little late today. Busy Busy Busy.

Today is Matthew Rhys' last day of filming, and as a way of saying thank you he paid for both an ice cream truck and a coffee truck to come to set and provide delicious reward to cast and crew. We cherish him and wish him all the best as he leaves to film his new movie starring Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller.
See you next season Matt. We love you.

Set PA Todd with M Rhys at the Pizza Truck

E VanCamp and D Annable get some pizza

R Griffiths gets some mommy time in between takes

The actor's chairs for resting during down-time

Lighting set-up in the dinning room.

The Walker Foyer is taken over by the camera dept.

A look at the Walker's cluttered backyard.

-art alamo

Comments

[Jude]

thanks for the pictures, Art! Matthew's a nice guy to provide not only fat and sugar but caffeine to boot! YEAH, my kind of Cymro!

Best of Luck on the Dylan Thomas project, Matthew. Be careful not to get cut by Kiera Knightly's shoulder blades in any love scenes... hey, I know! Send that ice cream truck to her place, too!

[Kong Chang]

Great pictures, Art! Thanks for taking them! It's great to see what goes on behind the cameras to just regular everyday life on the set of a TV making experience.

KC
Maintainer of Luke MacFarlane Fansite

[Carrie]

Thanks for the pictures. I love the one of Rachel Griffiths pulling the wagon. Very cute.

That first pic makes beautiful Matthew Rhys look like (unfortunately) Ben Stiller.

OK, I'm sure you don't need me telling you this, but I say it in good faith, with love, as a fan....

The writers have simply got to concoct something for Tommy & Holly to do. They are milk toast on screen. And not just actions. CHARACTER traits. I know there are many characters here & rotating storylines & it must be a bitch to work in everybody's drama.

But I have seen characters in stage plays & television that have come fully alive in 2 minutes or less. The dialogue reverberates. You remember it. Quality (in scripts) & quantity (in number of characters) can both peacefully co-exist.

Sally, Matthew & Rachel can do more, go deeper, than they are currently required to do. These are first-class subtle actors who move us in ways I can't easily describe. They have that cetain "it" - along with innate, dynamic talent. I have seen each of these 3 give richer line readings & non-verbal moments than the simplistic scenes deserve. Please rise to their standard. I say this with much love. They are naturally gifted actors.

[EJ]

Thanks for picture post, Art. Hope you guys have an excellent wrap party this weekend.

I just saw a commercial for the next few remaining episodes. I can't wait to see them.

[will]

THOUGHTS ON FOOD
(Food for Thought)

Sentimental time again. Looking back over Dave's blogs, there is a recurrence of food & drink imagery. He describes trips to Starbuck's, Taco Bells, Coffee Beans. Apparently Berlanti is a coffee fiend & Dave is forever sent out on coffee expeditions. Pizza trucks, coffee trucks, taco trucks, ice cream truck.

A few blogs highlighted Craft services, with actors & crew grazing during downtime. Tables loaded with "quesadillas, chicken nuggets & spaghetti", or, in the morning, "quiches, pancakes, bacon" (your words, Art).

Some weeks ago, a poster named "sis" responded to another poster, who posted about Kevin's break-up with Chad & his high-fiving Justin that night because Nora makes them eggs:

"I don't know... Kevin likes food. More importantly it seems to be how he deals with uncomfortable situations or emotions. Whenever he's nervous, depressed, sick, frustrated, heartbroken, stressed out, etc., what does he do? He stuffs something in his mouth. (Maybe it has something to do with the way the Walker kitchen has such a central role in the series?)
It's not inconceivable that a person would turn to food as a comfort mechanism, particularly someone as emotionally self-contained as Kevin. He doesn't cry, he doesn't really express anger outright, he usually just swallows his feelings - sometimes along with a plateful of cupcakes or an enormous latte".....SIS

My favorite Kevin moments involve food & drink. Specifically, those cupcakes & that coffee. The scene "sis" mentioned of a melancholy Kevin, eating a plateful of homemade red velvet cupcakes & yearning maybe not so much for Scotty but for love in general....

And a scene of Kitty & Kevin at an outdoor cafe, drinking coffees in "Mistakes Were Made" & bantering in that lovely "Brothers & Sisters" fashion, about Scotty W.:

Kitty: Call him.

Kevin: I have! He won't call me back. He's either still mad at me or on an artic expedition.

And the conversation devolves into that Kitty-Kevin patter we all love so much:

Kevin: You're the lying whore of the family.

Kitty: You're the stuck up bitch.

Coffee, cafes, cupcakes, Nora's kitchen, family dinners, French peasant stew....

[MJJ]

Thank you very much for the posting. I have a question.
Thursday Photo Play Pt 2. Where is Pt 1. You guys had better cherish Matthew Rhys! He is awesome actor and did a fabalous job on this premiere season. I really enjoyed the charater Kevin. Kudos to him. I saw 3 tv interviews with him , discussing Brothers & Sister and he had nothing but praise for the people he works with. What a nice gesture of appreciation!

[brittany]

thanks for posting the pictures!!! they're great. & i can't wait till sunday night for a new episode!!

[rose]

Please, Please! Shut Will UP!!!! Block him some how. I am sick of reading his posts!

[Kofi]

Hey, I have a somewhat random question - did Monica (the obviously ver talented writer and producer of this show recently get married to a Ghanaian. Owusu is such a Ghanaian name and being from Ghana myself I always like to hear about sucessful Ghanaians here in the U.S. - even if they are only connected by marriage.

[Kim Conley]

THe show is fantastic! The scenery is lovely! The ladies are a lil plain....I think you are trying to show us everyday life, but just a lil color in the cheeks and shine on the hair would be nice.

[maryland]

What, no new blog today? I love this show, but I wasn't too keen about last night's episode, save for Callista and Rob Lowe. It was kinda of boring for me, actually.

[Felicia]

With Kitty's mention of a helicopter, how dumb could we be not to know a crash was coming? Also, Kitty is becoming Ali McBeal - part-time bimbo, part-time smart person. Okay, real people are multi-faceted, but we've seen this one before. Thirdly, is that a genetically imprinted permanent scowl on otherwise handsome D Annable's face or is it just written in that he can't smile whole-heartedly?

[Philip]

I saw the episode last night, and am a little disturbed about where the Rebecca character might be going, but other than that it was great. Especially liked Justin and Kevin's interaction with Sarah's kids. Anyway, I trust that the writers will resolve the Rebecca/Joe scandal in a cool way

[Melanie]

LOVED the episode last night - best of the season by far!! Keep up the great work :)

[Melinda]

Thanks for sharing the pics! I always like and appreciate glimpses and tidbits regarding behind-the-scenes action.

[Capri]

I have to say that what happened between Rebecca and Joe and the consequences are kind of disturbing. I hope the Sarah and everybody else can come out of it unscathed...Cant wait to see the next episode. Hope Joe gets justice.

[Joe]

What was up with the continuity between Joe/Rebecca's scene in "Game Night" and "Bad News?" The dialogue before the lustful stare was different in both versions. The events leading up to the stare before the kiss were different as well(Rebecca had an additional line in "Bad News" before the stare that was quite significant and was not present in 'Game Night'), and Rebecca's overall demeanor was different as well.

All I can think is that is was purposefully edited and filmed to be manipulative to the viewer in order to create a greater dramatic effect at the end of "Bad News" when the truth was revealed. If that's the case, I'd have to say I'm a bit dissapointed that that path was chosen, as it sort of shatters that sense of percieved reality a person enters when watching a TV show or movie and breaks the trust one has with the show's writers. Other than that, all I can think is that someone screwed up.

[Kelley]

Why oh why do we not have a message board?!?!

[lisa10]

Love this show! Matthew is the best. MJJ writes that he/she saw him interviewed 3 times. When and where? I would have loved to see those. Love his Welsh accent! Can't wait for the final episodes.

[will]

I noticed that ratings improved a bit for Sunday's episode ("Bad News") which is good news since it was the start of sweeps. A sizeable chunk of "Desperate's" audience went elsewhere, but B&S still did OK.

I didn't comment on Monday because I just found the whole episode to be tired & lackluster. The entire Joe-Sarah-Rebecca triangle storyline....I simply didn't care if Rebecca was telling the truth or embellishing or what Joe did or didn't do. Nothing lit a fire under me. I suspect this had to do with the material's presentation:

Holly: (to Sarah) Keep your washed-up husband away from my little girl!

And another line rang bells in my head:

Rebecca (to her mother): Just because you're a whore doesn't mean that I am.

This dialogue is tired simply reading it. It's fairly lame soap opera.

Joe: (to Rebecca, the guitar scene) You should go.

Rebecca: (pause) I don't...(insinuatingly, a gleam in her eye)...have to....

Joe: Yes. Yes you do.

Oh who cares? Go, stay, cheat, don't, whatever. When a viewer stops caring about EVERYTHING in the storyline, something's up.

And then we get Holly, practically floating, like a subdued morphine addict, through her scenes. Holly seems vampiric. All the blood seems drained out of her face. The walking dead. Her brand of melodrama strikes me as very Joan Crawford or Greer Garson (without the camp) in the black & white Warner Brothers movies, circa 1945. Too melodramatic, slighly bland & "noble", detached.

I do thank B&S for letting child Paige discuss gay lifesyle stuff with Kevin. Just the stuff a young girl might actually ask her gay uncle.
Congratulations on the ratings increase & I hope you do well through the following 3 weeks of sweeps (though I understand that Kevin will not be "actively gay", physical, through this time period).

[Ivonne]

Seriously, Joe and Rebecca?!?! Is Joe really that desperate and weak? This is the second time he meets his sister-in-law and he kisses her...it just seems very unrealistic to me...maybe at a later time as they got more time together and became closer. Other than that...I love the show!

[Dave]

I'm trying to figure out the name of a song from the 4/15 "Game Night" episode. Strangely, this episode is missing from your "music guide" page. Could you update the page to include songs from this episode?

Or maybe you could just tell me the name of the song I'm looking for. Its lyrics include phrases like "used to be a dancer," "fishes disappear", "buffalo gold", "come around here".

Thanks!

[Natalie]

OMG, thanks for the pics. i love this show so much, it's cool to see what goes behind making it!! and thanks for the pic of emily vancamp getting pizza, she actually does eat. that's a joke my friends and i use to have going back to her days on everwood (there was an episode where she wanted to get accepted into this dance program and she basically fasted for like a week). anyway now that i've ranted about stuff that no one else gets, keep up the good work!
ps even if rebecca did come onto joe, he still is married and was more wrong in that situation.
Don't make Rebecca into the villian or a whore!!!

[Deb]

This is the only place I could find to make my opinion known.
I enjoy the show and don't miss it. I am concerned about the amount of alcohol consumed on this show. Are you writers aware? You have to be.
I realize they apparently are an alcoholic family . And it appears Justin isn't the only one with a problem. Are you planning to address this? Or do you think "normal " families drink this much when their beloved baby of the family is an alcoholic? Guess what? Social drinkers can take it or leave it and if they are that worried about Justin, you'd think they would leave it IF they are really just social drinkers!
Signed,
An alcoholism counselor of 25 years