Brothers and Sisters: Bloggers and Sisters

Writers' Office Prank PHLOG... (enter at own risk)

I want you to imagine, for a moment, that you are Cliff Olin.  You are pictured above, at right. 

You are an executive story editor at Brothers & Sisters.

You are addicted to English muffins. 

You write ridiculous things on the Writers' kitchen shopping list... things like, "What's the difference between jelly and jam?" and "Brain D. Possible." 

You wear shoes that appear too large for your feet. 

You show uncanny excellence in inane competitions such as tossing quarters through tiny openings in hideous, stainless-steel office sculptures... to say nothing of the late, great Season One pastime, Fiji Scoot.

You love Zankou Chicken... but hate the pink pickled turnips that come alongside every menu item.  You refer to these as "electric radishes."

So.

Monday morning, 10AM.  It has been a good weekend.  Your favorite team, the Chicago White Sox, swept their weekend series with the crosstown Cubs.  The weather in Los Angeles was mild and delicious.  You are coming off a productive week at work, with many serious questions addressed regarding the future of the Walker family.  And next weekend is the Fourth.  In short, you are riding a wave of good vibes as you pull into Disney lot in the car you will soon sell or abandon because filling it up costs the same as 51 In 'N' Out burgers. 

You park in the Zorro structure and make your way to Stage 6, where the elevator waits patiently to take you to the fourth floor. 

As you amble down the hall, you feel a wave of satisfaction wash over you.  Everything is as it should be, and nothing can spoil your mood.  Not even that faintly unpleasant smell, you remember thinking. 

But that smell grows progressively less faint until, indeed, it is all you can smell.  And this is your POV, as you enter the office you will soon wish could be run through a carwash...

(Remember: you hate electric radishes!)

[Cue Bernard Herrman slasher score...]

TO BE CONTINUED...

Postcard From An East Valley Summer's Day

Good afternoon.

Let's start out by responding to a question I read in a comment.  Kevin's line in "The Missionary Imposition"  is: "I don't want to get caught making out in a 1970s Ranchero, beautiful as it is."

Goodness, what else has been going on?  We just had a table read for episode 306, which was smashing.  Ken Olin read for Kevin, since Matthew is off in England at the premiere of The Edge Of Love, in which he plays Dylan Thomas.  Ken lends Kevin's bright sarcasm a five o'clock shadow.  We're thinking of recasting the role.

Ken Olin does a mean Matthew Rhys.

Production has been pushing along capably.  Yesterday, we finished shooting episode 305, written by David Marshall Grant and Cliff Olin, and directed by Chad Lowe.  The episode features a tourist bus on Hollywood Blvd, a dinner in Kevin's honor that goes horribly awry, and an explosive confrontation between Justin and Rebecca.  I feel ridiculous even writing about it, since it'll be five months before it airs. 

In July, cast and crew will take a month off, while we writers will slog through another torpid month in the East Valley, trying to figure out what the hell is happening to the Walkers for the rest of the season.  It'll actually be great -- in addition to tackling the big story questions that have been on everyone's mind, I expect we'll have shorter days and a pleasantly relaxed work environment. 

For my part, I've been making an effort to go down to set once a day.  It's an extraordinary privilege to be a mere four flights up from production -- not just because of the fine actors performing the scripts I've watched progress from germs of ideas, to outlines, to teleplays, but because our crew is a supremely entertaining bunch.   Oh, and they actually make the show.

In other news, Dave the (ex)-PA, now a writers assistant at Dirty Sexy Money, has initiated work on his greatest run yet, the Sistine Chapel of PA runs... he's been sent to Minnesota.

True story.

Let's talk soon,
Dan