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

Comments

[Lee]

Hey Dan,

Thanks for answering my question. Can you share with us who wrote (and is directing) 303, 304, and 306?

Dan wrote:

"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.'"

"Beautiful" makes sense, but what Matthew said in the episode we saw didn't sound anything like that. I was wondering if maybe he ad-libbed or something.

Thanks for responding, Dan! Good to hear from you again. Don't be a stranger. :)

Lee

[will]

Dan, How can we come up with truly innovative, FRESH, startlingly odd and pioneering storylines when the events in the episode can be summed up as "going horribly awry"?

Damnit, I want MORE for these characters than events that go horribly awry! Events going horribly awry are fine for the second-rate and copycat dramas: the "Dirty Sexy Money"s and "Boston Legal"s out there.

I WANT ART MIXED with the comedy and drama! I want intruguing stories and languorous pacing and lush, earthtoned cinematography and snappy, kind of brainy dialogue and characters that seem strange and individual and NOT SO IMMEDIATELY LOVEABLE!

I actually have plenty more to say here. But I'm in the midst of a nasally congesting & mindnumbing head cold & not thinking too lucidly so I'll have to come back at you another time.

[Suzette (The Netherlands)]

Hi Dan,

Don't ever think of re-casting...lol....

I met up with Matthew at the Edinburgh Festival...and he looked absolutely smashing...you can find the photos at Matthew's fansite Gallery.

I can't wait to see the new episodes!

Thanks for all your hard work!

Suzette

[sylviane]

Thanks for this, Dan.

And please don't feel ridiculous for writing about the episodes, it gives the B&S boards something to talk about and will keep B&S in everyone's attention. So please, by all means, drop a few hints now and then.

"...in addition to tackling the big story questions that have been on everyone's mind,..."
The one about if we will finally see some more romantic moments between Kevin and Scotty? The ones we missed out on in season 2 because everything had to be done so quickly? Yes, it would be nice to see an positive answer to that one.... :-)
With the few spoilers that I read, I hope that they are not headed for one major disaster after another, but also be given some time to have some fun together and enjoy being with eachother.

[Sylviane]

"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."

Sorry, but it does NOT sound like 'beautiful', more like 'pokerful' or 'powerful'. And I didn't have the idea that Matthew slipped up on his accent here either, he is definately not saying 'beautiful'.

Furthermore, if he would have used 'beautiful' I assume it is referring to the car, whereas I had the idea that whatever word he uses referred to the thought of being caught making out in the car, rather than to the car itself...

Guess, I misunderstood. :-(

[Ian]

I can't believe I'm even taking the time to write this, but Kevin definitely says "beautiful" in that car scene. It just sounds like something else because Scotty says "okay" over the top of him and the words get mixed.

Keep the updates coming Dan! It's nice to know what's going on with the show even when its not on the air.

[will]

I've been sporadically following the German soap "Forbidden Love" (Verbotene Liebe) on youtube. The gay storyline with Chistian and Olli is fairly graphic AND emotionally satisfying. There is a liberating feeling to the thing that goes beyond sex. The british "Hollyoaks" now has John Paul paired up with a confused priest, and here, too, the sexuality is frank and honest and the scenes resonate emotionally.

This brings me to Kevin and Scotty. This storyline feels cautious with an echo of predictability (Scotty has NEVER said anything that's surprised me), a storyline that connects without quite connecting and needs to be dragged into the 21st century. Furtive kisses, it seems to me, can no longer mask the absence of candid physical affection and witty banter cannot always compensate for emotionally charged conversation and sex that we are not being shown.

Youtube is showing americans that Europe is light years ahead of the states in terms of honest sexual portrayals (and I don't just mean gay sex; ANY sex). "Brothers and Sisters" needs to bring an involving emotional and sexual DIRECTNESS to the screen (along with the trademark goofiness and schmaltz you've all concocted here). Please. Give us real lives lived. Open it up. Astonish us.

I look back on season 2 with a little dread and a sense of claustrophobia. There is no single episode that seems to me artistically expansive enough or sexually expansive or emotionally honest and consuming. The boundaries are never tested. The episodes feel dated, looking back, because they weren't very fresh or invigorating or a sufficient mirror of life to begin with. Even the good banter feels a trifle canned (there's a creepy aftertaste of the formulaic to the spontaneous Walker banter, especially when three or more family members are involved), and I really want to see this show come alive in a way that it's never quite been alive before.

What I want for the show is the visual equivalent of what Matthew Rhys brings as an actor. When Matthew's on a roll, there is no other thing in the present vying for your time: there is only Matthew on the screen with his spontaneity and goofball charm and resonating honesty. You feel involved with your senses quickened, your humor and emotion piqued WITHOUT FEELING UNDULY MANIPULATED. Matthew is ready for a little more sexual and emotional honesty, that much has been clear for a long time (as opposed to sexual sensationalism). Let him act. Write him a full-blooded story (and if Kitty's storyline is going to be so bloody dull, DON'T give her ample screentime to infect the entire proceedings; cut her off; show artistic discipline; she is to "Brothers and Sisters" now what Lena and Isaac and Treat Williams in season one were). Let Matthew do his thing. The scripts have been so suffocatingly average that the disparity between this actor's talent and the dialogue and situations concocted is getting to be a bad joke.

And this is not a man-crush on my part either! I find Matthew only moderately attractive. But his talent, like Laurence Olivier's, supersedes the physical.

I wish the whole team at B&S a sense of rejuvenation and renewal. And mostly a rebirth of the creative possiblilities, a new casualness and directness in approaching sex and emotional expression, that is sorely absent from american primetime (from american ANYtime).

[Jane]

I totally agree 100% with Will's post. Matthew is such an underrated actor and he desperately needs a storyline that has depth. Please don't waste his talent!

[monica]

This is going to seem really random, but I've been looking for a way to put this out there for quite some time!

I'd like to start by saying that I haven't seen much of season two...I was a late convert but fell in love with the show once I finally started watching it, especially after Paige was diagnosed with diabetes. (The symptoms that led to the diagnosis were right on, just so you know. At times I was practically yelling, "She has diabetes!" at my television.)

I was diagnosed with type I diabetes when I was twelve years old, and as the writers seem to know, my life changed. Paige's reaction to her diagnosis was incredible and I was so happy that it was being put out there. This is a hard disease to live with and one that can either make someone better or hold them back. Luckily, I like to think I fall into the first category (if by divine providence only). This next statement might sound absurd, but if I met someone who had the power to erase diabetes from my life, I'm not sure I would. I'm proud of the person I have become with this disease, and at the risk of sounding like a windbag, I'd like to tell a few stories about why I think the same could happen for Paige.

I believe Paige can be an example tons of children who live the day to day of diabetes. I'm sure you've received boatloads of comments, so if you've already heard this already, I apologize.

I met a diabetes educator when I was still in the hospital. She taught me how to give my own injections with saline and an orange. She introduced me to Camp Endres, which is a camp for children with diabetes that changed my life. Held at a YMCA campground, it is an outdoor camp that is made up completely of kids with diabetes. It is a place for these kids to feel normal, to relate, to realize that they aren't alone and that they are the ones that control their diabetes, not the other way around. I was a camper for two years and have been a counselor every year since then (seven years later). I made my best friends there. I learned independence there. I learned that life with diabetes can be happy and full. I let go of my anger there. Camp not only changed my outlook on life with diabetes, but it also changed that of my family and friends. This sounds ridiculously lame, but I think camp would make the Walkers' lives better!

Lastly, every two years JDRF sponsors Children's Congress, an event where children from each state storm the capitol and lobby Congress for more research money by telling their story and the stories of other children from their state. I've never watched more CSPAN in my life. I've never cried so much watching CSPAN. From what I've seen, the Walker family is my kind of family. I believe that they are the type of family that rallies around each other, and JDRF is a great way that they could rally around Paige.

Sorry for the length of this post, and I hope whoever is reading this isn't gouging one or both of their eye(s) out right now.

Thank you for your time.