Nora's Coffee Cake

by John Kazlauskas, Writer's Assistant

There is a famous quote that goes: “There is no great writing, only great rewriting.”

Each script we write at Brothers & Sisters goes through any number of revisions that are all represented by differently colored pages (White then Blue then Pink then Yellow then Green then Goldenrod…then Double-White, Double-Blue…well, you get the idea). In the four seasons of the show, we’ve had scripts that were revised only through Pink Pages and other scripts that were revised all the way up to Triple Pink. That’s a lot of revisions. Here’s what the Writer’s Floor looked like the week that Triple Pink script came out:

 

And revisions can happen for any number of reasons: the writers can address notes from the director, the studio or network, sometimes actors have ideas about their characters, or maybe changes can be suggested to make the script more “production friendly,” or easier to shoot.

That’s why we’ll never see the scene Cliff Olin wrote where there is a massive explosion at Ojai

 

that blows the entire Walker Family into the middle of the ocean,

where Saul befriends a talking lobster

who inexplicably gives him flashbacks of storming the beach at Normandy.

Well the fact that that would be a production nightmare probably isn’t the ONLY reason you’ll never see that scene on the air…but I digress….

So what happens when the writers are asked to rewrite a scene? Well, after the initial shock and fear passes:

Brian Studler hearing he has major revisions due on 406.

They get down to business and make the changes to make the story better. But sometimes there is a sweet side to rewrites.

Take Episode 401 for example. In an early draft of the episode, Nora and her mother Ida shared some freshly baked coffee cake in the kitchen before Ida left. The script called for Nora to cut into a new coffee cake at the top of the scene. Because scenes are shot multiple times, the crew had to bake a bunch of coffee cakes so each time it was shot, it would appear that Nora was cutting into a brand new one.

But the scene got rewritten after the cakes were baked but before it was shot. So who got to eat Nora’s coffee cake?

We did.

Co-producer Linda "Sparky" Hawes

And it was delicious!

Script Coordinator Matt Donnelly

Her coffee cake was so good, in fact, that someone was on set trying to steal her recipe. But we had that pesky intruder arrested and sent back to his tree bakery:

Writing is rewriting. And rewriting can be immeasurably hard. It can be torturous. But sometimes…just sometimes…it can also be delicious:

Be sure to tune in Sunday for the next episode of Brothers & Sisters – “Breaking the News”!!

Comments

[A&J]

Yum!

[Sylviane]

***That’s why we’ll never see the scene Cliff Olin wrote where there is a massive explosion at Ojai,that blows the entire Walker Family into the middle of the ocean, where Saul befriends a talking lobster who inexplicably gives him flashbacks of storming the beach at Normandy.***

Uh, Are you sure we can't have that scene somehow/someway?

THAT plot is just as convincing as Kevin working for Robert. (= Not at all.)

It only stretches believability as much as everyone guessing that Ryan is William's son based on a picture. (= VERY MUCH)

AND it would finally give Saul SOMETHING to do. (Alright, I start to see why it can't be made. It doesn't involve one of the The Triple R's)

And it sounds far more entertaining than watching you guys search for yet another reason for Justin and Rebecca to break-up/walk away from each other/get back/Justin apologizing for whatever Rebecca is freaking over THIS week.

Other than that: Great blog. It was fun to read it. Hope you liked the cake. It looks delicious.

The lobster was cute (keep it away from Kevin/Scotty, they might want to either eat it or adopt it)

And I am the only one who, upon seeing that first picture, thought "Oh, the trees! The trees!"?

[S.L.]

Curses! You beat me to the sarcasm, Sylviane. Instead, I'll just say I personally would prefer that plot to some of the others we get. Perhaps a dream sequence???

The tree bakery intruder and that adorable lobster were my favorite parts of this blog. Love your writing, John!

[will]

There is a famous quote that goes: “There is no great writing, only great rewriting.”

Each script we write at Brothers & Sisters goes through any number of revisions that are all represented by differently colored pages (White then Blue then Pink then Yellow then Green then Goldenrod…then Double-White, Double-Blue…well, you get the idea).

--------------------

We get the idea; but it appears to me that the "FINAL SCRIPTS" for each of the last 2 episodes - "The Road Ahead" & "Breaking the News" - need additional rewrites. If those were the finished products, one would hate to imagine the rough drafts.

Cancer, surrogacy... you know almost every "idea" so far this season has been a retread -- or a regurgitation of previous ideas. Tommy and Julia had their baby problems. Kitty and Robert, God knows, had a cornucopia of baby/surrogacy/adoption issues last season.

It's not that "babies" are an uninteresting subject matter. I myself advocated for a Kevin/baby storyline at the end of the first season. --- It's that we all feel we've traveled down this road before. Not the "subject matter" road... but, rather, the "style of writing" road. The quality of the journey.

Let me clarify. Is their a Brothers and Sisters "house style" of writing - some internal script process - that ends up flattening out storylines and genericizing dialogue?

These episodes are not episodes that Tom Stoppard would have written. Or approved.

Or Wendy Wasserstein and Christopher Durang working as a team (were Wendy still alive).

Or even a so-so playwright like Richard Greenberg.

These episodes are written too baldly with the object of manipulating the audience. A cynical eye looking out at the lowest common denominator in the audience, a Pavlovian response written into the material. The scripts don't surprise. There's not much casual, throwaway humor. The characters don't seem to be exactly alive (especially in those over-manicured, over-composed, dark-hued cinematographied tableaux -- where's the messy, ordinary, throwaway casualness of regular LIFE, which can be extrememly interesting? More interesting than yet another composed, dark-toned scene of Kitty seated on the edge of her bed - candles glowing - solemnly talking to Robert and weeping). It doesn't resemble life. There is an abundance of manufactured drama -- but no life.

I want LIFE! Let these characters breathe. "Six Feet Under" created living characters.

Unfortunately time does not permit me to finish this important comment.

[hb]

That blog entry looked delicious.

[Michelle]

Nice to see you're back. Funny post you got there. Love your sense of humor!
The baby lobster is sooo cute. So, are you gonna let Kevin and Scotty adopt him?

[Charlie]

Pretty decent blog John! Lets see some of this writing put to use on the screen!

[hes]

Who doesn't love a good Brandeis quote, but this quote fits better: "Rewriting is a large part of the whole job. And get rid of stuff that's not working."

We're 2 weeks into the new season, and there's not a single plotline with any kind of dramatic tension. Kitty and Robert are back together? Check. Justin and Rebecca are having problems? Check. This year's baby dilemma is set to go? Check. Holly's still evil and conniving? Check. Ryan's creeping us out on so many levels? Check. Nora's feeling guilty about things no one on earth cares about? Check.

For God's sake, put down the coffee cake and try writing something that doesn't resemble something two 14-year-olds with a word processor and a dream came up with!

[will]

Oh, this is just great. Kitty has cancer.

What we've all learned the hard way - through Kitty's baby ordeal last year and Kitty's various other ordeals - is: Calista Flockhart is a very commonplace (read: dull, heavygoing), "virtuous" actress when forced to play Drama with a capital "D".

Calista is great when her scenes are light and buoyant and bubbly, when she's not required to pour on the tears and bathos and inhabit centerstage. Calista was snarky - quick, light, sardonic, sparkling - in those beautiful banter scenes with Kevin during the first two seasons (the kind we don't get anymore). Now this CANCER STORYLINE assures us another season of Calista's worst instincts and attributes. A storyline that plays to none of her strengths. And exactly the type of pedestrian storyline that the writers can sanctimoniously pat themselves on the back for writing (it's so high-minded and noble!), because they are "shedding light" on this affliction-of-the-week, lymphoma with bone-marrow biopsies -- and tears and smiling through the tears.

Hey, I know. To the writers: Why not give both Kevin and Scotty AIDS? We'll have all kinds of pathos and bathos and HEAVY DRAMA in the program. There can be AZT cocktails. That'll really kill off whatever troublesome stray comedy remains.

I used to love the light, left-field, quicksilver comedy of early "Brothers and Sisters". Matthew had it. Calista had it. Rachel and Sally. Comedy that wasn't belabored and showed up erratically around the edges of the scenes. That's all gone now.

[crazy amazing]

Kevin apologizing to Scotty, Scotty pointing out what he's doing wrong - there we go again.
Will this ever change? Can St. Scotty ever do something wrong? Is Kevin doomed to apologize to him forever and ever?

Scotty, naturally, is as perfect as ever (- uhm, as he keeps being since s3): Evan's been crying for hours and hours and hours and not even the über-mother Nora could not make him sleep but St. Scotty could - you writers are so subtle! Though maybe he fell asleep out of self-protection so Scotty stopped hogging him with his ever-annoying presence. Sometimes I do that, only that I ffw instead of falling asleep.
And most of all: St. Scotty's always right.

Kevin is still Robert's lapdog, good times... not.

Kitty ever the victim - yep. Geez, tone it down, girlfriend! As someone pointed out, Calista carries comedy way better than drama.

Kevin has great chemistry with Travis though, I loved their scenes. Since Scotty is boring me to death (if he's not irritating me with his self-righteousness. A trait that he dangerously shares with Robert), how about Kevin hooking up with Travis?
Or with Justin? We'd even have your beloved incestuous pairing. Yay!

Coffee cake points to the costume/make up-department for Kevin's curls and clothes.

Get Kevin away from Robert already - and from St. Scotty.

[A fan]

This year's episodes have really hit home for me. In May 2008, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Ironically, I too was worried about my hair coming in curly, which made me laugh out loud when Kitty said that. Last night's episode was tough because it brought back all the emotions from the beginning of my situation, and I feel as if Kitty was portrayed realistically. Thanks

[Sue]

This year's blog has been better than ever. Informative and funny. Keep up the great work and I will keep watching and reading :)

[John Kazlauskas]

Incidentally because I've been asked the question by people who even WORK here that first picture of all the paper is not really from B&S. And no worries. We print the scripts on recycled paper and shred and recycle all the old drafts!

John