Brothers and Sisters: Bloggers and Sisters

This Sunday- Episode 403 "Almost Normal"

Written by Jennifer Levin & Sherri Cooper-Landsman

Directed by Michael Schultz

Robert and Nora struggle to accept Kitty's cancer and to come to an agreement on the best treatment.  Meanwhile, Kitty realizes she must face the unavoidable and tell the entire family. Justin has his first day of Gross Anatomy and can't help feeling intimidated by his lab partner. Saul and Holly attend a wine auction, where they run into someone from Saul and William's past. 

Hope you enjoy the episode.  Have lots of Kleenex on hand.  Especially for the scene with Kitty and Kevin.  It gets me every time.  Speaking of Kevin, tomorrow we start filming Episode 409, which will be directed by our very own Matthew Rhys.  In fact, right now Matthew is in the room next door to me for a Tone Meeting, where the director, writers, and Executive Producers go through the script scene by scene and discuss the character arcs, the tone, and what everyone hopes to capture.  We're all excited for Matthew's directorial debut!  Hope you guys are too.  Maybe we can do an interview with him closer to the air date...

Best,

Cole

Interview with Cliff Olin

My name is Marika Cahn and I intern with the writers at Brothers & Sisters. After weeks of Starbucks runs, kitchen clean-ups, taking lunch orders and copying, I finally hit the jackpot today when I was asked to interview my favorite Brothers & Sisters writer, Cliff Olin. He co-wrote last Sunday's episode, "Breaking the News." Cliff warned me – “I give bad interview” but I put him at ease with a reassuring “I give great questions.” Here’s our chat.

Cliff is distracted by his iPhone, Marika does not seem amused

Marika: What do you think about as you take the elevator up to the 4^th Floor in the morning?

Cliff: I’m usually hungry so I think about the lack of food in the kitchen. I think about seeing Molly Newman (another writer.)

Marika: Would you say that your apartment is decorated in Art Deco, French Colonial or Modern style?

Cliff: There is nothing on the walls.

Marika: What’s your favorite You Tube video right now?

Cliff: That’s a very good question. Thank you for asking. It’s called Allen Iverson practice remix. It’s by DJ Steve Porter who is friends with my friend Fetus. And you can quote me on that.

Marika: What is the one thing that if people knew this about you, they wouldn’t let you write another episode for this show?

Cliff: My past with Calista Flockhart. And by past I mean future.

Marika: What made you decide to get an indigo colored car?

Cliff: What is indigo? Do you mean Indica?

Marika: What’s your definition of the word nepotism?

Cliff: I don’t know that word. Ask Patricia Wettig what it means.

Marika: You went through a period where you steered away from your usual Grande Iced Coffee order and opted for double espressos. What was going on in your life at that time?

Cliff: YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW.

Marika: Which or the following male Brothers & Sisters characters do you identify most intimately with; Scotty, Kevin or Saul?

Cliff: Saul. I don’t want to say why.

Marika: Which or the following female Brothers & Sisters characters do you identify most intimately with; Nora, Holly or Rebecca?

Cliff: I would say Holly. Neither of us have been married, I have a grown daughter and I love David Caplan.

Marika: What is your workout routine? Cliff: Sometimes I run, sometimes I swim and I used to go to Barry’s Bootcamp. Marika: When is the last time you cried?

Cliff: Writing for episode 409, I cried because what I wrote was so good.

Marika: What are your top three TV shows?

Cliff: Besides Brothers & Sisters; Modern Family, Mad Men and Sports Center.

Marika: Complete the following sentence: “If I wasn’t a writer I would be a….”

Cliff: Scientist.

Marika: If you had to be on a reality show, would it be Jon & Kate Plus 8, Dancing with the Stars or MTV’s Next?

Cliff: The City. I’m contractually obligated to say that. (Cliff’s sister Roxy is currently on the show.)

Marika: Which movie do you wish you had written?

Cliff: Sleepless Beauty so I could work with Sara Sugarman (Sara is our former intern slash also a successful film director).

Marika: Who is the man you respect the most that wears a pony tail?

Cliff: I don’t want to say.

Marika: Why, was it in porn?

Cliff: Yes.

Ponytail porn caters to a very niche audience, but Cliff is no stranger

Marika: When is the last time you brought home a girl to meet your parents?

Cliff: Probably in 2003. It did not go well.

Marika: Top iPhone applications right now?

Cliff: I am T-Pain and Backbreaker Football.

Marika: Do you write anything other than TV?

Cliff: I write emails. Obituaries. Love Letters. IOU’s. Good Byes.

Marika: What is the first thing you do when you get home from work?

Cliff: Thank God and then dance.

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”!!

This Sunday- Episode 402 "Breaking the News"

Written by David Marshall Grant & Cliff Olin

Directed by Ken Olin

Kitty receives frightening medical results and must share the news with Robert, who is preoccupied with his own crisis.  Reports of Robert's heart attack have begun leaking to the press and could threaten his gubernatorial campaign.  Scotty, still debating whether or not it's the right time to become a dad, can't help feeling pressured by Kevin.  Meanwhile at Ojai, Holly and Saul give Rebecca and Ryan a new opportunity to prove their business savvy.

Hope you guys enjoy the second episode of the season.  Here's what's next on the slate:

Episode 403- "Almost Normal" Written by Jennifer Levin & Sherri Cooper, Normal is a relative term anyway...

Episode 404- "From France with Love" Written by Sarah Goldfinger & Michael Foley, Watch for the introduction of the handsome Gilles Marini...

Episode 405- "Last Tango in Pasadena" Written by Molly Newman & Jason Wilborn, We'll find out which Walkers have all the right moves and which Walkers have two left feet...

Season Four Premiere Party

Hi Everyone.

Hope you enjoyed last night's episode.  On Saturday night the show celebrated its new season at Bar Deluxe in Hollywood.  The event was co-sponsored by L.A. Magazine.  The cast, crew, and writers got together to watch the Season Premiere a night early and cut loose a bit after all our hard work.  Thought I’d share a few publicity photos.  Looking forward to a great fourth season!

 

Best,

Cole

Bar Deluxe before the B&S invasion...

Ken & Patti get the party started...

Michael Morris & Actress Mary McCormack join the fun...

Calista shows up, looking radiant, no health crisis in sight...

No Balthazar in this episode, but his return is ever close...

Emily Van Camp shows up, but without Rebecca's engagement ring...

Rachel with her character's upcoming love interest Gilles Marini...

Guest Stars Amy Aquino & Marion Ross strike a pose

B&S Ladies representing

Just the fellas, they're really tough...

Now everyone together...

The party continues inside!

This Sunday- Episode 401: "The Road Ahead"

Do you know what time it is? (No, don't look at your watch. That was a rhetorical question.) You KNOW what time it is. Time for "Brothers & Sisters" to come back into your lives and your living rooms.

This Sunday is the big night. Justin and Rebecca are having an engagement party... and you're all invited! All of your favorites will be there...

Written by Molly Newman & Marjorie David

Directed by Ken Olin

Nora juggles engagement party planning with Holly and hosting her volatile mother, Ida  (Marion Ross). Justin tries to balance his medical studies with his duties as a husband-to-be. Kevin and Scotty take the first step in starting a family together, while Robert and Kitty work to heal their marriage. 

As always, there are several twists and surprises. The spice of life!

See you on Sunday (in spirit). I'll be at temple, but I've got my DVR programmed. I'll be feasting on some Walker family drama as I fast for Yom Kippur. (Is that sacrilege?)

xoxo,

Elysse

2009 Triathlon Roundup

by John Kazlauskas, Writer's Assistant

Writing the story of the two Brothers & Sisters triathlon relay teams that competed in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon on Sunday is less the story of Rocky

or Rudy

and a little more like the Bad News Bears:

The kid in front (#4) is Luke and Matthew is on the left.

Sure there was some friendly trash-talking between the two teams:

But it was all in good fun because when you have to show up somewhere before the sun even rises you end up spending a good deal of time just trying to stay awake:

The first event of the day was the swimming and standing on the beach looking out over the choppy, frigid water I did not envy Oliver and Jason. These guys were going to have an exhaustive ½ mile swim ahead of them. The waves were pretty big:

Oliver is not really a swimmer anyway. He’s a biker. Originally the swimmer on the team with Luke and I was going to be Mike Foley, one of the show’s writers. When a rotator cuff injury forced Foley to drop out, Oliver dutifully stepped in.

I can’t say that he inspired much confidence in our team, however.  After he agreed to be involved I asked what time he was hoping to finish the swim in.

“I’ll just be happy if I don’t drown” was his deadpan response.  I waited for him to crack a smile. To laugh and say: “Only joking!”

He didn’t.

Now Jason is a strong athlete (he even played professional football) so he followed a strict training regimen several days a week in both a pool and the ocean. Oliver jumped in at the last minute so didn’t have the time to prepare. When I asked how often he trained Oliver’s response was “I swam 4 laps in a pool once."

“That’s it?”

Again deadpan, Oliver said: “I wasn’t kidding about drowning.”

Now you know why his nickname was “Sharkbait.”

By some miracle that surprised both teams, Jason and Oliver emerged from the water at almost exactly the same time. Oliver’s final time was 22 minutes, 44.9 second and Jason’s was 22 minutes, 54.9 seconds.

But “Sharkbait” was understandably exhausted and so Jason moved faster in the transition area, passing Oliver and sending David off on his bike ahead of Luke.

But with 18 grueling miles to bike, everyone knew that those precious seconds could easily be made up. As David started pedaling onto the course, someone yelled “Go American Flyers!” reminding David that he had won big races before. Well, at least in the movies. (Oops. That was a spoiler from 1985.)

With David and Luke off and pedaling, Jason and Oliver slipped out of their wetsuits and relaxed. Jason ate some food, while Oliver climbed into a nearby bed to try and relax his tired arms and legs:

At the same time Matthew and I got ready in the transition area for David and Luke’s return. We nervously eyed the blue carpet that the bikers had to run down with their bikes. And then, in the distance, we spotted Luke coming in 49 minutes and 49.2 seconds after he left.

The timing chip was transferred from Luke's ankle to mine and I immediately headed out on the 4-mile run, leaving Matthew watching nervously for David:

David's goal was to come in with a time under one hour and, at 59 minutes, 27.9 seconds, he did just that. Matthew took David's timing chip and was off, leaving a tired David to finally rest:

The four mile out-and-back run course was mercifully flat. Although I knew I left before Matthew I had no idea how fast he could run or when David came in. Each time I heard a runner coming up behind me I’d speed up slightly and catch a quick backwards glance to see if it was Matthew…

Thankfully I held onto Luke’s lead and even was able to build on it slightly, crossing the finish line in 32 minutes, 18.9 seconds. I was running so hard at the end I don’t think my feet touched the ground:

I'm floating!

All smiles, Matthew crossed the finish line later, with a run time of 36 minutes, 11.3 seconds.

I bet you didn't realize Matthew's left leg ended at the knee!

Sure, Team Macfarlane/Coke/Kazlauskas beat Team Rhys/Grant/Wilborn by almost 14 minutes, but I’m not here to gloat. The next day, Matthew was quoted in a paper as saying:

“Our motto was complete, not compete.”

A nice sentiment to be sure but, if you ask me, spoken like a member of a LOSING team. Actually both of the B&S teams beat the team from Cold Case so we all can gloat a little bit….

After he had agreed to take part in the event, I started trash talking Matthew, saying our team was going to beat his. He’d take it in stride and remind me: “This is for charity. There will be one winner on that day: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.” And having raised over $1 million for the hospital (a quarter of which was from Team Disney alone!), he was right. 

Before heading home, our team posed for a photo on the beach:

Everyone enjoyed the day and celebrated their own personal victories:

Until David noticed something...

“WHERE’S MY MEDAL?” he yelled out. Not once. Not twice. But over and over. He started getting louder, too.

“WHERE’S MY MEDAL? I WANT MY MEDAL!”

Everyone else had one, so where was his?

Turns out our team mascot Bling Bling thought his medal looked better on her:

Special thanks to Jason Wilborn for organizing our teams as well as Luke Macfarlane, Matthew Rhys (who also wants photo credit for the picture of Bling Bling), David Marshall Grant, Sparky Hawes, Sarah Elbert, Oliver Coke and Sara Sugarman.

Triathlon Countdown (Part Two)

by John Kazlauskas, Writer's Assistant

Read the first part of the Triathlon Blog here.

So at the end of the day I wander the streets of LA looking for the elusive address Matthew scribbled for me. I assume we’ll be doing some running together so I look for a park or a track or a gym somewhere. No luck.

I stop at the address and find out where we are meeting: a bar

This can’t be right. I must have the wrong address. I start to panic. But then I hear a familiar Welsh voice call out into the street: “John! I’m in here!”

I go inside and find Matthew sitting at the bar:

Matthew is such a ladies man!

I sit down and the bartender (who looks a lot like the other Writer’s Assistant Marc) immediately pours me a tall glass of…

 

“Ummm…that’s water, right Matthew? We need to stay hydrated.”

 

“Sure. Water. Whatever you say. So what do you want to know that my nemesis couldn't teach you?”  Matthew pours me another drink.

“Your nemesis?”

 “Luke Macfarlane! He keeps rubbing in how his team is going to win. How we don’t stand a chance. What could I possibly teach you? Oh…and your glass is almost empty. You need another drink.” Matthew pours me some more…

“I don’t know. I just hoped we could go for a training run or something.”

Matthew finishes his drink in one gulp.  “Training is for wimps. You want to know the best kept running secret? You don't ever need to train...”

I was hanging on his every word.

“This was a lesson I learned as a boy in Wales. You cannot repeat it. Ever.”

I promised, crossing my fingers.

“The secret to running faster than you could ever imagine without a lick of training? Make sure you’re being chased.”

“Chased? Chaste? What was he saying?”

A look of terror crossed Matthew face as if he was reliving a very painful boyhood memory

“I’ll show you what I mean. But first? Let’s have a few more drinks.”

About 6 drinks later the room started spinning. Matthew was throwing them back like a champion. I tried to form a slurred sentence: “Is drinking this much a good idea?”

“This is all part of the training!” Matthew assured me.

That’s when I blacked out:

I woke up just as the bartender printed out Matthew’s very big bill.

“Training Time!” Matthew yelled and, in a flash, we were out the door…

 

…leaving the bartender stunned…

…but not for long because he immediately set out after us:

 

And I have to say Matthew was right.

You won’t ever run faster than when you are being chased.
Especially if you’re being chased over a $750 bar tab.

Matthew jumped behind some bushes and pulled me with him:

 

And we watched as the bartender ran past us.

“That’s all the training you need for Sunday.” Matthew told me.

“Maybe, but I feel like that wasn’t very nice. We can’t just leave that bill unpaid.”

“OK! OK!” Matthew says. He pulled out his cell phone and made a quick call, speaking in barely a whisper.

“So?” I ask.

“It’s all taken care of,” he tells me.

“It is?”

“Sure…I put it on Macfarlane’s tab.”

 

Special thanks to Matthew Rhys, Luke Macfarlane, Marc Halsey and Sara Sugarman for their help with this blog!

Triathlon Countdown (Part One)

By John Kazlauskas, Writer's Assistant

The countdown to the 2009 Nautica Malibu Triathlon is now in the single digits. The big event is THIS WEEKEND. Are the two Brothers & Sisters relay teams ready to swim, bike and run against the likes of the triathlon's previous competitors:

 

Matthew McConaughey

Anna Kournikova

Or the moustache of Edward James Olmos?
(*Mr. Olmos' moustache is still unconfirmed)

When we last checked in with Luke Macfarlane, he was ready for the big event. Our other biker, Co-Executive Producer David Marshall Grant, recently added a little weight to his bike to try and increase his endurance:

 

But anyone who saw him co-starring with Kevin Costner in American Flyers knows he is ready for the race:

 

Our two swimmers are equally talented. Swimming on one team is Production Supervisor Oliver Coke and on the other is our own Clif bar-chomping Executive Story Editor Jason Wilborn. They invited me to a group swim so I could learn about their technique.

 

As you can see it was a really crowded day at the pool, so I never did find them...but I'm sure they'll be great.

Which brings us to the runners. I’ll be running on the team with Oliver and Luke while Matthew Rhys will be running on the team with Jason and David. 

I asked Matthew if, even though we’d be competing against each other, he might be willing to share some of his training tips with me.

He considered it for a second before saying...

“Absolutely not. Those are secrets I learned as a boy in Wales. I can’t just give them up to you.”

I thought fast: “It’s cool. I mean, Luke took me for a bike ride and told me all of the training secrets he learned in Canada, but if you can’t…it’s totally cool. I guess I know who my favorite cast member is…”

I turned to walk away. Matthew stopped me: “Macfarlane did that?” I knew I had him.

“Yeah. I thought you said you loved reading the blog. Didn’t you see it on there?”

Busted.

Game. Set. Match.

Matthew scribbled a note on a piece of paper and handed it to me: "Meet me here after work and I'll teach you what you need to know..."

Check back FRIDAY to read Part Two of Triathlon Countdown.

Season Three Now on DVD

Special Features Include:

* The Ojai Experience - Cast members take a trip to a real-life family winery in Ojai, California to learn the truth about running a family wine business.

* In-Between Scenes - Laugh along with the cast and crew on a set filled with practical jokers

* The Mothers of Brothers & Sisters - Personal reflections from TV icons Sally Field and Patricia Wettig as they discuss their roles, pivotal scenes, and their storied careers.

* Audio Commentary for "Troubled Waters, Part 1" and "Troubled Waters, Part 2" with Rob Lowe, Matthew Rhys, and Executive Producer Monica Owusu-Breen

* Audio Commentary for Season Finale "Mexico" with Executive Producers Ken Olin, Alison Schapker, and Monica Owusu-Breen.

* Bloopers & Outtakes

* Deleted Scenes