Brothers and Sisters

[Deleted]

I'm watching and really liking this show. Bummed that Tom Skerritt is gone already but was very happy to read (at E! I think) that Treat Williams is joining the cast.

What surprised me the most about this show is how the women mostly seem plastic-free (Calista excepted). Sally Field, Patricia Wettig (wow...she's really plastic free and I love it!) and Rachel. Huge UPs for that alone.

[kanding]

Seeing as I'm in a place that doesn't receive this show, I've read your posts with great interest. I would like to see how great Rachel Griffiths looks and know how weak the storyline is. That would be nice.

But what I really want to know is how Matthew Rhys and his character are doing. You are my only link to this show. I'm pathetically dependent on you for any scrap of information on my future fantasy husband. So, excuse me for what is to follow, but FOCUS, PEOPLE, FOCUS! GIVE ME WHAT I NEED!

(Writes "Get a life" after "Worm dogs", "Buy toilet cleaner" on today's "To Do" list.

[pathtaken]

kanding, at the end of the show last nite an announcer said "Go to ABC dot com for a free reshowing of tonite's Brothers & Sisters"
I don't know what you have to do or if it's just for right after the show, but they said it!

I'm sorry her stint on ER bugged me so much, Sally Field is a very good actress.

My bad, it's "free video" from the show, little bits and stuff.

[Augustus]

pathtaken said:

kanding, at the end of the show last nite an announcer said "Go to ABC dot com for a free reshowing of tonite's Brothers & Sisters"
I don't know what you have to do or if it's just for right after the show, but they said it!

I'm sorry her stint on ER bugged me so much, Sally Field is a very good actress.

FOX does that too for their shows, however they're usually only available for US residents. So unfair.

[indygirl]

kanding said:

But what I really want to know is how Matthew Rhys and his character are doing.

MR is doing very well. His poor character had a rough show. He had to read the father's will in which he basically crushed the dream of one brother by telling him the oldest sister would take over the company. Then he had to tell the youngest brother that the father was putting all of his inheritance in a trust because the dad seemed to feel that he was too unstable to handle it all. Kevin had to be the bearer of all bas news. He was also interviewing a client(witness?) who questioned whether or not Kevin was open with his sexuality. This man, who was also gay, seemed to be critical of Kevin's demeanor.

How's that?

[kanding]

indygirl, you will be my Maid of Honor when Matthew and I marry! Thank you!

[indygirl]

Promise me you'll make Ioan the best man!

[kanding]

You're on his arm, baby!

[kafka]

Kanding, you've got good taste because he's cute and, IMO, his character is *the* only interesting one on the show. His is the only character which isn't wholly whiny, stereotypical, or one-dimensional.

The rest are:
--cheated upon rich mom whose blind to things going on in her marriage, has issues with one of her daughters and over-protective with the rest;
--- serious, responsible eldest daughter who bears all the responsibility, feels guilty unless she's perfect, runs from her feelings and keeps everything in;
--- Responsible son who doesn't get the position he wanted and.... erm..... that's about it for his character;
--- Irresponsible youngest child who hasn't grown up, has pot/drinking issues, is protected by his siblings who don't really take him seriously, cossetted by the mother who looks the other way, not respected by his father, and is a surfer dude who screws everything in sight. Oh, he's a Iraqi vet but that's about the only twist and that was thrown in there only to give Mother & Calista's character something to fight about.

And then we come to Calista who is basically extremely conservative, rebelled by moving away from home to the other side of the country, is back now and has difficulty adjusting, and fights with her mother because she's a Republican and the mother blames her for influencing Irresponsible Child to go fight in Iraq where he might have been killed or wounded (but wasn't.). BORING.

Matthew's character is the only one which doesn't fit into a neat mold. He's gay but he's not closetted. Nor does he feel the need to shout it out to every Tom, Dick & Harry à la Will from "Will & Grace." He's a lawyer and serious, but not always and has a dry sense of slightly sardonic humour which comes out frequently. He's private but still has photos of his Ex BF in his office at work. He's sharp enough to see straight to the heart of things legally, but not so caught up in all the family dynamics as to be involved in every minor drama. He's firm with people who probe into his life, and won't back down when pushed, but you can tell that he's the ideal and perfect brother to have.

When everyone else is a boring cardboard cut out from the basic Family Drama copybook, his is a much interesting character. He's the only one who doesn't seem like a neurotic, uptight, repressed and/or immature drama queen (like almost everyone else on the show).

Unfortunately, Matthew's character can't compensate for the rest of the show. I simply cannot believe that Calista Flockhart was guaranteed $800,000 to do 6 episodes of this show. That's just an unbelievable number, especially as it would be paid regardless of whether the series succeeds or fails, or even if it was cancelled right after the premiere!

It's even more astounding considering she hasn't done anything in almost 5 years. Did TPTB really think the character of a right wing TV host in a boring family drama was worth paying some hugely-out-of-the-loop actress $800,000 no matter what?!?

[kanding]

Thanks, Kafka, for the fix! I can't really say that I care one way or another if the show lasts; it's not like I can watch it. But it would be nice to see this actor get some attention and at least there's a little more information about him on the Internet for the moment. Hell, I'd watch him reading the minutes from the local PTA meeting if it were on. I'm kind of sad that way.

Calista Flockhart rubs me the wrong way. Not all the time, but sometimes she just bugs. I liked her well enough in the movie, "Things You Know Just From Looking at Her" (This may not be the exact title but it's close.) However,I thought it was pretty pathetic that although her character was supposed to be tending to her terminally ill lover, the lover looked waaaaay healthier than Flockhart's twig-like character. But I will say that I kind of admire her for not tossing herself into any movie or TV show that came her way after the abominable "Ally McBeal". At least she wasn't constantly in our faces. Still, HUGE chunk o' change they dropped on her for those episodes.