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5 Reasons Everyone Should Be Watching Brothers & Sisters
Rob Lowe and Calista Flockhart by Ron Tom/ABC
As far as I can remember, this is the first year in awhile that I am really loving Sunday night TV. With Discovery's special eye-opening series Planet Earth (which I've raved about before), the return of Entourage and Ari's fuming and hysterical ways, and ABC's new family hit Brothers & Sisters, I've ended my weekends on a good note recently, instead of wishing for more free time to play. And although staying up for Brothers & Sisters, which airs at 10 pm/ET, is tough some weeks and forces me to wait until the next day when I can fast-forward through all the agonizing commercials, I truly believe this is one of the top new shows — in fact, the top on my list — on television and everyone should be tuning in. Here's why:
5. If you don't have a big, overbearing family, you'll sink right into the complex nature of this one and feel grateful for your manageable relatives while watching a well constructed cast maneuver jaw-dropping obstacles combined with everyday worries.
4. Sally Field is as frantic as ever. I'm talking Steel Magnolias-screaming-in-the-cemetery frantic. She's brilliant as both the mama bear of this kooky clan and the grieving widow who's navigating choppy waters all around.
3. There's something to be said for writers who can explain relationships in such a brutally honest way. From the relationships between these very different siblings to their closeness (or distance) to their mother to their personal love lives that fluctuate between utter happiness and complete devastation, I applaud the writing in these scenes, tackling both private emotions and fights that air enough dirty laundry to dress all of California.
2. Rob Lowe looks damn good in a suit. As Senator Robert McCallister, Lowe is polished (well past his St. Elmo's Fire days), honest and warm… and let's face it, he peaked my interest in Calista Flockhart again. Their on-screen relationship always leads me to announce, "I love them together!" after almost every episode.
1. With a lack of truly entertaining family dramas and the rise of more science/fantasy/action series (Heroes, Lost, Jericho), ABC hit the nail on the head with a comfortable assembly of convincing actors, story lines that tear into the meaty, guilty, embarrassing angles of family, adding in politics, sexuality, parenting, careers and the ultimate-but-seemingly-impossible goal of creating a happy existence, even with storm clouds looming overhead.
Watch it. Trust me. You can check out past episodes here. And hear what creator Jon Robin Baitz has to say here.
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May 1, 2007 3:46 PM
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Oh, so you're the one who likes the Kitty and Senator storyline.
Seriously, every single person I know who watches this show thinks they have no chemistry and that their storyline is completely separate from the rest of the storylines and, worse, incredibly boring.
So I always found it funny that the producers and network talk about them like America just can't get enough of these two. But I guess there really are some people out there who like the "Kitty & Senator" show. Who knew?
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May 1, 2007 5:14 PM
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I love this show too. I don't really agree about rob lowe, I'm definitely not a fan of his, but the senator is kinda growing on me, very slowly though.
I really like your posts. I just usually don't have much to add. 
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May 1, 2007 6:16 PM
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Nice blog, Megan.
Brothers & Sisters had some shaky first episodes (in my opinion), but I'm glad I stuck with it. It turned out to be a darn good show. For the record, it's not my favorite new show this year (that honor belongs to Friday Night Lights), but it's definitely a keeper and is well worth watching.
Somethingreal... I kind of like Kitty and the Senator, but I see your point about their storyline being relatively separate from the rest of the Walker clan.
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May 1, 2007 6:29 PM
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Megan, I absolutely love Brothers and Sisters, and I agree with almost everything you said. The one part I had a problem with?
Their on-screen relationship always leads me to announce, "I love them together!" after almost every episode.
See, it makes me say, "Wow, that's a lot of Botox." They both seem to have lost the ability to make facial expressions.
I have to agree with somethingreal81 on this issue -- "...they have no chemistry and...their storyline is completely separate from the rest of the storylines and, worse, incredibly boring."
I just don't care about the Senator. I don't care about his bratty kids. I don't care about his high school sweetheart. I don't care about his ex-wife. I don't care whether he wins the election.
Don't care.
Both Flockhart and her character are so starchy -- despite occasional attempts to McBeal her -- she needs a more fun, unpredictable, maybe even adversarial romantic interest.
Remember how successful her pairing with Robert Downey Jr. was on Ally McBeal?
If only they could find someone like that for her now...oh, wait, they already did, and then they wrote him off the show.
Bring back Josh Hopkins! There was at least some chemistry between those two.
If not Hopkins, how about someone like Luke Perry, Scott Baio or Jason Bateman (maybe a little young)?
Anything would be an improvement. The bar has been set pretty Lowe.
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May 1, 2007 8:22 PM
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Thank you for this blog. I happen to have started watching this show because I love Rob Lowe. I agree with everything you said about him and it is a joy for me to watch him every week. He and Calista do indeed have great chemistry. I've never seen her in anything before and had no preconceived ideas about her but they do play off each other very well.
I've become very fond of this show and will miss it over the summer.
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May 10, 2007 12:16 PM
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