Brothers & Sisters (2006 TV series)

Brothers & Sisters is an American dramatic television series which centers around the upper-middle class Walker family and their lives in Los Angeles, California.

It premiered on ABC on September 24, 2006 after Desperate Housewives and airs Sundays. The acting ensemble includes Sally Field, Calista Flockhart, Matthew Rhys, and Rachel Griffiths. Sally Field won the 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Nora Walker. Rachel Griffiths was also nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category.

On 11 February 2008 ABC announced they had picked up Brothers & Sisters for the 2008-09 television season.

Overview

Premise

The show is centered around the Walker family, an American family of Irish and Jewish heritages. Some of the family members are involved in the family owned business running Ojai Food Co, a produce distributor. Most of the action is set in the Greater Los Angeles area. The family home is located in Pasadena, California. The main branches of the Walker family tree included father William (deceased) (Tom Skerritt), mother Nora (Sally Field), and their five children. Nora's brother, Saul Holden (Ron Rifkin) helps run the Walker family business and is involved in most of the family's affairs.

Plot points

The show's narrative launched with the death of William Walker at Kitty's birthday party. His death causes a number of secrets from his life to be revealed - secrets that impact the remainder of his family.

On the business side, Sarah, Tommy, and Saul, who are the most involved people with the family business, learn that William embezzled the company funds. The business revelation pales, however, to two major revelations on the personal front: William had a mistress, actress Holly Harper (Patricia Wettig) that he kept for decades, and the couple had a child, Rebecca (Emily VanCamp). They later find out that Rebecca was not William's biological child but that he fathered another child Ryan by a second mistress (deceased). After Tommy finds out that his dad was going to open a winery for Tommy to run, he joins Holly in opening Walker Landing Winery, and later took over Ojai foods making Holly and Tommy Co-CEO's. War veteran Justin struggled with drug addiction but eventually recovered and was deployed to Iraq, was injured and relapsed and is now beginning a relationship with non-sister Rebecca. Sarah divorces, and Kitty marries and begins the adoption process with one time Presidential hopeful and republican senator Robert McAllister (Rob Lowe). Middle brother Kevin, a lawyer, marries on and off again partner Scotty and takes over for Kitty as his brother-in-laws Director of Communications while she publishes her book.

Characters

The Walker family

• Nora Walker is considered the matriarch of the Walker Family; stay home mom
• Sarah Walker a working mom and Co-CEO of Ojai foods
• Kitty McCallister a communications director for her husband, United States Senator/Former Presidential candidate Robert McCallister
• Tommy Walker, a husband, father, Co-CEO of Ojai Foods
• Kevin Walker, a gay lawyer who is married to Scotty Wandell
• Justin Walker, a veteran of the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and recovering drug addict
• Ryan Lafferty, the Walkers' newly discovered half-brother. They previously thought Rebecca Harper was their half-sister

Other family and friends

• Saul Holden, CFO at Ojai Foods; brother of Nora Walker
• Julia Walker, a teacher, married with one daughter, Elizabeth (whose twin brother, William died shortly after birth) with Tommy Walker
• Robert McCallister, a United States Senator; married to Kitty Walker
• Scotty Wandell, a Sous Chef; married to Kevin Walker
• Holly Harper, is Chariman of Ojai Foods; ex-lover of William Walker; mother of Rebecca Harper
• Rebecca Harper, a former college student; in relationship with Justin Walker; daughter of Holly Harper

Recurring and former characters

• William Walker, deceased, founder and owner of Ojai Foods, was husband to Nora Walker and father to Sarah, Kitty, Tommy, Kevin, and Justin Walker, and Ryan Lafferty. The actor, Tom Skerritt has reprised his role in several flashbacks related to events after 9/11/01 and to the mother of his son, Ryan.
• Joseph "Joe" Whedon, a music teacher; ex-husband of Sarah Walker and shares two children Paige and Cooper with Sarah.
• Jason McCallister, a gay minister and brother of Robert McCallister; former boyfriend of Kevin Walker.

Cast Members

Cast

Actor	Role	Information
Dave Annable	Justin Walker	Season 1 -
Maxwell Perry Cotton	Cooper Whedon	Season 2 - (Season 1; recurring)
Kerris Lilla Dorsey	Paige Whedon	Season 1 -
Sally Field	Nora Walker	Season 1 -
Calista Flockhart	Katherine "Kitty" Walker McCallister	Season 1 -
Balthazar Getty	Thomas "Tommy" Walker	Season 1 -
Rachel Griffiths	Sarah Walker	Season 1 -
Rob Lowe	Robert McCallister	Season 2 - (Season 1; recurring)
Luke Macfarlane	Scotty Wandell	Season 3 - (Season 1-2; recurring)
Sarah Jane Morris	Julia Walker	Season 1 -
Ron Rifkin	Saul Holden	Season 1 -
Matthew Rhys	Kevin Walker	Season 1 -
Emily VanCamp	Rebecca Harper	Season 1 -
Patricia Wettig	Holly Harper	Season 1 -

Recurring

Actor	Role	Information
Will McCormack	TBA	Season 3
Eric Christian Olsen	TBA	Season 3
John Pyper-Ferguson	Joseph "Joe" Whedon	Season 2 (Season 1; starring)
Tom Skerritt	William Walker	Season 1, 2
Eric Winter	Jason McCallister	Season 1 -

Notable guest stars

• Danny Glover
• Chevy Chase
• Lyle Lovett
• Steven Weber
• Treat Williams
• Jason Lewis
• Marion Ross
• Susan Sullivan
• Jenna Elfman
• Margot Kidder

Episodes

DVD releases

Name	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Season One	September 4 2007	February 25 2008	November 28 2007
Season Two	September 18, 2008	TBA	October 29, 2008

Production notes

The series is from producer Ken Olin (thirtysomething and Alias) and Jon Robin Baitz, one of Broadway's most prominent playwrights (The Substance of Fire). Noted producer Greg Berlanti was also an executive producer and "show-runner" during season one. Berlanti continues to serve on the series as executive producer. Mark B. Perry, (The Wonder Years and One Tree Hill) served as the showrunner for twelve episodes before departing the show in the aftermath of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The current showrunners are Monica Owusu-Breen and Alison Schapker.

After the series pilot was shot, and the show was picked up by ABC, the series underwent some moderate changes. Most notably, three of the roles were recast:

• The Walker family had originally been the March family, and the original matriarch of the show was Iva March, who'd been cast with veteran theater actress Betty Buckley. The role was ultimately renamed Nora and cast with Sally Field.
• The character of Kevin had originally been named Bryan, and had been cast with actor Jonathan LaPaglia. Like the current Kevin character, the Bryan version of the character was also gay, but had been married, and was going through a divorce. The Bryan incarnation of the character also had a child, and he and his ex-wife were going through a custody battle. Bryan's child later reappeared during the first season as the show, where he was recast as "Gabe," Joe's child from his first marriage. The show has subsequently received positive press attention for its depiction of Kevin Walker, who came to be seen as a breakthrough in the depiction of gay men on television: he has had several love interests, has kissed his boyfriends on-screen, and had a commitment ceremony with his partner Scotty in the second season finale — the first same-sex wedding ever shown on American network television between series regulars rather than minor recurring or guest characters.
• The character of Jonathan, the man with whom Kitty was involved as the show began had originally been cast with writer and actor Dan Futterman. They had previously acted alongside each other as lovers in the film The Birdcage. The role was ultimately recast with actor Matthew Settle.

The more minor role of Cooper, Sarah and Joe's younger child, was also recast after the pilot episode.

Robert McCallister was the name of a character on a previous Greg Berlanti production, Jack & Bobby, about a boy who grew up to be the President of the United States. As with Brothers & Sisters, he had a wife named Courtney and a son named Jack.

Brothers and Sisters is produced by Berlanti Television, After Portsmouth, and Touchstone Television (Fall 2006-Spring 2007), which is now ABC Studios (Fall 2007-present).

Ratings

USA TV Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Brothers & Sisters on ABC:

Season	Timeslot (EDT)	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	Sunday 10:00 p.m.	September 24, 2006	May 20, 2007	2006-2007	#37	12.2'''
2	Sunday 10:00 p.m.	September 30, 2007	May 11, 2008	2007-2008	#38	11.5

UK TV Ratings

In the UK, the show fared well at the start for Channel 4 and started on the same viewing figures that Desperate Housewives's third season was for the channel, with around 2.4 million. The show aired in the timeslot previously occupied by Desperate Housewives and was promoted heavily on magazine covers. The series debuted on Channel 4 on June 20 2007 at 20:30 with an audience of 2.221m, the second episode was screened the same evening at 22:00 with an audience of 1.443m The series then settled down to a regular audience of around 600,000, quite low for a primetime show, and Channel 4 started airing the remainder of the series in double bills from September 2007.

The second season was shown on E4 starting on March 30th at 11pm, after the first run episode of Desperate Housewives. Season 2 ended on E4 in July 2008. From 11 October, 2008, Channel 4 will air Season 2 in a varying afternoon slot on Saturdays around 4.30pm.

Awards

Australian Film Institute

• 2007
1. Nominated - Best international Actress (Rachel Griffiths)

Casting Society of America

• 2007
1. Nominated - Best Dramatic Episodic Casting (Gillian O'Neill & Jeanie Bacharach)

BANFF World Television Award

• 2007
1. Nominated - Continuing Series (Mistakes Were Made Part 2)

Emmy Awards

• 2007
1. Won - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Sally Field)
2. Nominated - Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series (Jeanie Bacharach & Gillian O'Neill (casting directors)
3. Nominated - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Rachel Griffiths)
• 2008
1. Nominated - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Sally Field)
2. Nominated - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Rachel Griffiths)

GLAAD Media Awards

• 2007
1. Won - Outstanding Drama Series

Golden Globe

• 2008
1. Nominated - Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Drama (Sally Field)
2. Nominated - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television (Rachel Griffiths)

People's Choice Awards

• 2007
1. Nominated - Favorite New TV Drama

SAG award

• 2008
1. Nominated - Best Actress in a Drama Series (Sally Field)

Satellite Awards

• 2007
1. Nominated - Best Actress in a Series, Drama (Sally Field)
2. Nominated - Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television (Rachel Griffiths)
3. Nominated - Best Television Series, Drama

Young Artist Awards

• 2007
1. Nominated - Best Family Television Series (Drama)

References

External links

• Brothers & Sisters at abc.com