| Brothers & Sisters | |
|---|---|
Brothers & Sisters title card |
|
| Format | Family drama Serial drama |
| Created by | Jon Robin Baitz |
| Starring | Dave Annable Sally Field Calista Flockhart Balthazar Getty Rachel Griffiths Matthew Rhys Luke Macfarlane Gilles Marini Ron Rifkin Emily VanCamp Patricia Wettig Maxwell Perry Cotton John Pyper-Ferguson Sarah Jane Morris Rob Lowe Luke Grimes |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 109 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jon Robin Baitz Greg Berlanti Ken Olin Mark Perry (2007) David Marshall Grant Monica Owusu-Breen Alison Schapker Molly Newman (2008–2011) |
| Running time | 42/43 minutes |
| Production company(s) | ABC Studios Berlanti Television After Portsmouth |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | September 24, 2006 – May 8, 2011 |
Brothers & Sisters is an American television drama series that centers on the Walker family and their lives in Pasadena, California. The series premiered on ABC on September 24, 2006, and aired its final episode on May 8, 2011.[1] It aired, for its entire run, in a Sunday night timeslot after Desperate Housewives.
The cast included a collection of award-winning actors, including Sally Field, Rachel Griffiths, Calista Flockhart, Rob Lowe, and Patricia Wettig. Sally Field has received both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance throughout the series. Rachel Griffiths has also been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her work on the show.
In May 2011, the show completed its fifth and final season on ABC.[2][1] On May 13 of that year, it was announced that ABC had decided to end the show.
Contents |
Following the lives of the Walker family right after the death of William Walker, founder of Ojai Foods, on his daughter Kitty's birthday; revolving around the problems of five adult siblings, their mother, their uncle, spouses, children, lovers and personal lives - and how they deal with unfinished problems their father had, and reveal some of his secrets.
The matriarch of a family which owns (previously owned) a food company, Ojai Foods, Nora Walker is the mother of five children: Sarah Walker, Kitty Walker-McCallister, Tommy Walker, Kevin Walker-Wandell and Justin Walker, who, as adults, lead their own lives and careers. The show mainly covers how she helps them try, sometimes unsuccessfully, to overcome their problems.
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 and which include the introduction of William's mistress Holly Harper and her daughter Rebecca.
Other main storylines throughout the series include the personal, political (usually through Robert and Kitty's and later Kevin's careers) and professional lives of Nora and all the brothers and sisters; their relationships with each other; interaction with Rebecca and her mother (William's mistress) Holly; and the running of the family business Ojai Foods—which is mostly looked after by Saul, Sarah and Tommy along with Holly and Rebecca from season 3 onwards. After the family sells Ojai Foods, Scotty and Saul open a restaurant and Nora begins working at a radio station which Sarah decides to buy.
| Actor | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Dave Annable | Justin Walker | Season 1–5 |
| Maxwell Perry Cotton | Cooper Whedon | Season 3–4 (Season 1 and 5, recurring) |
| Kerris Dorsey | Paige Whedon | Season 1–5 |
| Sally Field | Nora Walker | Season 1–5 |
| Calista Flockhart | Kitty Walker | Season 1–5 |
| Balthazar Getty | Tommy Walker | Season 1–3 (Season 4 and 5, recurring) |
| Rachel Griffiths | Sarah Laurent | Season 1–5 |
| Luke Grimes | Ryan Lafferty | Season 4 (Season 3, recurring) |
| Rob Lowe | Robert McCallister | Season 2–4 (Season 1, recurring) |
| Luke Macfarlane | Scotty Wandell | Season 3–5 (Season 1 and 2, recurring) |
| Gilles Marini | Luc Laurent | Season 5 (Season 4, recurring) |
| Sarah Jane Morris | Julia Walker | Season 1–3 (Season 4, guest) |
| John Pyper-Ferguson | Joe Whedon | Season 1 (Season 2, recurring) |
| Matthew Rhys | Kevin Walker | Season 1–5 |
| Ron Rifkin | Saul Holden | Season 1–5 |
| Emily VanCamp | Rebecca Harper | Season 1–4 (Season 5, recurring) |
| Patricia Wettig | Holly Harper | Season 1–5 |
| Actor | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| John Apicella | Frank | Season 5 |
| Amy Aquino | Dr. Joan Avadon | Season 4 |
| Beau Bridges | Nick Brody | Season 5 |
| Max Burkholder | Jack McCallister | Season 1, 2, 3 |
| Luc Charbonnier | Ben Tyler | Season 3 |
| Richard Chamberlain | Jonathan Byrold | Season 5 |
| Peter Coyote | Mark August | Season 1 |
| Jeremy Davidson | Jack Randall | Season 5 |
| Ryan Devlin | Seth Whitley | Season 5 |
| Marika Dominczyk | Tyler Altamirano | Season 1, 5 |
| Justine Dorsey | Sophie McCallister | Season 1, 2, 3 |
| Edwina Findley | Jill | Season 5 |
| Peter Gerety | Dennis York | Season 4 |
| Danny Glover | Isaac Marshall | Season 2 |
| Nigel Havers | Roger Grant | Season 3, 4 |
| Josh Hopkins | Warren Salter | Season 1 |
| Jay Karnes | Roy Scovell | Season 4 |
| Matt Letscher | Alec Tyler | Season 3, 4 |
| Jason Lewis | Chad Barry | Season 1, 3 |
| Will McCormack | Ethan Tavis | Season 3 |
| Denis O'Hare | Travis March | Season 2, 4 |
| Ken Olin | David Caplan | Season 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Roxy Olin | Michelle McCormack | Season 1, 4, 5 |
| Eric Christian Olsen | Kyle DeWitt | Season 3 |
| Tyler Posey | Gabe Whedon | Season 1 |
| Keri Lynn Pratt | Amber Trachtenberg | Season 1 |
| Isabella Rae Thomas | Olivia | Season 5 |
| Emily Rose | Lena Branigan | Season 2 |
| Matthew Settle | Jonathan Sellers | Season 1 |
| Tom Skerritt | William Walker | Season 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Sonja Sohn | Trish Evans | Season 3 |
| Jon Tenney | Simon Craig | Season 4 |
| John Terry | Karl West | Season 5 |
| Steven Weber | Graham Finch | Season 2, 3 |
| Treat Williams | David Morton | Season 1 |
| Eric Winter | Jason McCallister | Season 1, 2 |
| Odette Yustman | Annie Miller | Season 5 |
Most of the season focuses on The Walkers dealing with the loss of William Walker and the secrets uncovered by his death, most notably the discovery of Holly Harper, a woman he had an affair with, and her daughter Rebecca. The season also introduces us to the lives of the Walker siblings who must deal with their jobs, turbulent love lives and each other.
The second season focused mainly on the romantic lives of the Walker siblings. As Kitty and Robert start planning their wedding, Kevin runs into Scotty (his lover from the first season) and they become a couple. Sarah must now deal with her divorce and being a single parent while Tommy and Julia go through serious issues after struggling with the loss of one of their twins. Nora begins a new romance with one of Robert's staff and, along with Rebecca, tries to help Justin regain his life after being injured in the war.
After the discovery that she is not, in fact, a Walker, Rebecca must deal with her new place in the family and her new relationship with Justin which could be in trouble with the appearance of Ryan—William's actual secret child. Kitty and Robert face problems in their marriage as they try to adopt a baby while Kevin and Scotty settle into married life. Nora decides she wants a career of her own after spending most of her life in the back seat and finds a new romance. With Holly becoming a major presence at Ojai Saul and Sarah decide to quit leading to a new business venture for the eldest Walker sibling, while Tommy turns to drastic measures to take back the family business.
The show was renewed for a fourth season on April 23, 2009.[4] It premiered on September 27, 2009 on ABC.[5]
This season sees Kevin and Scotty decide to start a family while Kitty finds her family may be torn apart when she receives unexpected news that she has lymphoma, cancer of the lymph nodes. Sarah finds love with Luc, a man she met in France who traveled to America to be with her, but the dream doesn't seem to last in her real life. Justin is finding it hard to balance his engagement to Rebecca with his medical school studies, while Rebecca has troubles of her own. After not having their wedding Rebecca comes to find out she is now pregnant with Justin's baby but Rebecca ends up having a miscarriage which causes some more strain on their relationship. While her children go through difficult times Nora must try her hardest to get them through their troubles and Ryan causes trouble for the Walkers and Ojai by teaming up with a man from William's past. Will Holly's obsession with the secrets of Ojai ruin her relationship with David? The season ends with a horrific car crash that leaves Holly severely injured and the fate of Senator Robert McCallister unsure.
Brothers & Sisters was renewed for a fifth season on March 5, 2010.[2] It premiered on September 26, 2010 on ABC. The events of the fifth season begin one year after the season 4 finale.[6] Rebecca (Emily VanCamp) divorced Justin and was written out of the show early in the fifth season.
The season starts with Kitty holding on to Robert who has been in a coma for a year since the car accident. Sarah considered selling the new land and water found in Ojai and moving to France with Luc. Kevin has become a low-paid pro-bono lawyer working on family law cases. He and Scotty have also given up on having a child after their surrogate, Michelle, apparently lost the baby. They find Olivia through an adoption agency, and she joins the family. Saul bumps into an old flame, Jonathon, who now campaigns for a HIV+ charity, and reveals that it was Jonathon who infected Saul. Jonathon doesn't even remember it. However, they eventually become a strong couple. Nora has become distant from her family and has taken a secret job as a florist to fill her time, being bullied by her boss, although she soon quits and finds a place as an agony aunt on a radio show. Sarah then later buys the radio station as part of a business venture. Justin, having returned to the war front after Robert's accident, comes home to help fix everyone's problems but has issues of his own after having been separated from Rebecca for a year. Meanwhile, Holly has developed long term memory loss after the accident and is struggling to remember her life and loved ones.[7] Nora's first love, Nick Brody, comes back into her life and they enjoy a passionate romance, until Justin sees Brody's medical records and realizes that he is Sarah's biological father. Scotty bumps into Michelle, who had mysteriously disappeared after claiming to have miscarried, and he and Kevin discover that she actually ran away and gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Daniel. In the series finale, Sarah gets cold feet but in the end, marries Luc. To everyone's surprise, one of Nick Brody's daughters shows up uninvited to the wedding party. Jonathan and Saul decide to get married.
| Name | Episodes | Region 1 (inc USA) | Region 2 (inc Europe) | Region 3 | Region 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season One | 23 | September 18, 2007 | February 25, 2008 |
July 30, 2008 | November 28, 2007 |
| Season Two | 16 | September 23, 2008 | March 13, 2009 (Ireland) March 16, 2009 (UK) |
December 16, 2009 | October 29, 2008 |
| Season Three | 24 | September 1, 2009 | October 19, 2009 | TBA | October 21, 2009 |
| Season Four | 24 | August 31, 2010[8] | October 11, 2010 | TBA | October 20, 2010[9] |
| Season Five | 22 | August 23, 2011[10] | November 14, 2011 | TBA | November 2, 2011 |
The series is from producer Ken Olin (star of thirtysomething and producer of 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. Perry was replaced by Monica Owusu-Breen and Alison Schapker who served as showrunners until they were replaced by David Marshall Grant shortly into season 4.
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 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 the Robert McCallister on Brothers & Sisters, the character on Jack & Bobby was a Republican who had a wife named Courtney and a son named Jack.
Brothers & Sisters is produced by Berlanti Television, After Portsmouth, and Touchstone Television (Fall 2006-Spring 2007), which is now ABC Studios (Fall 2007–2011).
Brothers & Sisters is airing on SOAPnet weekdays and in local syndication on weekends only.
Brothers & Sisters was filmed in the Greater Los Angeles area including: Los Angeles, Santa Monica, South Pasadena, Pasadena and other locations.
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) |
Viewers High (in millions) |
Viewers Low (in millions) |
18-49 Average | 18-49 High | 18-49 Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday 10:00PM | September 24, 2006 | May 20, 2007 | 2006–2007 | #37 | 11.0[12] | 16.10 | 9.13 | 4.67[13] | 6.2 | 3.4 |
| 2 | Sunday 10:00PM | September 30, 2007 | May 11, 2008 | 2007–2008 | #38 | 10.7[14] | 13.26 | 8.50 | 4.22[13] | 5.1 | 3.0 |
| 3 | Sunday 10:00PM | September 28, 2008 | May 10, 2009 | 2008–2009 | #33[15] | 10.7[15] | 12.35 | 8.84 | 3.47[13] | 4.8 | 2.8 |
| 4 | Sunday 10:00PM | September 27, 2009 | May 16, 2010 | 2009–2010 | #34[16] | 10.4[16] | 10.78 | 7.65 | 2.85[13] | 3.7 | 2.2 |
| 5 | Sunday 10:00PM | September 26, 2010 | May 8, 2011 | 2010–2011 | #52 | 8.2[17] | 9.47 | 5.70 | 2.60 | 3.0 | 1.6 |
In Britain, 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[18] The series then settled down to a regular audience of around 600,000, and Channel 4 started airing the remainder of the series in double bills from September 2007.[19]
The second season was shown on E4 (Channel 4's digital-only channel) starting on March 30, 2008 at 23:00, directly after each first run episode of the fourth season of Desperate Housewives. Season 2 ended on E4 in July 2008, though viewing figures are not published for this season as the show consistently failed to reach the channel's top 10 programmes (suggesting an average viewing audience of less than 300,000). From October 11, 2008, Channel 4 began airing Season 2 in double bills.
For Season Three, the show was moved to More4 (another of Channel 4's digital channels). It premiered on January 8, 2009 and had a regular slot of 22:00 on Thursdays (scheduled directly after the first run episode of the fifteenth season of ER). It concluded on June 18, 2009 and was more successful on More4 than it had performed on E4 the year before. First run episodes on More4 averaged ratings of 380,000 (with an average further 85,000 on the 1-hour time-shift channel More4+1) and the show was consistently in More4's top 10 throughout its run.[20]
The show remained in the same Thursday 22:00 timeslot on More4 for its fourth season beginning on January 21, 2010 (scheduled directly after each first run episode of the first season of The Good Wife). So far, ratings for Season Four have averaged around 345,000 viewers for first run episodes on More4 (with an average further 85,000 viewers on the 1-hour time-shifted viewing on More4+1), and again the show has consistently been in More4's top 10 throughout the season—with three episodes being the highest rated show on More4+1 for their particular weeks.[20]
Season 5 began on the Thursday 20 January 2011 on More4. The show remained in the same Thursday 22:00 timeslot on More4 (scheduled directly after each first run episode of the second season of The Good Wife).
| Year | Award | Title | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Australian Film Institute Award | Best International Actress | Rachel Griffiths | Nominated |
| Casting Society of America Award | Best Dramatic Episodic Casting | Gillian O'Neil, Jeanie Bacharach | Nominated | |
| Best Dramatic Pilot Casting | Gillian O'Neil, Jeanie Bacharach | Won | ||
| Emmy Award | Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series | Gillian O'Neil, Jeanie Bacharach | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Won | ||
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Rachel Griffiths | Nominated | ||
| Gold Derby TV Award | Best Actress in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Rachel Griffiths | Nominated | ||
| GLAAD Media Award | Outstanding Drama Series | Won | ||
| Peoples Choice Award | Favourite New TV Drama | Nominated | ||
| Satellite Award | Best Actress in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie | Rachel Griffiths | Nominated | ||
| Best Drama Series | Nominated | |||
| Young Artist Award | Best Family TV Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| 2008 | Australian Film Institute Award | Best International Actress | Rachel Griffiths | Nominated |
| Casting Society of America Award | Best Dramatic Episodic Casting | Gillian O'Neil | Nominated | |
| Emmy Award | Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series | Gillian O'Neil, Jeanie Bacharach | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Rachel Griffiths | Nominated | ||
| Gold Derby TV Award | Best Actress in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Nominated | |
| Best Actress in a Drama Series | Calista Flockhart | Nominated | ||
| Best Drama Series | Nominated | |||
| Best Ensemble of the Year | Nominated | |||
| Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series | Danny Glover | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Matthew Rhys | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Rachel Griffiths | Nominated | ||
| GLAAD Media Award | Outstanding Drama Series | Won | ||
| Golden Globe Award | Best Actress in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie | Rachel Griffiths | Nominated | ||
| Prism Award | Best Performance in a Drama Series | Dave Annable | Won | |
| Best Performance in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Won | ||
| Satellite Award | Best Actress in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Nominated | |
| Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Nominated | |
| 2009 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Nominated |
| Gold Derby TV Award | Best Actress in a Drama Series | Calista Flockhart | Nominated | |
| GLAAD Media Award | Outstanding Drama Series | Won | ||
| Golden Globe Award | Best Actress in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie | Rachel Griffiths | Nominated | ||
| Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series | Sally Field | Won | |
| 2010 | GLAAD Media Award | Outstanding Drama Series | Won |
|
|||||||||||||||||