Brothers & Sisters

The August 31 edition of Entertainment Weekly features a round-up of celebrity scandals of the past 25 years, and Rob Lowe just made it onto the list, with his 1988 sex tape landing at #21, just above O.J.’s fake tell-all and below Courtney Love saying she used heroin while pregnant.

If you’ve forgotten this little blip in the actor’s bio, or are too young to have heard of it (and if so, thanks for making me feel ancient, as if the gorgeous young photo of Lowe that accompanies the below item on the EW site hadn’t already done that), here’s the item from the article:

21. ROB LOWE: SEX-TAPE PIONEER
During the 1988 Democratic convention in Atlanta, Rob Lowe picked up two gals (ages 22 and 16) at a club, invited them back to his hotel, and videotaped the romp. Naturally, the home movie leaked out — and grainy footage of the Brat Packer in action made the tabloid-TV rounds. The underage girl’s mom sued Lowe, but it was settled out of court, and no charges were filed. (He agreed to perform 20 hours of community service.) CAREER IMPACT: MINOR After a brief rehab stint for alcohol addiction in 1990, the star went on to wink at the incident in his work, including the 1999 West Wing pilot — in which his character, a presidential aide, unwittingly sleeps with a hooker. As Lowe noted in 2000, ”At the height of my downfall, I was still making a million bucks a picture.”

And now, let us all say silent thanks that we are not famous, and that nobody is waiting out there to recycle our most embarrassing moments.

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Rob Lowe

_{Photo: EW.com}

Kristin from E! has Brothers & Sisters scoop on her latest Spoiler Chat column. I’ll hide it after the jump, so if you want to know what’s apparently in store for Joe and Sarah and Tommy, click on the ink to read more, and if not, just sit there and revel in your ignorance.

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I haven’t seen this ABC fall season preview on TV yet (maybe because what little I’m watching in these waning summer months is on cable), but here it is in its YouTube glory, and it’s nice to see Brothers & Sisters noticeably, if not generously, featured.

They’re sure giving Desperate Housewives the big push, though, aren’t they? A little … desperate, maybe?

Brothers & Sisters, ABC, fall season promo

They’re back!

All those episodes of Brothers & Sisters, the ones that were online for so long and then suddenly disappeared at the end of June? There’s a whole batch of ‘em up now on ABC’s Full Episode Player, just waiting for your pre-Season-2 review. It looks to me like the only one not available is “Matriarchy,” the Season 1 finale, which will be re-run this Sunday.

I guess this means I have to forgive ABC for skipping over episodes in its re-runs this summer, and apologize for being so snippy about it. They do want people to be able to watch all the old episodes before the new ones start, after all! They just want them to have to go to the website to do it.

It also means I have to rush in and recap the two episodes I missed in my Summer Recap Project when they lost their online home. “Family Portrait” and “For the Children,” here I come!

Brothers & Sisters, ABC, online episodes

I guess I misread ABC’s statement that “there will be special sneak peeks of returning fall series during the episodes,” because I thought we’d be getting peeks actually during the episodes, maybe at commercial breaks, and not tacked on all blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em at the end. It’s okay, though; the anticipation made me actually watch the episode, and remember that, although I’m still a bit annoyed it got three re-runs when other episodes got none, it really is a good one for viewing again.

For more discussion of the episode iteself, go to these earlier posts:

• Recap: 1-09 “Mistakes Were Made Part 2″
• “Mistakes Were Made Part 2″: Memorable Lines
• Five Questions: “Mistakes Were Made Part 2″

And now, about the previews that we did get, fleetingly. What did you think? Not much Kevin, again; he was on the outskirts of the toasting scene, but I think that’s it. Robert rounding up the family; Kitty and Nora going wedding dress shopping; a little ex sex for Sarah and Joe; Rebecca asking Sarah and Kitty if they hate having her in the family; some concern over Justin; a few hearty group scenes. Nothing particularly spoiler-y or cliffhanger-ish, which I guess is appropriate.

We’re about a month away from seeing those scenes in context. If you’re counting down the days to the new season debut on September 30, there’s now a countdown counter on this site to help you keep track. Just scroll down, and look on the right.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Mistakes Were Made Part 2, recap, preview

Did you see that letter from William Walker in Amy Dickinson’s “Ask Amy” advice column yesterday? Okay, it probably wasn’t really from William Walker, since he’s a) a fictional character and b) dead. But it’s sure the sort of thing the Walker patriarch should have been asking about before his unfortunate poolside demise. “Fleeting” writes, in part:

“I realize that life is fleeting, that death might happen at any moment. I could get hit by a car or struck by lightning. What happens when someone dies unexpectedly and those belongings that one would normally hide become discovered? … How do these discoveries by those family, friends and significant others clearing your personal belongings after you are gone change the way they think of you or are going to remember you?”

Well, quite a lot, there, as it turns out. When they find the photo of the illegitimate daughter in the summer house, when they find the deed to the cozy cottage your mistress lives in, when they find the embezzled bank account and the secret safe deposit box and the deed worth large amounts of money and the bequest to the mistress, their opinion changes significantly. (Okay, again, the letter writer was more concerned with a collection of Hustlers and a baggie of cocaine; William would probably have gotten off easy with those.)

Tonight’s fourth showing of “Mistakes Were Made Part 2″ deals with secrets being revealed all around. And tonight, a few new secrets have been added: Scenes from Season 2 are to be previewed. The episode’s flashbacks also offer a good opportunity to wish a “Happy Birthday” to Tom Skerritt, who portrays the not-so-dear departed William, and turned 74 yesterday. Hope he’s learned a lesson, and cleaned out his closets.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Mistakes Were Made Part 2, William Walker, Tom Skerritt

I was poking around the ABC site early this morning, and happened upon a button that read “Be part of the Walker Family! Shop the new Brothers & Sisters store, NOW OPEN!”

Well, okay! ‘Bout time we got some logo merchandise, and not just that pricey “as seen on the show” stuff. The new store has exactly a dozen items, and it’s … well, I’d just have to say it’s an odd assortment. This is what’s on the virtual shelves:

• The season one DVD, not actually available until September 25
• A 2008 wall calendar, not actually usable until January 1
• A pretty sage green mug, which the description warns is not dishwasher safe, and may contain sufficient lead and/or cadmium to “cause birth defects and other reproductive harm”
• A Walker Landing Winery T-shirt (shown above), so we can “show our love” for Tommy and Holly’s business (not!)
• A Brothers & Sisters logo insulated tote, pictured holding a wine bottle
• A Walker Landing Picnic Set for Two, complete with “cheese board, cheese knife, wine glasses, integrated dinner mat, corkscrew, salt and pepper shakers, napkins, stainless steel utensils and plates”
• Brothers & Sisters logo “Ladies Tees” in green or beige (and guys, don’t worry, even though these are described as “Ladies Tees,” the description assures that “Whether you are a brother or a sisters the Brothers & Sisters ladies tee is the perfect tee to show your love for one another!”)
• A cap with the Walker Vineyard logo embroidered on front and back
• A Walker Vineyard Striped Wine Bag, so you can “take your wine with you on the go”
• A $55 Walker Vineyard Picnic Basket containing two wine glasses, a corkscrew, and “grape napkins”
• A frame with the Brothers & Sisters logo — maybe like the nice one Nora got for her birthday?
• A set of four wine glasses “individually etched” with the Walker Vineyards logo.

Pushing that wine business much? How they can have six items promoting the winery and not a single lousy Ojai Foods logo item is beyond me. Plus: Just one, toxic mug? No regular logo Ts, just “Ladies Tees” for the brothers and the sisters? I guess it’s a new store, and I should just be happy it’s there. But you’d get the impression from this that Brothers & Sisters fans are a bunch of deep-pocketed winos. And that makes me feel like whining.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers & Sisters, ABC, merchandise

Emily Rose, recently of the late, lamented John from Cincinnati (well, I’m lamenting it, anyway), is coming over to the less-weird side with a guest role on Brothers & Sisters this season.

Who will she be playing? Well, since it’s kinda spoiler-ish, I’m going to hide it after the break. Click below to find out.

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First, he was all but excluded from the chirpy promo for Brothers & Sisters’ second season. Now, it looks like he’s going to be losing his place on the gossip pages, too.

The same rumor-mongers that have been trumpeting his romance with movie costar Sienna Miller lo these many weeks are now saying that’s done, and the actress has moved on to another Welsh actor, Rhys Ifans. Is this some sort of new starlet game? The next guy you date has to have the same first name as the last name of the last guy you dated?

I’m not sure if this actually is bad news for the actor; given the fact that Miller seems to change boyfriends every news cycle, it’s probably just as well to get out of tabloid hell. And back to the set, I hope, where the producers can remember that he exists.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Matthew Rhys, Sienna Miller

Fresh from YouTube, here’s the new video promo for Brothers & Sisters, scored to “Pictures of You” from The Last Goodnight. It’s a feel-good clip collection from Season 1, with a nice mix of poignancy and humor. (As much as I like the song, I also love the part where it drops out so we can hear the Walkers chant “Party! Party!”)

It’s a good promo, sadly lacking in Season 2 teases (we’ll get those, presumably, Sunday night during “Mistakes Were Made, Part 2, Round 4″) but suitable for stoking eagerness for the show’s return. Except for one strange thing. Can you tell what it is? I’m going to put it after the break, so you just watch that clip a couple of times and then click for the rest of this post.

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Another set diary has made its appearance on the writers’ blog Bloggers & Sisters, this one featuring photos of Nora’s yard, kitchen and office, plus the interior of Tommy’s house with no furniture, so either the set wasn’t set yet or business at the winery is not going so well.

The blog entry also invites fans to vote in the Tater Tops Awards by Kristen at E! I’ve been ignoring those awards because they just sound silly, but indeed, Brothers & Sisters is up for bushel of ‘em: Breakaway Star (Dave Annable), Best Tearjerker (Justin goes to Iraq), Best New Show, Drama Mama (Sally Field), and Best Drama Ensemble. It’s nice to see so much recognition for the show, but really? Patricia Wettig and Holly were totally stiffed in the “Best Bitch” category. What’s up with that?

Brothers & Sisters, ABC, Bloggers & Sisters, E!, Tater Tops Awards

Tonight’s re-run episode, “Game Night,” is one of the few TV offerings that might have actually earned one of those “Don’t miss the last five minutes!” tags that used to get tacked onto everything. Because for most of the show, we’re in comfy slapstick territory, with Nora making a fool of herself trying to one-up the Joneses; Kitty being a matchmaking ditz; Kevin making an ass of himself over coffee with McCallister’s brother, Jason (because Kitty kinda forgot to mention that “McCallister’s brother” part); and everybody taking party games waaaay too seriously.

And just when you’re thinking “Oh, you silly Walkers,” and writing this off as a light-hearted lark, Rebecca stops by the Whedons for a guitar lesson, and the episode — the entire season — veers off in an unexpected and upsetting direction.

Personally, I wish we could have missed those last five minutes. Sarah and Joe were doing a good enough job of ruining their marriage without Rebecca’s help, and I really did want to like the girl. But like a bad Trivial Pursuit answer, once something’s out there, there’s no taking it back.

Tomorrow night, we’ll enjoy raucous fun with the Walker and Jones families as they meet for vicious warfare on the field of party games in the re-run of episode 19, “Game Night.” But today, let’s take a moment to remember the episode that should go there, if we were doing anything as silly as watching the re-runs in order. That one had three parties instead of just the one.

In order to bridge the gap left by the skip over episode 18, “Three Parties,” refresh your memory of those ill-fated soirées by reading the recap, memorable lines and five questions written when it showed the first (and apparently only) time:

• Recap: 1-18 “Three Parties”
• “Three Parties”: Memorable lines
• Five questions: “Three Parties”

Then view the YouTube video above to enjoy what, to me, was far and away the highlight of the episode: That great scene at the end, when Justin and Kevin nurse their injured eye and heart, respectively, then tease Mom when she comes home from her party with the professor wearing the dress Emily Craft “customized” for her. Scrambled eggs and toasted English muffins for all!

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Three Parties

Okay, so it wasn’t just some terrible, annoying mistake. ABC does have a method to its madness in scheduling “Mistakes Were Made Part 2″ for a fourth showing on August 26, all out of sequence.

As Scott pointed out in the comments to my earlier post, this showing is part of an ABC celebration of its Emmy-nominated shows, as special episodes are featured throughout its weekly schedule. The network is selecting episodes whose submission resulted in Emmy nominations, and “Mistakes Were Made Part 2″ was apparently Sally Field’s successful best-actress entry. Just for wearing that awful flashback hairdo, the lady deserves a trophy.

So, hooray and congratulations, we’re getting “Mistakes Were Made Part 2″ again. And just in case you’re thinking the third time was the charm, and you’ll skip this fourth outing, thanks anyway, ABC has a diabolical plan to get you back: They’re premiering scenes from the new season in this special-event showing. So yes, you do have to watch it. Again. After only a month off. But at least you’ll have Road Trip Sarah for company.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Mistakes Were Made Part 2, Emmy, Sally Field