Brothers & Sisters

TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello has delivered a big package of Brothers & Sisters spoilers in the latest edition of his Ask Ausiello. They bear discussion, but for those who are trying to remain spoiler-free, I’ll go ahead and continue the chat after the jump.

I don’t think it’s ruining anything, though, to say that there are lots of transitions for our favorite dysfunctional family in these next two episodes. Name me any two episodes this season that haven’t packed in loads of transitions. At this point, the most stunning spoiler would be: “The Walkers get drunk in one episode, and sleep it off the next. No one marries, divorces, hooks up, breaks up, quits a job, starts a company, flirts with somebody else’s husband, gets pregnant, loses a baby, loses custody, gets custody, does drugs, detoxes, leaks a political secret, cheats, tattles, provokes or takes offense.”

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They say idle hands are the devil’s workshop … or maybe, in this case, spend too much time fooling around with Lena. At any rate, halfway through the season here, with the war story and the pain story tidily tucked away and the Lena story please, please, almost at the end, it’s hard to ignore the fact that our handsome young surfer-boy recovering-drug-addict returned-soldier Justin Walker has not a blessed thing to do.

Being a sweetly goofy underachiever has been working for the character thus far, but really, isn’t it time this fellow held a job or, at least, went back to school? Nora’s declared that it’s going to be a tough-love life for the guy from here on, and a good start might be to make him do something more productive than bedding his brother’s mistress.

With the writers out of commission, Justin’s journey may be more aimless than it ever was. But just to be helpful, here are a few ideas of what his immediate future might hold:

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Here’s your TV lesson for today: You can depict sex crimes and serial killers week in and week out. You can examine murdered corpses and cross-examine psychopaths. You can characterize surgeons as sex-crazed and irresponsible, and base your dramas on outlandish medical cases with but a delicate thread connecting them to anything anatomically accurate.

But suggest that every vaccine is not 100 percent safe for every last small soulful child in America, and the wrath of the American Academy of Pediatrics will come DOWN ON YOUR HEAD!

That’s the lesson being learned right now by wandering Brothers & Sisters producers Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, whose new series, Eli Stone, has been condemned by the AAP. Apparently basing their critique on a New York Times story about one of Eli’s cases — in which he wins a judgment for a mother who claims that the “mercuritrol” in one manufacturer’s vaccine caused her son’s autism — the organization has called for ABC to cancel the show, or to run a disclaimer indicating that there is no scientific proof linking autism and vaccines.

The AAP’s fear is that people will watch the episode — in which Eli, whether due to a brain aneurysm or a call to be a prophet, has visions that include George Michael singing “Faith” in his living room — and interpret it to be a work of rigorous scientific accuracy, causing widespread rejection of lifesaving vaccines for children. I think they’re being a little optimistic as to what sort of audience a fantasy legal drama debuting at 10 p.m. is going to get, but it probably does stand to do a little better now that the AAP is handling its publicity.

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Well, the agony was over early last night for Sally Field (pictured at right with Jane Krakowski and a dress that was possibly beaded by a kindergarten class) and those who hoped she might take the SAG award for best actress in a drama series. Hers was the second trophy of the night, and the second in a Sopranos sweep of the drama awards — Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cast. It’s the last year that mob will be around to dominate, so I suppose we can’t really begrudge them. Bye, bye, be gone.

I don’t know what they use to decide these things, what episodes get submitted, but … can I just say, that teensy clip they showed when Field’s name was read, who picked that thing? Boy, it was a harsh flashback, wasn’t it? It was from “An Act of Will,” and featured Nora and Justin screaming at each other — checking my Memorable Lines round-up, I think it was this exchange, or one like it:

Nora: Your father loved you more than anything on earth, you little spoiled brat.
Justin: You know what love means in this family? It means you suck. It means nothing you do will be good enough.

Ouch! It seems to me that episode came before the role of Nora was sort of Sally-fied, to become a little softer, feisty but not mean, opinionated but not brutal. Odd for those few bitchy seconds to represent the actress in an award intro.

Odd, too, to have it juxtaposed with the re-run that showed last night, “History Repeating.” From Nora yelling at Justin for being an ungrateful druggie, to Nora yelling at Justin to be a druggie again. I’m mostly glad to have angry old Nora gone, but oh boy, would I have loved to see her let loose on Julia’s SOB dad. Or, at least, food-fight Nora. That guy needs a big old strawberry shortcake in the puss, immediately.

Actually, maybe a food fight could have livened up the SAGs a little, too, as long as they’re giving trophies at a dinner. Looking at some of the losers, it kinda seems like they wouldn’t mind unloading some pasta salad on the person trotting up to the stage. But no, all was well-behaved, with no drunk speeches like you can usually count on at the Golden Globes.

There were a few plugs for a fair resolution to the writer’s strike in acceptance speeches, and in quotes from nominees backstage. Associated Press quotes Sally Field as saying: “It needs to be resolved. I worry about the crews, the writers, the actors. Our country is in a very precarious time right now and we need entertainment.” Well, we sure do, and shouldn’t she worry about us, the poor innocent fans, as well?

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, SAG Awards, History Repeating

Can you bear to watch those Walkers make their mistakes a second time? Will you tune in once again to see Julia ditch her marriage, Justin go back on drugs, Tommy go golfing with his father-in-law and not run him over with a golf cart? Are you eager to revisit Robert’s ex, or return to Kevin and Scotty’s reunion? Can you stand to once again view an episode with almost no Sarah?

“History Repeating” is repeating tonight, and since it was a pretty painful outing for our embattled brothers and sisters, I’m not feeling great eagerness to repeat my history of watching it. On the other hand, a review of the episode’s memorable lines reminds me of this pronouncement by Saul:

I don’t hate golf. I loathe it, I despise it. I would rather spend all eternity at a dinner party seated next to Britney Spears than waste an afternoon lugging clubs around with a bunch of overfed, overprivileged Arnold Palmer wannabes.

and rewatching may be worth it just for that. Ha!

Of course, there’s another big show on tonight, at least for award-show lovers, and that’s the SAG Awards on TBS and TNT from 8-10 p.m. (and again from 11 p.m.-1 a.m.) It’s as close as we may get to the Oscars this year, since the Writer’s Guild has given the SAGs permission to proceed but may picket and shut down the Oscar ceremony (or at least, the glamorous red-carpet celebrities in silly dresses portion of it, which is so much of the fun). I’ve watched the SAGs before, and don’t remember if there have always been red-carpet pre-shows for it, but there certainly are tonight — on E!, the TV Guide Channel, TBS.com, and TNT.tv.

You’ll want to watch the ceremony, of course, to see if Sally Field emerges triumphant in her race for best actress in a drama series. You’ll also want to watch to boo with me when the names are read for the best cast in a drama series award, and our wonderful Walkers are not included. I don’t know about you, but I think I feel the same way about Boston Legal as Saul does about golf.

Then, when the awards are all distributed and the speeches made, you can still switch right over and catch that Brothers & Sisters repeat. If you can handle the pain.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, History Repeating, SAG awards

So as of the end of the last new episode shown, “The Feast of the Epiphany,” Robert McCallister is now the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. And, yay for him! But boo for us, because we know that the likelihood of Robert actually becoming president is small, and that makes it kinda hard to commit to the campaign.

Is it really a lost cause? Well, electoral likelihood aside, you can’t really have a small family drama when two of the family members just happen to be the President of the United States and the First Lady. It would be a different show — a fun one, maybe, with Walker siblings snarking all over the White House — but a different one. And carp as some will about the changes in the show here in its sophomore season, I don’t see them making that big a change … until, say, season 10 or 12, at least.

So one way or another, I think we can accept that Robert’s campaign is going to land him short of the Oval Office. The only question is … what’s going to happen to keep him outta there? I can imagine three scenarios:

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No matter how much Brothers & Sisters may get dissed for Best Show or Best Cast recognition by major award outlets, one place the show usually finds some appreciation is at the GLAAD Media Awards.

The awards, given by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, “recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives.”

Brothers & Sisters won the Best Drama Series trophy last year in its first season (that’s Matthew Rhys accepting for the show above), and is nominated again this year, along with Degrassi: The Next Generation, Dirty Sexy Money, Greek, and The L Word.

ABC, the network of Brothers & Sisters and Dirty Sexy Money, and also of Best Comedy Series nominees Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty, led all networks in nominations, with nine.

There are 40 Media Awards categories in all, including movies, plays, TV news, and print media. The four criteria used in selecting the nominees are: Fair, Accurate, and Inclusive Representation; Boldness and Originality; Impact; and Overall Quality.

I’d say B&S excels in those areas, for sure. Congratulations to all those involved with the show for finally getting nominated for something other than actress and supporting actress.

On the GLAAD site, you can view video from this year’s nominations and last year’s award ceremony, look at photos from past events, read some facts and figures about the current nominees, and find out about the distribution of this year’s awards, which will take place in four cities over three months.

Brothers & Sisters, ABC, GLAAD, awards

Happy #33 to Balthazar Getty, who was born on this day in 1975 in Los Angeles. To celebrate this special day, I had intended to go back through the memorable lines round-ups for this past season-plus-ten, and pick out some choice bits of Tommy dialog. But he’s really not so much with the speeches and freestanding quips — not like Sarah, for example.

Still, though Tommy’s seldom solo in the spotlight, he does have a nice way with the snide remark or snarky exchange with a sibling. So, in honor of this team player, here are some memorable verbal vollies from the Brother Most Likely to Be Like Dad.

From “Patriarchy”

Justin: Hey, does anybody want to go out? There is this great bar in Chinatown we could tear up.

Tommy: Do they allow people with jobs to go there?

Justin: Can I ask you a question?

Tommy: The answer is no, you can’t borrow my surfboard. No, I don’t have any money to lend you. And yes, girls still think you’re cute.

William: And I must announce with some trepidation that you’re no longer grounded.

Justin: When she was 14, she was grounded indefinitely.

Jonathan: What for?

Kitty: Oh, it had something to do with cigarettes and surfboards.

Tommy: And shoplifting, and a boy named Pablo.

From “Family Portrait”

Justin: I can listen while pouring.
Tommy: You can barely listen while hearing.

Tommy: You know how some people run out of chances in life and you can smell it on them?

Justin: So you are Dad now. At least we know.

Tommy: Everybody else might sit around and feel bad for you, but I won’t.

Justin: I didn’t ask for your sympathy, and I certainly didn’t ask for your help.

Tommy: When are you going to grow up?

Justin: You’re a piece of work, just like dad.

Tommy: I’m not like him. Dad never stopped caring about what you did with your life. I do. I stop right now. I stop today.

From “Northern Exposure”

Kevin: You know, this whole anonymity thing is a joke. If the kid’s well-dressed and witty, it’s mine.

Justin: You don’t stand a chance. My little dudes have been to war.

Kevin: And stoned for the last 10 years.

Tommy: That’s enough sperm talk for the rest of my life.

Justin: You’re not going to ask us for a kidney, are you?
Tommy: I wouldn’t touch your kidney with a ten foot pole.

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I had every intention of watching “An American Family” again last night. I had the television on. The show started. I was viewing along. And then, just as Nora and Kitty and Kevin got close to the part where the conservative talk-show host dissed them on the radio and Kitty called and got herself in trouble … a news alert came on!

Well, my goodness, I thought. It must be something important! Has a world leader passed away? Has an event of great significance occured? Has Britney Spears, I don’t know, hiccuped or something? What could be vital enough that they have to break in to prime-time programming to report it?

And it turns out, it was only football.

I live in New Jersey, and the local news station just could not wait to inform me that the Giants were going to the Super Bowl. This is information I could have gotten during a commercial break, from my husband watching TV in the next room, if I cared even a little tiny bit.

Which I do not.

And which … oh, I’m going to make a gross generalization here, and my apologies to all who I malign by stereotype, but … which, I’d have to guess, most of the people watching Brothers & Sisters re-runs do not, either. I’m thinking that the demographic for B&S and the demographic for NFL don’t have as much overlap as our local news anchors seem to think. But, rah, Giants, whatever. Get in and get warm, you idiots playing with bare arms in minus-20-degree-wind-chill weather.

Did you watch the re-run, and honor all the dead storylines? If your viewing enjoyment was interrupted like mine, you can still walk down memory lane with these blog posts from the episode’s first time around:

• First impressions
• Recap
• Memorable lines
• Five questions

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, An American Family, recap

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Well, it’s infuriating, but it’s true: After teasing us with a new episode of Walker wonderfulness last week, ABC is throwing re-runs at us tonight and next week. And okay, I get that it’s a vote of confidence to save the remaining episodes until February sweeps. But it’s starting to feel like a monthly series instead of a weekly series, you know?

Tonight, we’re back in the car with Nora, Kitty, and Kevin, motoring down to San Diego to pick up an injured Justin, and getting attacked by a conservative radio host along the way, in “An American Family.” As you may remember, this is the episode that started with the funeral fake-out and also had Kitty incorrectly call Nora a Gold Star Mother. Rebecca told Sarah she kinda sorta led Joe on, Joe told Sarah that he’s back with his ex-wife, and worst of all, some blonde chick applied for a job at the winery. Oh, to go back in time and lose her resume.

By the way, and completely coincidentally, I see that there’s a new feature on the ABC pages for Brothers & Sisters with which you can nominate a fan site for recognition. Ahem. You have to sign up as an ABC forum member to do so, and give ABC perhaps more information about yourself than you might prefer, but I don’t know, if you have some idle time here on a Sunday, or find yourself not entirely engaged with the repeat tonight, you might, you know, want to nominate me! Please, nominate me! stop by and mention any B&S blogs you’ve found useful or amusing, or anything. I’m just saying.

Brothers and Sisters, ABC, An American Family, scheduling

This week’s five questions, for “The Feast of the Epiphany,” are going to be a little different, because there are a couple of photos on the ABC site that don’t seem to correspond with what we actually saw in the episode, and one question that benefits from a visual. So I’m going to go ahead and illustrate ‘em all, making this my first-ever “Five Questions: Photo Edition.” Enjoy!

1. What did Kevin do to deserve this? I’m certain this was not in the episode we saw, and I’m uncertain of any sort of reasonable subplot that would have seen Kevin sitting against a wall with a dunce cap on. (Not that he doesn’t deserve it from time to time, you understand.) Yet this photo was among the ABC selection of shots from the episode. Whatever scene led up to this photo being taken better be on the Season 2 DVD, is all I can say.

2. Was a subplot involving Julia as an automotive spokesmodel cut as well? That’s the only thing I can imagine for this photo, also among ABC’s assemblage from the episode. Perhaps there was some sort of flashback of her meeting her old boyfriend for lunch and adultery. Speaking of Julia, if she only slept with the boyfriend once and regretted it immediately, and Tommy slept with Lena many times and only really regretted it at the end, are their infidelities equal? I’m going to say yes, only because Julia started it by abandoning Tommy and cutting off all communication. Not that it justifies him dallying with the help, but if Julia hadn’t run off, or had stayed in touch, I don’t think he’d have done it.

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As a follow-up to yesterday’s recap, here are some memorable lines from the episode “The Feast of the Epiphany.”

Isaac: Presidential politics and fairness. Kind of like oil and water.

Nora: Why is it I never see my children all together anymore? Especially not Tommy and Justin. They’re like Superman and Clark Kent.

Nora: Remember when you wanted to skateboard in the driveway with Bobby Lampert and you were too nervous to be alone with him, so I pretended to clean out the garage?
Sarah: What are you saying, mother? You’re too nervous to have a playdate with Isaac?

Sarah: You’ve always had a thing for Republicans.
Nora: You know what, he’s not a Republican Republican. He’s a self-reliant, historically sensitive, get the job done yourself kind of … Republican.

Nora: Alright. I’m into him. That makes me pathetic, right?
Sarah: No, mother, no, it makes you cute …
Nora: That’s worse.
Sarah: … and human. And you have a crush.

Kevin: Who made you my conscience? What are you, Jiminy Cricket?
Sarah: Maybe you need a conscience. All the men in this family could do with a little cricket on their shoulder.

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If telling the truth would hurt someone, do you still have to tell it?

That question provides the theme for “The Feast of the Epiphany,” the tenth episode of the second season of Brothers & Sisters. And knowing these Walkers as we do, it is no surprise to learn that their answer is: Yes. You tell. As many people as possible.

Amazing that all these children came from William Walker, the ultimate “Don’t ask, don’t tell” patriarch, isn’t it? The gene that helped him keep the secret of Holly Harper for decades obviously did not pass down to his offspring.

Saul, who certainly has a truth to be told, was entirely missing from this episode. But there were certainly secrets aplenty burning to get out. Let’s look at which Walkers had beans to spill this time around.

Nora’s secret: She likes Ike.
Who it might hurt: Nora’s pride, if Isaac doesn’t reciprocate. So instead of just asking the dude on a date, she plots a big family dinner to which she can casually invite him. ‘Cause Walker family dinners are the height of civilized discourse and decorum, and what better way to charm the Republican gentleman? Nora = seriously delusional. Her secret does slip out to Sarah, who does a little “Mom has a boyfriend” dance and confers with Kevin as to how they can get warring siblings Tommy and Justin to dine together without speaking, making eye contact, or engaging in fisticuffs. Sarah quickly also catches on to …

Kevin’s secret: Jason has e-mailed that he’s coming home and wants to have lunch.
Who it might hurt: Scotty, who’s already expressing insecurity about whether he’ll be living in his car again when Jason gets back. So it’s a good idea, right, for Kevin to not tell him that he’s heard from the Reverend Ex-Boyfriend and that they’re going to be getting together? Sarah’s not so sure, but there are plenty of other sibling bad decisions to gossip about, as they both reveal that they know the truth about …

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You know those humor books and sites where they boil down a literary work or movie into a few sentences or, maybe, a haiku? That’s kind of what this season of Brothers & Sisters has been like, hasn’t it? The short-attention-span, whiplash pace continued with last night’s episode, “The Feast of the Epiphany,” which neatly dispatched most of the plot complications that had dug in their fingernails and held on so far:

• Tommy’s infidelity? Check! Julia confessed to cheating too, so they’ve decided the sleeping around cancels out and they’re staying together.
• Robert’s lying about wanting children? Check! He confessed, they discussed, and the issue is tabled for the moment.
• Robert’s lying about his wartime heroism? Check! A town hall meeting with veterans cleared the air about the issue.
• Isaac’s inside info about Robert’s opponent? Check! Though Robert still didn’t want to go dirty, the word got out somehow and Adamson quit the race.
• Rebecca’s possible alternate paternity? Check! ‘Cause Holly swore David’s not her father. And hey, Holly wouldn’t lie, right?

The only resolution I hoped for and missed was Lena getting hit by a bus … but maybe they’re saving that for sweeps.

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Can’t get enough Rachel Griffiths? Then fire up the DVR, because tonight, there’s a double dose of the Aussie actress.

It was almost a triple dose, if the Golden Globes had gone off as planned. Instead, the glittering ceremony has been reduced to an hour-long press conference, with NBC filling its slot at 10 p.m. with American Gladiators. I would like to hope that the Walkers will pin the gladiators to the mat, because to be topped in the ratings by that pathetic bit of reality programming would be just too depressing for words.

So with Rachel as awards nominee cut from our viewing options, there are only two Rachels to program into your evening viewing: Rachel as Sarah on Brothers & Sisters, in a brand-new episode that promises a raucous family dinner, brotherly fisticuffs, and multiple revelations of spousal misbehavior. And Rachel as Old West woman, in the CBS miniseries Commanche Moon.

A prequel to Larry McMurtry’s classic Lonesome Dove, the three-part series runs tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday at 9 p.m. According to the CBS site, Rachel “plays Inez Scull, the Captain’s sexy wife who doesn’t hesitate to fill her time with other men when he’s away from home.” That captain would be “Captain Inish Scull, a Yankee aristocrat and hero of the recently concluded Mexican War,” played by Val Kilmer.

Personally, I’m more interested in Walker warfare around that dining room table than historical warfare in a lengthy TV treatment. I wish the miniseries well for Griffiths’ sake, but honestly? I hope Brothers & Sisters fires an arrow through it, ratings-wise. Let everybody catch up on Tuesday, you know?

_{Photo: CBS.com}