Brothers & Sisters

It looks like Sally Field is destined to be the standard bearer for Brothers & Sisters. The Emmy nominations came out today, and Ma Walker got the show’s sole nod. No other acting, writing, directing, casting, photographing, nothing. Nada. It’s Nora or bust.

Which, in addition to the lack of respect the show gets, is too bad for Calista Flockhart and Rob Lowe, who I thought did great work this year. Their acting was the only redeeming quality to a storyline I really, really hated. Given the stunning number of categories in the Emmys (I nodded off halfway through reading the list and had to go back and do a search for “Brothers & Sisters” to make sure I didn’t miss anything), you’d think they could add something like “Worst Plot Twists.” I think this past season would be a shoo-in for a nomination, though Grey’s Anatomy might give it a run for the money for the trophy.

A little tease about next season from EW’s Ask Ausiello:

The premiere will pick up roughly three months after the finale, but little has changed: Kitty and Robert’s marriage remains in train-wreck mode, Sarah is still playing the field, Nora is preparing for her weekly party from hell, and another Walker sib wants a baby.

Boo on the first thing, okay on the second, of course on the the third, and on the fourth — kind of has to be Kevin, doesn’t it? All the Lizzie drama had to have been good for something. I could see a now-unstable Rebecca getting pregnant to lock herself in with the Walkers, and Justin buying it, but the wording there seems to suggest more seeking than acceptance.

So ABC released its fall premiere dates today, but though Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Desperate Housewives will be back on September 27, Brothers & Sisters is one of those “Additional premieres will be announced at a later date.” Wonder what’s up with that?

Meanwhile, there’s been a little casting news this week about Gilles Marini, of Dancing With the Stars and Sex and the City movie fame, guesting as a potential love interest for Sarah. I agree with Entertainment Weekly blogger Mandi Bierly’s assessment: “I’d personally like to live in a world where Sarah could meet that online.”

Don’t know when the Walkers will be back, but Retcon Patrol resumes tomorrow.

The last episode of last season of Brothers & Sisters — “Prior Commitments,” the one with Kevin and Scotty’s wedding — is receiving a Television Academy Honor for “Television With a Conscience.” Here’s what the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has to say about it:

“Brothers & Sisters: “Prior Commitments” — Set against the real-life backdrop of the battle over California’s Prop. 8, this episode of the ABC drama focuses on the complex emotions and reactions of the fictional Walker family as one of its sons makes a public commitment to a same-sex relationship, and seeks to legalize that union.”

I’m always happy to see Brothers & Sisters receive any honors at all, and that episode was certainly meaningful and historic and worthy of applause. Except … thinking back, I’m pretty sure this episode aired right around the time that gay marriage was legalized in California, and well before Proposition 8. Am I remembering that right? The Walkers seemed to have no complex emotions whatsoever about Kevin commiting to Scotty — they were uniformly warm and supportive. Scotty’s family was less than supportive, and his father appeared to have conflicting emotions, but the Walkers, not so much.

Great to honor the episode, but … did whoever wrote that description actually watch it? Anyone viewing it now is certainly doing so against the real-life backdrop of Prop. 8, and that may give it added significance, but that would require a little rewriting of that blurb.

And speaking of conscience — it’s worth nothing that this was also the episode that brought us first word of Ryan and the onset of the Justin-Rebecca romance, two plot developments that may make us wonder whether the writers have any conscience at all.

Brothers and Sisters, Emmy, Prior Commitments

Been wasting too much time on Twitter to get the recap together today (if you tweet, I’m mamatude), so here are some B&S odds and ends I’ve been saving for eventual posting.

If Robert McCallister is looking paler lately, it’s not just some sort of post-heart-surgery-imitating makeup. According to a post on The Insider blog, ABC has ordered Rob Lowe to stop tanning. The actor claims to be an active guy who uses sunscreen responsibility and just looks dark compared to the very pale Calista Flockhart, but I don’t know; he was looking pretty orange there for a while.

Speaking of Rob Lowe, happy birthday to him today as he turns 45. And looking pretty good for it, tan or no.

If you’re curious as to whether Sally Field’s home is as fabulous as Nora Walker’s, the blog The Real Estalker has photos and descriptions of the Malibu estate she’s looking to sell for $6,950,000.

I notice Ryan has not yet been added onto The Walker Family Tree. Is ABC waiting for the paternity test, as would be entirely reasonable?

Bloggers & Sisters has a Q&A with Brian Studler, who co-wrote “Spring Broken” with Sherri Cooper-Landsman. In a response on what they were trying to do with the Kitty storyline, he said, “What we’re really trying to do at this point, in episode 319, is tee up for the end of the season. Not to give anything away, but there’s a lot of things that we have to put in place for what is going to happen.” They’ve been teeing that shot up for a while, haven’t they? Gonna swing soon?

Tommy’s disappearance opens up a window for Balthazar Getty to guest-star on other shows. According to Zap-to-It, he’ll be appearing in an episode of Medium, playing “a wealthy man who asks Allison to help investigate the disappearance of his wife.”

ABC has announced season finale dates for most of its shows, and we’ll only have Brothers & Sisters to kick around until May 10, a week before Sunday-night mates Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Desperate Housewives. Which probably means those housewives are stealing our final hour. Wonder if we’re going to get a satisfyingly resolved season this time, or a cliffhanger? We’re getting kinda close with a lot of plot yet to resolve, and now this new “William killed Ryan’s ma!” thing thrown in. I’m holding out hope that we’ll start next season without all these unpromising plots hanging around. Throw ‘em in the pool!

_{Photo: ABC}

Brothers and Sisters, Rob Lowe, ABC

A few amusements for you, while I search “Troubled Waters” for memorable lines.

The image above came in an ABC e-mail promoting last Sunday’s episode. I notice that the text steps away from A Shocking Death and into the more accurate territory of Terrifying Life-Threatening Crisis. But what’s all that about Rebecca turning to her father? That happened in the previous episode, didn’t it? I guess that phone call at the end, where she’s worried about having to choose sides, is what they’re talking about, but it was hardly a big part of the episode. Always have to make everything about Rebecca, don’t they.

Regarding the photos: What’s Nora doing there? She looks like she’s at the prom. And the photo of Julia was taken before she got that pretty new wavy hairstyle.

The e-mail also included this poll, which … what? These names kind of miss the point, don’t they? I suppose you could say Nora and Justin have already been in jail, however briefly; and if looks through a TV set could kill, Kitty’d be on death row for offing Robert. Given that text about Rebecca’s knowledge Sending One of the Walkers to Prison!, though, the poll’s definitely missing a name. Maybe the same master of misdirection who gave us that death-promising promo also put together this misleading list.

I couldn’t bring myself to click on one of these names just for the curiosity of seeing who anybody else voted for — couldn’t bear to give ABC the satisfaction of a page view for such a misbegotten selection. If you voted, share in the comments who you picked and who won.

The “Which Walker Are You” quiz is back again on the ABC site, and this time around, I’m Saul. Who, technically, is not a Walker at all, but I’m not complaining. Last time around, I was Tommy, and I’m just relieved not to be an idiot who bungles a corporate takeover plan and leaves incriminating evidence lying around. No jail for me! Saul’s not even on that poll.

Good Housekeeping has an interview with Sally Field up on its site. Much of it is about her personal life, family, and career, but there are, of course, some B&S and Nora-related passages. Some excerpts from the article by Jenny Allen:

On the role of Nora: “‘For me, it’s an examination of what a hunk of these women really deal with: grown-up children, grandchildren, what they are going to do for the rest of their lives.’ … She feels tremendous sympathy for Nora — the way she ‘raised the kids and never gave herself credit for it.’ Beyond that, she shares Nora’s passion for family, her liberal politics, and her habit, as Field has said, of ‘talking first and thinking later’ — although she thinks that Nora is more overbearing than she is.”

On the work schedule: “‘She lives to work,’ says Ken Olin, a director of the show and a familiar face from his days acting on Thirtysomething. Nevertheless, it’s been a long year. With few breaks, cast and crew have been working solidly. Often, Field has to be on her way to the studio by 5 a.m. and can’t sit down to dinner in her Malibu kitchen until 10 at night. ‘I definitely feel it’s a test of the human spirit,’ she says, only half joking. ‘It’s an endurance contest — everybody gets boiled down to their key ingredients. It’s like making candy — you either get candy or a rock.’”

On the cast: “Field was first attracted to the show by the prospect of working with its creator, playwright Jon Robin Baitz, and with the impressive ensemble cast including Calista Flockhart, Ron Rifkin, Rob Lowe, Rachel Griffiths, and Patricia Wettig (Olin’s wife, who also starred with him on Thirtysomething). She hasn’t been disappointed: ‘It’s a spectacular group. We became a family,’ she says. ‘We get tired, but not of one another.’”

On those dinner scenes: “The cast can get silly, particularly when they shoot the dinner-table scenes that require most of the actors. ‘It takes the patience of the entire crew and the director to do those scenes, because we’re so stupid and goofy and raucous,’ she says. ‘But then I’ve always been the one to say, “All right, that’s enough!” I kind of become Nora.’”

On the Emmy speech: “In truth, cuteness is one of her least notable qualities. She is forthright and opinionated, and she wears her idealism proudly. In 2007, when Field accepted her third Emmy Award, for Brothers & Sisters, she dedicated the award to ‘all the mothers who wait for their children to come home from danger, from harm’s way, and from war.’ At the word ‘war,’ the audience broke into cheers; Field closed her remarks with ‘Let’s face it — if mothers ruled the world, there wouldn’t be any goddamn wars in the first place.’ Fox bleeped the phrase — which made Field’s words topic of much national discussion. Field regrets placing ‘God’ in front of ‘damn’ because that gave the network the right to bleep it — though, she says, surprised, ‘I thought that people were saying a lot worse words than that on TV.’”

There’s much more to the interview, and it’s worth reading if you’re a Field fan. What will really stick with me from the story, though, is that quote about the high-pressure process of putting B&S episodes together: “It’s an endurance contest — everybody gets boiled down to their key ingredients. It’s like making candy — you either get candy or a rock.” I believe I’ll have to adopt the “candy or a rock” scale when rating episodes in the future.

Another Brothers & Sisters spoiler from EW’s Ausiello Files, this time addressing a fear I’ve personally had, and will be happy to relax about a little:

Question: Does Balthazar Getty being on “recurring guest star” status next season on Brothers & Sisters mean that his plan to take over Ojai will fail, thus leaving it entirely under Holly’s control? Please, say it ain’t so. — Leila

Ausiello: She should be so lucky. No, another Walker will step in to replace Tommy by the end of the season, much to Holly’s horror.

I’m delighted to know that Balthazar Getty’s bad work habits won’t force a victory for Holly, but who do we suppose his horrifying replacement is?

I guess Sarah is the most obvious choice, since she’s been in charge before and certainly has an unpleasant history with Holly. While it would be nice to see her return in some sort of triumph, I can’t help but feel it would be a step backward for the character. She needed to get out of Ojai, Holly or no, and getting Greenatopia off the ground has been a positive new direction for her. If that gets ditched now for a return to the family business, it would feel like we’ve wasted a season caring about it. Plus, I’d miss Ethan and Kyle. I thought they were pretty ridiculous at first, but they’ve really grown on me recently, with their attempts to snatch Kitty’s check and Ethan’s sweet pursuit of Sarah. I suppose Greenatopia could be brought in as some sort of Ojai affiliate, since they’re both produce-related, but I kind of hate to see that weight lowered back onto Sarah’s shoulders.

Working with or under Nora would definitely be horrifying to Holly, especially as bad as the blood has been between them this season. But as with Sarah, Nora has been spending this whole season creating something of her own — is she going sacrifice her dream to William’s again? Not that I don’t think her Ronald McDonald house is sort of a silly plotline; just that it’s not silly to her, and we’ve invested too much time in it to blow it off.

Saul’s someone who appears to have a lot of time on his hands, and hasn’t found anything to replace his all-consuming interest in Ojai. He’s complicit in Tommy’s desire for a takeover, if not the specific method Tommy chose to do it. Would his return be to Holly’s horror? Their history’s a lot more complex than her animosity-filled relationships with Sarah and Nora.

Kevin has an interest in the business and a history there, and now experience in doing a job he has no apparent qualifications for. I wouldn’t mind seeing him leave the senator’s employ, and Ojai’s likely to need a good legal mind after Tommy’s shenanigans. I’m not sure he would particularly horrify Holly, though. Nor would Justin, who certainly needs a job, but is far too malleable to be a threat to his girlfriend’s mother.

So who does that leave? Hey, do you suppose Ryan’s ever been to business school?

Share your guesses on this prospective plot development in the comments.

_{Photo: ABC.com}

Nice two-part interview with Dave Annable on the Bloggers & Sisters writer’s blog. Some highlights:

On the fact that he has a real-life sister named Rebecca: “It’s a whole weird thing. So kissing my sister who is not my sister but her name is Rebecca and my sister is Rebecca…I started therapy pretty soon after that.”

On similarities and differences between Justin: “I think a similarity between myself and Justin is that we both wear our hearts on our sleeves. Justin has never been afraid to say what’s on his mind and I’m the same way. Whether that’s good or bad, I think that’s something that we both share. Besides the addiction, I would say Justin has a lot more problems opening up in certain situations.”

On cracking up during filming: “We had one just yesterday. Matthew and I just got a case of the giggles, and Sally did as well because she had to keep feeding me cake. The last take I literally burped as she was putting the cake into my mouth. We just lost it. It was all downhill from there. It sort of stinks too because it was the last scene up and everyone wanted to go home, and once you start laughing it’s really hard to stop. Of course, I’m standing across from Matthew, and the second we make eye contact– done.”

On bloopers: “With this cast — everyone is really funny. I don’t know if people know that, but obviously Matthew’s hilarious and Rachel’s hilarious and Sally’s hilarious, Calista’s hilarious, Ron’s hilarious– we all have a lot of fun and we’re always laughing so that’s…there’s plenty more blooper footage out there. We could do a whole box set of bloopers.”

On Justin’s future: “I was hoping that he actually goes back to college and joins a sorority. I pitched that, but for some reason it’s not feasible. I do hope Justin gets a job and becomes proud of himself and works hard and makes his own money and gets his love life in order. That’s something that we’re all looking forward to.”

On his onscreen brothers: “The three of us always have fun. We just did our Spring Break episode where all three of us were together. I remember we had one day where it was just the brothers all day. It was midnight and we were still here, running up and down the halls and hiding from the Assistant Directors and scaring each other. We just really have a great time together. I made two brothers out of this show. It’s great.”

On the episode intervention episode “36 Hours”: “The most challenging thing about the episode was the actual intervention — that whole sort of speech where I tear everyone apart and they’re all after me. I got the lines at about eleven o’clock the night before, while I was working, and stayed up all night trying to memorize them. That’s not something where you want to stop and think about your lines. You want to be able to just react, and that scene actually took us about 12 or 13 hours to shoot, so by the end of the day I literally had no voice. On everyone else’s coverage I think I was just, you know– air coming out.”

On his favorite storylines: “I’m a really big Kevin/Scotty fan. I love their relationship. I mean, I just eat that up. I get all warm inside. I really am a fan of the show, that’s really it. I like Nora’s storylines, I like Uncle Saul’s storylines, I like Sarah, and Kitty with McCallister. I think our writers have done such a great job in making everyone’s storyline interesting, you know? There’s always the rollercoaster of ‘this storyline’s more prominent than this one,’ but I think our show has done a great job of balancing it out.”

On hockey: “I’ve played hockey since I was about 12 or 13 years old, and our producers have been nice enough to let me play once a week. … I’m trying to convince one Matthew Rhys to come play one day. He used to play hockey back in Wales and is totally nervous to get back on the ice.”

On who should guest star: “There’s a bunch of people that I’d love to see in a guest-starring role. I was really excited when we did have Chevy Chase, who’s really cool, and Steven Weber and Danny Glover and Margot Kidder. She was great. I don’t know– let’s get George Clooney on here, get those ratings up. You know what I’m saying? Who doesn’t want to see George Clooney? Screw ER. You know?”

For more from Dave, read the whole interview, Part 1 and Part 2.

Brothers and Sisters, Dave Annable

GLAAD announced its Media Award nominees on Tuesday, and for the third year in a row, Brothers & Sisters is nominated for Outstanding Drama Series (though, c’mon, it could totally be a double nominee for Outstanding Comedy Series, too. I’ll bet I laugh more at some of those Walker shenanigans than I ever would at, say, Desperate Housewives.)

According to a press release, “The GLAAD Media Awards 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.” That’s certainly a responsibility that Brothers & Sisters takes seriously, and it’s no surprise that the show has won in its previous two nominations. Best of luck this time, too.

ABC again leads all broadcast networks with six nominations. B&S network-mates nominated are Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty for Outstanding Comedy; “My Maharishi is Bigger than Your Maharishi” from Life on Mars for Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBT character); All My Children for Outstanding Daytime Drama; and “Taking to the Streets” from Good Morning America Weekend for Outstanding TV Journalism Segment.

Competing with Brothers & Sisters for Outstanding Drama are The L Word (Showtime), South of Nowhere (The N), Torchwood (BBC America), and True Blood (HBO).

There are 185 nominees in all, in 41 categories including movies, print journalism, and advertising. The GLAAD Media Awards are given out over the course of three ceremonies, in New York on March 28, Los Angeles on April 18, San Francisco on May 9. For more information, visit the awards site.

Brothers and Sisters, GLAAD, awards

Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello has three Brothers & Sisters spoilers in his latest “Ask Ausiello” post. Read at your own risk — they may ruin upcoming plot surprises for you, or just make you feel really, really annoyed at the potential direction of the show. I warned you.

On the future of Justin and Rebecca: “Justin and Rebecca’s relationship will self-destruct by season’s end — right around the time Rebecca and Ryan start cohabitating. Coincidence?”

On Jason Lewis’s return, specificaly whether Chad might be Saul’s boyfriend: “He sure isn’t. But you’re sort of on the right track.”

On whether Balthazar Getty is really leaving: “Depends what you mean by the word leaving. Yes, Getty will depart in April when Tommy gets into some legal trouble and skips town, but it’s the producers’ hope that he will return as an occasional guest star next season. ‘We intend for Balthazar to be a part of the show through its entirety,’ says e.p. Monica Breen. ‘But to the extent that Tommy figures into the daily lives of the Walkers, that remains up for grabs.’”

Well. The idea that, after all the plot deconstruction that was done to accommodate a Justin-Rebecca romance, they’d barely last one season, is unsettling. Not that I think they’re the greatest couple, but it just adds insult to injury to do a nevermind on their relationship, too.

The idea that Chad is even coming back for anything, much less for some mysterious purpose that’s being coyly talked around, is unsettling, too. Of all the old romances of Brothers & Sisters characters, they bring back this one? They couldn’t have unearthed Noah instead? Sarah needs a reunion more than Kevin does.

As for the Tommy news, I guess the only news is that he skips town instead of landing in jail, at least for starters. As long as he leaves Julia and Lizzie at home to fret in the bosom of the Walker family, I’m cool with it.

Brothers and Sisters, spoilers, Entertainment Weekly

Despite rumors that actors who oppose a strike would be blackballed for SAG awards, and concerns among fans that no one seems to show Brothers & Sisters any respect, Sally Field won the SAG award for best actress in a TV drama. Go, Nora!

Here’s a round-up of reportage and commentary from around the Web this morning about the Walker matriarch taking the trophy.

E! Online: “Seven-time nominee Sally Field then won her first ever SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama for playing Brothers & Sisters matriarch Nora Walker. ‘I’ve been an actor for 45 years,’ said the reliably long-winded Field. ‘I am so proud to be an actor and so proud that my fellow actors would give me this. We inspire, we provoke, we entertain, and never before has that been so needed in the country than it is right now.’”

Associated Press: “Sally Field was caught off-guard when she won the award for female actor in a drama series (Brothers & Sisters). Field said she was chatting and having a glass of wine at her table in the audience when she won. ‘I have a habit of doing things people talk about, so I have to think,’ she said backstage, clutching the winner’s envelope with her name inside.”

The Hollywood Reporter: “Despite the brouhaha, the controversy seemed to have no effect on the winners as Baldwin and Sally Field [both of whom signed a letter opposing the strike] won their respective categories. Field made it a point to outline her family’s long-standing association with the guild.”

The Huffington Post: “Sally Field won Outstanding Female Actor in a Dramatic TV Series for screaming ‘Penis’ at the top of her lungs on a network owned by Disney. Walt Disney has been dead a long, long time now, and if he wasn’t, that clip would have finished him off.”

Entertainment Weekly: “Worst attempt at humor-filled humility: Brothers & Sisters’ Sally Field, accepting her award for Female Actor in a Drama Series: ‘Oh dear, I thought it would be a cable girl. And such good actors they are.’”

Sally Field, SAG, Brothers and Sisters

When Rachel Griffiths wore this gold dress with a big loose overlay on top to the Golden Globes, a lot of catty fashion commenters said it looked like she was hiding a pregnancy or something. Turns out, that may indeed have been her reason for not wearing something super-snug: According to People, the actress and her husband, Andrew Taylor, are expecting a third child to join three-year-old Adelaide Rose and five-year-old Banjo. No further details, like a due date and how it might relate to the Brothers & Sisters shooting schedule, are given.

Congratulations to the expectant family and all that, but what do you suppose this means for Sarah? Will Cooper and Paige be getting a sibling, too? Or will the Greenatopia CEO just be seen standing behind big stuff for a while? One sister with an unplanned pregnancy vs. one sister who couldn’t get pregnant could add more conflict to the Sarah/Kitty relationship, which the writers seem to be wanting to fill with animosity.

UPDATE: There’s now an announced due date, and it’s July. There’s also an announced plot impact, and it’s “none.” From US and People by way of Celebrity Baby Blog:

Rachel Griffiths –- who is “feeling great” -– tells Us Weekly that despite the decision to not write in the pregnancy on her hit show Brothers & Sisters, there is little concern when it comes to hiding her growing belly. An expert on “brilliantly timed pregnancies” … Rachel says that her growing family with husband Andrew Taylor has been planned without “causing the networks too much stress.” She explains, “We’re almost done [with shooting] and I’m not enormous, so I don’t think there’ll be too much of that.”

Although her belly may be easy to hide on camera, the timing of her pregnancy confirmation was anything but coincidental. After raising eyebrows at the Golden Globes with her dress choice, Rachel — who tells PEOPLE she is “relieved I don’t have to suck my stomach in anymore” — realized that the time had come to share her big news. “[I] was, like, hiding under that gold dress. I kinda wasn’t ready to announce it then, but it provoked so many questions I was like, ‘Alright, okay, let’s just not pretend anymore.’ And now I can’t suck it in anymore — it’s out.”

… As the July due date grows near, the 40-year-old actress can’t help but view her almost immediate return to work following the birth as “intimidating.” However, according to Rachel, even those fears are calmed by the exceptional cast and crew! “I’m in the most family-friendly show on television and everybody there is so supportive and thrilled.”

Still think it would have been an interesting storyline for Sarah, but maybe there’s enough baby drama going on now without it. And Sarah’s certainly got her hands full with the kids she already has, including her business partners.

Considering how many major Brothers & Sisters plot developments have been left for the second half of Season Three, the rumblings about an actor’s strike are especially heart-sinking. Really, though, anybody who cares about the survival of original scripted television has got to be cursing the prospect of a work stoppage, however well-intentioned. No offense against actors, they deserve their residuals and pieces of the profit, but given the way the writer’s strike weakened a lot of programming, and the way the U.S. economy is already in the toilet, it sure doesn’t seem like a good time to put all of Hollywood out of work.

At least some of the folks in the Walker world agree with that sentiment. Sally Field and Dave Annable are among the members of the Screen Actors Guild who lent their names to a letter that begins, “We feel very strongly that SAG members should not vote to authorize a strike at this time. We don’t think that an authorization can be looked at as merely a bargaining tool. It must be looked at as what it is — an agreement to strike if negotiations fail. We support our union and we support the issues we’re fighting for, but we do not believe in all good conscience that now is the time to be putting people out of work.” The letter goes on to suggest that in three years, all entertainment union contracts will be up at once, and everybody can threaten to strike together. Something to look forward to for us viewers, then.

Also weighing in on the strike issue is Ken Olin, who crosses a lot of union lines by being an actor, director, and producer. In a letter to SAG head and strike proponent Alan Rosenberg published on the SAGwatch blog, he wrote in part, “I have been a member of the Guild for close to thirty years, as well as a member of AFTRA for as long or longer. For the past twenty years I have been a member of the DGA. For the past nine years I have been an executive producer. First on a series created for cable, ‘Breaking News,’ and then on ‘Alias,’ and now on a series I helped to create and continue to run, ‘brothers & sisters.’ In all those years I have never failed to support the leadership of any union of which I am a member. But at this juncture I feel compelled to do so. Not because I am loyal to the studios, nor disloyal to our union, but because I am vigilant when it comes to protecting actors. That means defending their rights as well as being truthful about their responsibilities.”

Protect us viewers, too, Ken. Keep our show on the air. And if you could arrange for fewer stupid subplots, that’d be good, too.