I am going to write today about what it takes to get a show on the air. I am a playwright, and one with virtually no experience in television. But I have entered a new world, and I am no longer who I was. I used to be a New York bohemian art-boy, one who grew up working in the not-for-profit theater, which is as far removed from the passionate fear-driven chaos of network television as can be imagined. I would read, swim, write a little, or a lot, and own my day. That changed when I was invited to try my hand at creating a TV show in July 2005. I had worried that the audience for my plays was aging and dismayingly white and limited to those fortunate New Yorkers who could afford the price of a ticket, which is anywhere from $40 to $75 a pop Off-Broadway. The theater was starting to feel like opera to me: rarified and beautiful, but like Venice, sinking into the sea. So when Ken Olin offered me the chance to try a TV show, I took a breath, left Sag Harbor, New York, and came out to L...
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Even with William's death and Kitty's tentative reconciliation with her mother in tonight's premiere of Brothers & Sisters, the first thing my mind went to when the show was over was Kitty and her mom's cringe-worthy fake hug for William's benefit. It just seemed so sad to actually clarify that the hug was for show and didn't mean anything - and that was far from the only illusion in the Walker household. Mom and Dad might not actually have been the perfect couple their kids always thought they were, and patriarch William in particular seemed to have a lot to hide. Did he cheat on his wife? Or did that woman he seemed to be secretively talking to have something to do with the family business' obvious problems? Speaking of the family business, Sarah sure doesn't seem happy about her decision to become a part of it. Although her marital problems didn't seem like much of a secret, I'm guessing that her feelings for her former coworker are probably complicating things in a way that ...
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Question:
I am so glad to hear that Everwood creator Greg Berlanti is now collaborating with the writing team for Brothers & Sisters. This show has been a big question mark for me (along with Six Degrees), but I have been looking forward to trying it out. It has a great cast, appealing promos and now a fantastic writer! Do you think Berlanti's involvement has the potential to make this my Everwood semireplacement?
Answer: The news that Berlanti is giving Brothers a creative hand is one of the few positive headlines I've heard lately. I'm still not sure a show like this can fill the Everwood void, though. Also on the Brothers & Sisters front, Ryan wonders: "I heard a rumor they are reshooting the pilot of Brothers & Sisters without Dan Futterman! Say it ain't so! He had great chemistry with Calista Flockhart in The Birdcage, and in the scene available on the Web from the original pilot. I was ecstatic when he returned to Judging Amy in 2004 and saddened that it was the show's final
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Josh Hopkins is reteaming with his former Ally McBeal costar Calista Flockhart on her upcoming ABC drama Brothers & Sisters, a well-placed source confirms. Pepper Dennis' ex will play a liberal pundit who locks horns — and lips — with Flockhart's conservative radio host. (Picture Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala with even more sexual tension.) I'm guessing Hopkins will juggle his Brothers & Sisters gig — which, at this point, is for seven episodes — with his series-regular duties on Fox's new thriller Vanished. Hey, if Peter MacNicol can do it, so can he.
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Question: I just wanted to thank you for the hard work you do giving us the chance to talk about television. The greatness of your columns is that you really discuss television, not spoilers. You present arguments, opinions and facts regarding every TV issue, and you let us be part of this debate. I look forward to your column every week. Though it is still very early to form a proper opinion on a lot of new fall series, what do you think about Brothers & Sisters? I have been reading that the show may be a little too depressing for Sunday night. My hope knows no limits regarding this show, since I think it has a flawless cast (especially now that Sally Field has joined it). Also, I would like to know your expectations for the new season of Desperate Housewives. It is true that in its sophomore year the show took a wrong turn, but I think that it can reach perfection once again.
Answer: Gee, thanks for the testimonial. The main reason I can't discuss Brothers & Sisters with any
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Patricia Wettig on Prison Break
Patricia Wettig now has something in common with 24 alum Dennis Haysbert (currently on CBS' The Unit) — neither of them are any longer playing the president of the United States for Fox.
While Wettig's Prison Break character, the crafty Caroline Reynolds, was set to play the leader of the free world in the show's sophomore season, the actress — who wasn't under contract to the Fox drama — opted instead to accept a role on B
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I'm hearing that ABC is wooing Sally Field to take over the role of Calista Flockhart's mom on Brothers & Sisters, the new drama that's inheriting Grey's Anatomy's Sunday-night time slot this fall. Betty Buckley, who played the role in the show's original pilot, has been let go for creative reasons. Hmm... that probably explains why Brothers & Sisters was the only pilot ABC didn't send out to critics. To get your last look at Buckley in the part, check out this trailer posted on ABC.com.
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Brad Garrett, 'Til Death
After attending the networks' upfront presentations all week, the Biz has this analysis of the coming season. (Click here for next fall's grid and new-show descriptions.)
CWYou've got to wonder what went wrong in CW's new-series development process if the network had to bring back 7th Heaven — even though the show lost a reported $16 million for WB this past season.
But the decision to have CW's inaugural schedule made up of established shows from WB and UPN may end up being a blessing. Many of the shows have small but rabid followings, and promoting new shows on a new network will be tough. The fans of shows like One Tree Hill and Veronica Mars will track them down on their own. Viewers in the 18-to-34-year-old demographic that CW targets don't watch networks, they watch shows. (According to recent survey, only one in four 1
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Here are several updates on stuff I reported in this week's Ask Ausiello as well as some new scoops mixed in. Enjoy! I can now confirm that Marlee Matlin has signed on to appear in 11 episodes of Showtime's The L Word. The deal just closed and, even though this drama is so far off my radar it's virtually undetectable, I wanted to bring you the official word ASAP. The Oscar winner will play a deaf artist who takes a shine to Jennifer Beals' Bette. She'll first show up in the fourth-season premiere in January. Speaking of shows I probably should be watching, Disney's teen phenom Hannah Montana has reeled in a pretty big fish. I'm told Dolly Parton will make a guest appearance this summer. I'm not sure who she's playing, but very reliable sources say her character will have huge knockers. Regarding the fate of The King of Queens, another source told me yesterday that "the show is definitely dead." Still no confirmation from CBS. My Eric Balfour mole (yes, I now have a mole assigned sp...
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Calista Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths
Crafts services, you are hereby forewarned: Calista Flockhart, whose most visible role since Ally McBeal's end has been as girlfriend to Harrison Ford, is returning to series television in ABC's family-centered sudser, Brothers & Sisters — not to be confused with Sons & Daughters, the network's about-to-premiere and similarly ampersanded series, although ABC is simply asking for confusion. Also joining the cast is fellow Golden Globe winner Rachel Griffiths, of Six Feet Under acclaim.
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