Story editors Peter Calloway and Cliff Olin and staff writer Jason Wilborn are taking turns with this blog. This entry is from Peter Calloway.When people find out I'm a writer for Brothers & Sisters [Sundays at 10 pm/ET, ABC], I am typically asked a series of questions in quick succession that, more or less, looks like this: "How many writers are there?" "How does the process work?" "Who is your favorite actor on the show?"I'll answer those questions briefly: Ten. I have no idea. Whichever actor is reading this blog.You know what is surprising? I've never been asked what TV shows the staff of B&S keeps up with. That's what I want to know about every staff — what TV did The Sopranos' watch? When David Milch came home from a long day of making up the beautifully vulgar dialogue on Deadwood, what did he watch on his TiVo? Did he watch reruns of NYPD Blue? Or perhaps Jeopardy?So, without ever being asked, I'm going to tell you what shows we, the writers, watch, in no partic...
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"Velocity" written by the series creators, husband and wife, Nicholas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and directed by Fred Koeller, is an episode that reveals the deadly truth about street racing. Recently, a young mother and her two young children were struck and killed by a racing motorist in L.A. The episode's Oct. 12 airing was timely, albeit horribly unfortunate. Nic and Cheryl have written our most conscienscious episodes. "Hardball" from Season 3, was an episode that exposed the dangers of steroid abuse amongst pro athletes. "Protest" starred legendary actor Robert Forster as an FBI agent who is desperate to conceal his corrupt past, until Don Eppes figures out that he was part of a much larger, true to life government conspiracy put into action in the late 60's to counteract the anti-war movement in the United States, a subject long considered to Taboo to cover. And in "Money For Nothing", Nic and Cheryl presented the plight of struggling African Nations in their attempts to deli...
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This week we're in Billings, Montana, to meet the Carter family. Lon, Julie and their three daughters Jade, Sapphire and Lily. Montana's Big Sky country — brutal winters, hot summers, rattlesnakes and chicken coops. The Carter family actually lives in an old refurbished chicken coop — really a chicken coop — they've tried to make the best of their circumstances, but living in that chicken coop has not been easy. Lon's done everything he can to fix it up and make it as good as it's gonna get, but we can do a lot better. As bad as living in a chicken coop is, it's not the only hardship facing this family. Julie and her daughters all suffer from an extremely rare condition called Chiari Malformation. Chiari Malformation is a condition that has over 85 symptoms, making it very easy to misdiagnose. Many doctors claim patients are just depressed or have chronic fatigue syndrome, but this disease is real and afflicts more than 250,000 — most not knowing they have it. Ju...
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This week, there's a real buzz on the set and it has nothing to do with the upcoming episode or last week's ratings. This weekend members of our cast and crew are getting their Lance Armstrong on. Saturday is the 2007 Start to Finish MS Bike Tour. Twenty-three members of the Criminal Minds staff are getting up early and biking up the California coast to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. They've been looking forward to this for a long time.Last year 12 of our crew members pedaled, and this year the number has doubled. The 12 riders from last year did not take very much time off before getting back to training and are taking it very seriously. The newcomers all have a varied range of experience and ability but have been riding every weekend. Every Monday tales of training mishaps and misadventures make their way to set.However, the most important part of this ride has nothing to do with the performance of the cyclists. It's all to benefit NMSS. So in addition to those r...
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I think somebody put something in my drink. It's been one of those weeks that nobody in their right mind would believe. Being the quiet redhead in the corner of Dunder-Mifflin is certainly paying off in spades. This past week I got to lift up my skirt in front of Jim and the whole world when I asked him to sign my pelvis cast. You wanted to see more of Meredith? You got it! Honestly, what is next? I couldn't be more pleased. I think last week's promo helped me to get a very-last-minute call last Thursday from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno! You heard me right. Remind me to buy Joaquin Phoenix a drink next time I see him. He canceled and suddenly there was room on the couch for little ol' me. If you missed it, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdTgXS41M2M. Jay was really cool. I didn't really let him get a word in edgewise. He could not have been nicer. It felt like jumping out of an airplane. Meredith fans cheered when they showed the accident again. All I can say is ...
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A lot of comments were left last week asking one question, and it wasn't, "Why did Simon Elder buy the sex tape?" or "Is Juliet really a virgin?" or even "Who murdered Dutch George?" Evidently, what readers of this blog want to know is: What is the Italian Banker and how can I do it? Dorjean left three comments asking for help on the matter — she went to two search engines to try to find out how to perform the Italian Banker. While I don't know all the details, I do know that it involves a roll of lira. It's difficult to find out more than that because the Secret Society of Italian Bankers have kept this position secret for generations. But if you do find out, feel free to post a comment and share your discoveries with the rest of us.Now let's get to this week's episode. Unfortunately, there are no unique sexual positions in this one, but we do get to finally see the oh-so-sexy Blair Underwood. That's right, Simon Elder finally makes an appearance on the show. Also in this epi...
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Angel Wainwright plays Betsy, Jonas and Molly Blane's strong-willed daughter. "She's a fighter," Angel declares. "A young woman who has a deep need to be something. She admires her father deeply. Admires his strength. But her mother..." Here Angel hesitates, perhaps because she's talking to the person who plays her mother. Then, carefully: "She misunderstands her mother. She doesn't relate to Molly's strength. Doesn't appreciate her mother's accomplishments. Doesn't want to be like her."There is definitely a mother-daughter conflict in the Blane household. Molly, seeing how much her daughter is like her — both are hardheaded — wants to protect her daughter from the mistakes she's made. Wants her child to skip over the tough experiences. Wants her to avoid the pain that life brings. If only her child would listen to her. Molly knows that her daughter has to experience life for herself on her own terms, that it's the good and bad episodes in life that build character, hopefu...
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Bridgeport, Connecticut: At 5:55 pm the bus moved and one, two, three family members hit the pavement, while the fourth did a back flip. It could be the hardest I have cried in the five seasons of the show — well, happy tears that is. It was the kind of cry where I couldn't breathe, where I didn't even realize that tears were streaming down my face until I noticed my shirt was wet. And just when I started to feel self-conscious about my sobs, I looked to my left and looked to my right and noticed the entire crowd crying with me. Michael stood to my right, tears streaming down his face as well. To be there, on that small street in a small town in Connecticut, the energy was palpable. We all felt the happiness of this one amazing family as they first viewed the rest of their lives and the continuation of their dreams. The Brown family has been through a lot — probably more than most of us will ever experience in our lifetime. When most people would be complaining about what ...
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Story editors Peter Calloway and Cliff Olin and staff writer Jason Wilborn are taking turns with this new Brothers & Sisters blog. This entry is from Cliff Olin.I'm going to try — for the initial portion of this blog at least — to be somewhat serious, and to address a real issue or two about the characters and plotlines and process of bringing you Brothers & Sisters [Sundays at 10 pm/ET, on ABC]. This will be no easy task, because so far this has been the most outrageous, morbid, manic week in the history of Burbank. The cosmos are drunk and the planets are aligned in a silly way and everyone knows it. I'll get to all that later. Probably.I will take the liberty of assuming that if you are reading this blog, then you must be a big enough fan of our show to have watched the second episode. So... Justin is alive. He's not well, but he's alive. That "next week on Brothers & Sisters" and the opening military funeral sequence were cheap and dirty tricks, but you fel...
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Meredith gets plastered!Hey, guess what? It's time for a new episode of The Office — "Launch Party." NBC has been promoting this episode as the return of Meredith. Me! In case you haven't been watching the new season, I got hit by Michael's car. I was in the hospital last week so now I am back with a cane and a pelvis cast. All this and no booze in sight. Have you seen the commercials? Meredith gets plastered. Literally. This is a bit of a Spoiler alert here. I would not have revealed the plaster pelvis cast until Thursday. The four hours I spent getting the cast made was totally worth it. I love the smell of plaster of Paris and vodka. This week is my week. Getting used to walking with a cane is not easy, unless you're wearing tap shoes. I want to tell you how much I appreciate the fans' concern for ol' Meredith. But really, I'm OK! This week is a very funny episode about the launching of Dunder Mifflin's new website. Angela and Dwight have yet to resolve their differences, an...
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