Dude, what the heck is up ...

Question: Dude, what the heck is up with Brothers & Sisters? Everything I hear about it seems to go from bad to worse. Why is the network so confident in it that it's getting the lucrative post-Housewives slot, when it clearly has a lot of problems? I would put Men in Trees there instead.

Answer: Although I haven't seen the B&S pilot yet I think ABC is (finally) sending it out later this week I suspect the show will deliver in spite of all its troubles. And Greg Berlanti's stamp of approval doesn't hurt. "I promise you guys, and I can only go on my own emotional gut and my own experience, but it lives up to anything I've ever worked on or been a part of in terms of how emotional it is," he tells me. "And it was the only pilot this year that made me laugh and cry." (BTW, for more of my interview with Greg, pick up next week's issue of TV Guide.)  Regarding Men in Trees, I have seen that pilot and you guys are going to love it. I would've included it in my Must-See Fall TV List (Ask Ausiello 7/12), but I only just watched it last week. This could be the thing that finally makes the public forget about Lysastrata, or whatever it was Anne Heche was calling herself. ABC clearly believes in the show, too: The network is previewing it behind Dancing with the Stars on Sept. 12 before moving it to its regular Friday time slot.