Brothers & Sisters (2006 TV series)


Brothers & Sisters is an American television drama series that centers on the Walker family and their lives in Los Angeles and Pasadena, California. It aired for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 2006, to May 8, 2011. It aired, for its entire run, in a Sunday night timeslot after Desperate Housewives.
Brothers & Sisters features an ensemble cast led by Sally Field as Nora Walker, with Rachel Griffiths as Sarah, Calista Flockhart as Kitty, Balthazar Getty as Tommy, Matthew Rhys as Kevin and Dave Annable as Justin Walker, her grown children. Patricia Wettig co-starred as Holly Harper, with Emily VanCamp later joining the cast as Rebecca Harper, as well as Ron Rifkin as Saul Holden. Field won both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performances throughout the series, as well as Griffiths receiving nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal.

Overview

Premise

The series revolves around the lives and problems of the wealthy Walker family in the wake of the death of family patriarch William Walker, the founder of the family business Ojai Foods. The family consists of wife and mother Nora Walker who must deal with revelations about her husband's infidelity, and her children Sarah and Tommy, both married executives at Ojai Foods, Kitty, a conservative activist, Kevin, a gay lawyer, and youngest sibling Justin, who has recently returned from the Afghan War with a substance abuse problem. They were joined by Nora's brother Saul and Holly Harper, William's mistress. Plotlines typically revolved around the romantic relationships of the family, their business fortunes, especially with regard to the control of Ojai Foods, and the relationship between the siblings. Most conflicts were resolved with a renewed call for family unity and a lot of wine.
The show's narrative launched with the death of William Walker at Kitty's birthday party. His death causes a number of secrets from his life to be revealed—secrets that impact the remainder of his family and which include the introduction of William's mistress Holly Harper and her daughter Rebecca.
Other main storylines throughout the series include the personal, political and professional lives of Nora and all the brothers and sisters; their relationships with each other; interaction with Rebecca and her mother Holly; and the running of the family business Ojai Foods—which is mostly looked after by Saul, Sarah and Tommy along with Holly and Rebecca from season 3 onwards. After the family sells Ojai Foods, Scotty and Saul open a restaurant and Nora begins working at a radio station which Sarah decides to buy.

Characters

Main cast

Recurring cast

Episodes

Season 1 (2006–07)

Most of the season focuses on The Walkers dealing with the loss of William Walker and the secrets uncovered by his death, most notably the discovery of Holly Harper, a woman he had an affair with, and her daughter Rebecca. The season also introduces the audience to the lives of the Walker siblings who must deal with their jobs, turbulent love lives and each other.

Season 2 (2007–08)

The second season focused mainly on the romantic lives of the Walker siblings. As Kitty and Robert start planning their wedding, Kevin runs into Scotty and they become a couple. Sarah must now deal with her divorce and being a single parent while Tommy and Julia go through serious issues after struggling with the loss of one of their twins. Nora begins a new romance with one of Robert's staff and, along with Rebecca, tries to help Justin regain his life after being injured in the war.

Season 3 (2008–09)

After the discovery that she is not, in fact, a Walker, Rebecca must deal with her new place in the family and her new relationship with Justin which could be in trouble with the appearance of Ryan—William's actual secret child. Kitty and Robert face problems in their marriage as they try to adopt a baby while Kevin and Scotty settle into married life. Nora decides she wants a career of her own after spending most of her life in the back seat and finds a new romance. With Holly becoming a major presence at Ojai, Saul and Sarah decide to quit leading to a new business venture for the eldest Walker sibling, while Tommy turns to drastic measures to take back the family business.

Season 4 (2009–10)

The show was renewed for a fourth season on April 23, 2009. It premiered on September 27, 2009 on ABC.
This season sees Kevin and Scotty decide to start a family while Kitty finds her family may be torn apart when she receives unexpected news that she has lymphoma, cancer of the lymph nodes. Sarah finds love with Luc, a man she met in France who traveled to America to be with her, but the dream doesn't seem to last in her real life. Justin is finding it hard to balance his engagement to Rebecca with his medical school studies, while Rebecca has troubles of her own. After not having their wedding Rebecca comes to find out she is now pregnant with Justin's baby but Rebecca ends up having a miscarriage which causes some more strain on their relationship. While her children go through difficult times Nora must try her hardest to get them through their troubles and Ryan causes trouble for the Walkers and Ojai by teaming up with a man from William's past. Will Holly's obsession with the secrets of Ojai ruin her relationship with David? The season ends with a horrific car crash that leaves Holly severely injured and the fate of Senator Robert McCallister unsure.

Season 5 (2010–11)

Brothers & Sisters was renewed for a fifth season on March 5, 2010. It premiered on September 26, 2010 on ABC. The events of the fifth season begin one year after the season 4 finale.
The season starts with Kitty holding on to Robert who has been in a coma since the accident when she is faced with the decision of whether or no to turn off his life support. Sarah considers selling the new land and water found in Ojai to start a new chapter with Luc. Kevin, who has become a low-paid pro-bono lawyer, and Scotty begin the adoption process after their surrogate, Michelle, appears to lose their baby. Saul bumps into an old flame, Jonathan, who now campaigns for a HIV+ charity, and reveals that it was Jonathan who infected Saul. Justin and Rebecca struggle to reconnect after his year abroad leaving her feeling abandoned and questioning her future. Meanwhile, Holly has developed long-term memory loss after the accident and is struggling to remember her life and loved ones.
Finally, Nora has become distant from her family whilst she searches for a new career and purpose when a unique job opportunity presents itself at a local radio station. Later in the season, Nora's first love, Nick Brody, returns with a revelation that could change the Walker family forever.

Home media

Production

The series is from producer Ken Olin and Jon Robin Baitz, one of Broadway's most prominent playwrights. Noted producer Greg Berlanti was also an executive producer and "show-runner" during season one. Berlanti continues to serve on the series as executive producer. Mark B. Perry served as the showrunner for twelve episodes before departing the show in the aftermath of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. Perry was replaced by Monica Owusu-Breen and Alison Schapker who served as showrunners until they were replaced by David Marshall Grant shortly into season 4.
After the series pilot was shot, and the show was picked up by ABC, the series underwent some moderate changes. Most notably, three of the roles were recast:
The more minor role of Cooper, Sarah and Joe's younger child, was also recast after the pilot episode.
Robert McCallister was the name of a character on a previous Greg Berlanti production, Jack & Bobby, about a boy who grew up to be the President of the United States. As with the Robert McCallister on Brothers & Sisters, the character on Jack & Bobby was a Republican who had a wife named Courtney and a son named Jack.
Brothers & Sisters is produced by Berlanti Television, After Portsmouth, and Touchstone Television, which is now ABC Studios.
On May 13, 2011, ABC announced the series of Brothers & Sisters had been canceled after five seasons.

Location

Brothers & Sisters was filmed in the Greater Los Angeles area including: Los Angeles, Santa Monica, South Pasadena, Pasadena, and other locations.

Critical reception

Brothers & Sisters's first season received mixed to positive reviews from critics but positive reviews from fans. However, the reviews became warm and earned acclaim even from critics.

Ratings

U.S. ratings

Seasonal rankings of Brothers & Sisters on ABC:
SeasonTimeslot Season premiereSeason finaleTV seasonRankViewers
Viewers High
Viewers Low
18–49 Average18–49 High18–49 Low
1
Sunday 10:00 PM
September 24, 2006May 20, 20072006–2007#3711.016.109.134.676.23.4
2
Sunday 10:00 PM
September 30, 2007May 11, 20082007–2008#3810.713.268.504.225.13.0
3
Sunday 10:00 PM
September 28, 2008May 10, 20092008–2009#3310.712.358.843.474.82.8
4
Sunday 10:00 PM
September 27, 2009May 16, 20102009–2010#3410.410.787.652.853.72.2
5
Sunday 10:00 PM
September 26, 2010May 8, 20112010–2011#528.29.475.702.603.01.6

Accolades