[IMG:L]Last fall, the buzz about Brothers & Sisters was deafening–and mostly negative. With a showrunner shakeup, late-in-the-game replacements of actors Betty Buckley and Jonathan LaPaglia by Sally Field and Matthew Rhys, as well as a retooled pilot that wasn’t screened in advance, the ABC series was pronounced in dire trouble by industry-watchers, some predicting a quick cancellation. What a difference a year makes.
Brothers & Sisters pleasantly surprised both critics and audiences, becoming a ratings success and earning three Emmy nominations, including nods for Rachel Griffiths and Field, she of the infamously bleeped acceptance speech following her Best Actress in a Drama Series win. Certainly, it’s a better position from which to launch Season 2, which kicks off Sept. 30 at 10/9c.
“We’re very proud of what we accomplished last year and we’re thankful for the opportunity to keep doing this,” said executive producer (and often, director) Ken Olin, welcoming media members to a set visit at Walt Disney Studios as the show began production in July. Olin thanked noted show fixer Greg Berlanti (Everwood, Dawson’s Creek, Jack & Bobby), for coming in “and saving our series.” But the notion that Brothers & Sisters was ever in dire straits seemed to be lost on several cast members.
“I didn’t feel like I was on a troubled show,” insisted Calista Flockhart, who plays Kitty. “I think we made some changes that were really great. But every show does that. You start off going in one direction and you say, ‘This works, but that doesn’t.’ You kind of evolve into something else. The problem is we had to do it on the air, so we were an easy target. I never took it seriously. We just kept working and then the next thing you know, we were getting pretty decent ratings.”
Sally Field likened the show’s growth to a play’s, from out-of-town tryouts to Broadway, “[Creator] Robbie Baitz is a playwright, so a lot of the evolution is the same evolution that happens when you get a play on its feet. He allowed the actors and their energy to change, and we slowly evolved into the Walkers. Robbie and Greg and Ken were playing with the balance early on because they’ve always wanted it to be a show that had a lot of drama and heart and comedy, and that’s very hard to do,” Field reflected.
Her character Nora dealt with widowhood, betrayal, and all manners of family dysfunction in Season One, but can look forward to a little romance this year with the introduction of Danny Glover as Senator McCallister ‘s (Rob Lowe) campaign manager. His casting was a pleasant surprise for Field, who last worked with Glover in Places in the Heart, for which she won one of her two Oscars.
[IMG:R]Whatever is ahead–Field prefers not to think about or know too much “because I like having it unfold for me as well”–she’s enjoying life as the complicated Nora. “She’s flawed and she’s loving and she’s obnoxious. So that makes her really meaty for an actor to play.”
As the season opens, Flockhart’s newly engaged Kitty is on the hunt for a wedding dress and “doing damage control” in her fiancé McCallister’s presidential campaign. “I know we’re meant to get married sometime,” she acknowledged, reflecting on the character’s growth. “She was daddy’s little girl, and he was a conservative, so she took on his beliefs. But she’s had to adjust. The older she gets, she realizes that things aren’t so black and white. I like the conflict she faces about her beliefs and I also love playing the romantic relationship between Rob and me. That’s really fun.”
Lowe, who began as a guest star and was promoted to regular when the chemistry between his character and Flockhart’s clicked, enjoys playing that aspect as well. “We have a good romantic banter,” he noted. “They’re written as two–albeit on her part, slightly neurotic–adults, but they’re not coy. It’s more mature. They say how they feel about each other. They don’t play games.”
This season, the story will “dig a lot deeper into my character,” Lowe allowed. “He’s running for president. He’s got a lot hanging in the balance. He has the issue with his war service not being exactly what he let people believe. There’s going to be the election. It’s going to be surprising. It’s not going to go down the way people think.”
Known for his political interest and activism, he is frequently asked about his own interest in running for office. “I’m flattered to be asked about it, but at the moment, I don’t… I mean, there’s so much more I want to do as an actor and accomplish in this world. I’ve got a lot more to do,” he said, but added, “You never say never.”
In other plotlines, the youngest Walker son, soldier Justin (Dave Annable), is recovering from an injury suffered in Iraq that put him in a wheelchair, and Sarah, newly separated from her husband, will enter a battle for custody of her kids. Rebecca (Emily Van Camp), the half-sister introduced last season, will continue to complicate the Walkers’ lives.
[IMG:L]Van Camp, who played girl next door Amy on Everwood, relishes the character’s darker edge. “I started Everwood so young and Amy was quite a bit like myself. This is different, a little more difficult, but so fun for me. I know there’s some kind of journey in love for Rebecca coming up and I’m sure she’s going to be stirring up a little more trouble.”
One aspect of the show that will undoubtedly continue is the exploration of opposing beliefs, a characteristic that drew Australian Griffiths to sign on. “[The producers created] a family where different points and experiences can be in conflict but ultimately they sit down at the table with each other … and agree to disagree. At a time when America has never been more divided,” she noted, “It’s a beautiful idea.”
