Bros and ho's
What a strange world most of us are missing out on. Apparently, if you live in a big mansion -- like the family in "Brothers & Sisters" -- you often grab an uncle or a U.S. senator and whisk him to a secret room for a chat. You may suggest to the senator you want to bone him but you're on a "man fast."
And your mom uses real words in fake ways. She tells her ill son on the phone, "Tommy, just come here. The last thing you want to do is get Julie and the fetus sick."
Man fast? Fetus? What the hell is going on here?
"Brothers & Sisters" is a bizarre amalgamation. It's a political show. Everyone in the family is a very outspoken Democrat or Republican. But mostly they're dealing with sexual famine, indiscretions and scandal (the dead patriarch cheated sexually and financially before he croaked).
This show aspires to be a whimsical comedy about dramatic interiors. But "Brothers & Sisters" reminds me of daytime soap operas my grandma watched (all that melodramatic conflict) and teen comedies (unlikely scenarios that make people look awkward).
It's like "All My Children Eat American Pie."
"American Pie"? Yes. In the last episode, Sarah (Rachel Griffiths) and her man Joe (John Pyper-Ferguson) taped themselves doing it on the same videotape they were using to record a tribute for their mom's 60th birthday.
Sound dumb yet? Just you wait.
The sex tape was put on DVD and (whoops!) accidentally shown at the old mom's birthday party. (Gasp!) Joe couldn't find the darned "stop" button on the remote control. Evidently rich, successful people can't work DVD players.
This can only be an ABC show. Its sensibilities are feminine, which is great, though you get a lot of Calista Flockhart saying "Sex and the City" stuff such as "If my shoes could talk!"
But the music score never -- never! -- stops telescoping the feeling of a light and airy Halcion haze. It's the most cloying, pizzicato loop imaginable, as grating as the music in ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy." Why does this network think women can't watch scenes without awful music scores?
This heinous, horrible, hideous sound of synthesizers is also destroying the hard work of actors, directors, lighting technicians -- you name it. And this is no cast to waste: Sally Field, Griffiths, Flockhart, Ron Rifkin and on and on.
On the birthday episode, Marion Ross did a guest-acting part as the mother of the 60-year-old mom, Nora (Field). At first, Ross had to deliver the worst "All My Children Eat American Pie" dialogue, telling her gay grandson -- whom she didn't know was gay, of course -- that she'd date him if she were younger.
But after that, Ross was vulnerable in a scene where she cried and dug into truths of her character. She was remarkable. But her deep acting was masked by the constant hypnosis of bouncy little music, which is supposed to comfort the viewer, like: Oh, everything's going to be just fine -- and silly again! -- very soon.
Also, Rob Lowe has joined the cast. The onetime star of his own sex tape, he's now a solid actor, which clearly signals a coming apocalypse.
And your mom uses real words in fake ways. She tells her ill son on the phone, "Tommy, just come here. The last thing you want to do is get Julie and the fetus sick."
Man fast? Fetus? What the hell is going on here?
"Brothers & Sisters" is a bizarre amalgamation. It's a political show. Everyone in the family is a very outspoken Democrat or Republican. But mostly they're dealing with sexual famine, indiscretions and scandal (the dead patriarch cheated sexually and financially before he croaked).
This show aspires to be a whimsical comedy about dramatic interiors. But "Brothers & Sisters" reminds me of daytime soap operas my grandma watched (all that melodramatic conflict) and teen comedies (unlikely scenarios that make people look awkward).
It's like "All My Children Eat American Pie."
"American Pie"? Yes. In the last episode, Sarah (Rachel Griffiths) and her man Joe (John Pyper-Ferguson) taped themselves doing it on the same videotape they were using to record a tribute for their mom's 60th birthday.
Sound dumb yet? Just you wait.
The sex tape was put on DVD and (whoops!) accidentally shown at the old mom's birthday party. (Gasp!) Joe couldn't find the darned "stop" button on the remote control. Evidently rich, successful people can't work DVD players.
This can only be an ABC show. Its sensibilities are feminine, which is great, though you get a lot of Calista Flockhart saying "Sex and the City" stuff such as "If my shoes could talk!"
But the music score never -- never! -- stops telescoping the feeling of a light and airy Halcion haze. It's the most cloying, pizzicato loop imaginable, as grating as the music in ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy." Why does this network think women can't watch scenes without awful music scores?
This heinous, horrible, hideous sound of synthesizers is also destroying the hard work of actors, directors, lighting technicians -- you name it. And this is no cast to waste: Sally Field, Griffiths, Flockhart, Ron Rifkin and on and on.
On the birthday episode, Marion Ross did a guest-acting part as the mother of the 60-year-old mom, Nora (Field). At first, Ross had to deliver the worst "All My Children Eat American Pie" dialogue, telling her gay grandson -- whom she didn't know was gay, of course -- that she'd date him if she were younger.
But after that, Ross was vulnerable in a scene where she cried and dug into truths of her character. She was remarkable. But her deep acting was masked by the constant hypnosis of bouncy little music, which is supposed to comfort the viewer, like: Oh, everything's going to be just fine -- and silly again! -- very soon.
Also, Rob Lowe has joined the cast. The onetime star of his own sex tape, he's now a solid actor, which clearly signals a coming apocalypse.
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