CS Weekly Archive > DVD > 09/21/07

Banality & Sentimentality

by jason davis

Brothers and Sisters: The Complete First Season

Jon Robin Baitz, Greg Berlanti, Monica Breen, Peter Calloway, Sherri Cooper, David Marshall Grant, Marc Guggenheim, Jessica Mecklenburg, Molly Newman, Marti Noxon, Cliff Olin, Allison Schapker, Emily Whitesell, and Craig Wright
Created by Jon Robin Baitz

When William Walker (Tom Skerritt) unexpectedly dies, he leaves his wife, Nora (Sally Field), and their five adult children with a mess of television clichés to clean up, ranging from embezzlement from the family business to a mistress (Patricia Wettig) with even more shocks. Though characters like the rebellious, ultra-conservative Kitty (Calista Flockhart) and drug-addicted Iraq War veteran Justin (David Annable) are the right ingredients for a relationship drama, the narrative recipes served up by creator Jon Robin Baitz and showrunner Greg Berlanti were ripe in the '70s and rotted today. Each teaser telegraphs every plot point for the entire hour, and viewers can practically deliver the lines along with the characters on the first viewing. Despite the lack of imagination exhibited in plotting the series, the supplemental features present an informative look at the development of the concept. A commentary from Baitz outlines several key modifications to the format, while a making-of featurette hints at earlier notions abandoned in development. Most astonishing is a complete "deleted episode" that was originally intended to air second. Perhaps the fact that its absence is barely noticeable is the show's greatest condemnation.

Brothers and Sisters: The Complete First Season
Buena Vista Home Entertainment/Touchstone
Not rated; 988 min.
$59.99

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Jason Davis has been the DVD Manager for CS Weekly , has been a contributing editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and has written for Cinescape.com, MSN.com, and created the TV series Studio 13, which ran on Lorne Michaels' Burly TV network. He lives in the small space left over by his ever-expanding library of books, movies, and music.

Brothers and Sisters: The Complete First Season courtesy Buena Vista Home Entertainment/Touchstone

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