GIVING AND RECEIVING SPERMS AT “BROTHERS AND SISTERS” NIGHTIME DRAMA

 

Last night’s episode of Brothers and Sisters (Episode 7 – Northern Exposure)  finally converted me as a follower of this nightime drama -  shown a few weeks back here in Melbourne. 

I am so impressed with the witty remarks and dialogues and the twist and turns of this seemingly familiar family events.  Husband and dad who is dead discovered to have a secret affair  and how his wife, Nora (Sally Field)   the sons and daughters (brothers and sisters)  and the extended family deal with the problems as brought about by this change. 

I feel at home watching this movie – as I emphatized with the currents of emotions while the siblings though living their own lives are still so much in touch with each other.

Well with the episode last night – it was all about sperms, sperms, sperms! 

The older brother Thommy  found out that his sperms are all dud thus he could not be a father much that he wanted to be. 

So he asked his gay brother Kevin to give or donate some of his sperms.   Kevin did not like the idea as this is like patronizing his role being the gay son.   He also held the notion that he does not want his child to experience the loneliness and alienation of being gay while growing up in an all-american family. 

Everyone disagrees with Kevin and Kitty (Calista Flockhart)  being a staunch republican and thus protector of the idea of an all time American family suprisingly  allied with him.  She still believes that in this case, the individual is much more important than the family.

Justin,  the youngest brother, offered his sperm but Thommy for no reasons at all did not want his straight brother’s sperm.  It appeard that he was more comfortable with his gay brother’s sperms being inseminated into his wife’s reproductive system. 

So it was all the judgement, prejudices and insecurities playing up within the members of the family – which came up wih a beautiful resolution at the end of this episode – to my delight – having Kevin and Justin both donating their sperms and mixing it so the identity of the father will never be known.

By the way – Sally Field (playing as mom) and and Dave Annable (younges son) are real life lovers.  Can you believe it?

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Brothers and Sisters is a compelling, new one-hour primetime drama from executive producers Ken Olin and playwright Jon Robin Baitz about the California-based Walker family. In the series, we meet a collection of incredibly intertwined and somewhat damaged adult siblings who embrace one another unconditionally while striving to reflect the perceived perfection of their role model parents. In the days ahead, they will navigate waves of temptation, deception and grief.

Brothers and Sisters follows the Walkers through the maze of American life today — the pressures, limitless options and the struggle to grow beyond our backgrounds into ourselves. Through these fascinating siblings — Sarah (Rachel Griffiths), the corporate VP struggling to balance motherhood with career; Tommy (Balthazar Getty), the loyal son and seeming heir to the family business; Kevin (Matthew Rhys), the gay lawyer cautiously learning about love; Justin (Dave Annable), the baby of the family, grappling with war trauma and addiction; and Kitty (Calista Flockhart), right-wing radio host turned TV pundit who has always been Daddy’s little girl — the show explores what it means to be a family in the 21st century, and how these brothers and sisters balance their own lives as they strive to accept their parents as people — flawed, contradictory and forgivable — rather than just as a father and mother.

The parents are Tom Skerritt as William Walker, the larger-than-life patriarch and president of the family business, and Sally Field as Nora Holden, the opinionated wife and mother to the five Walker siblings. Then there’s Ron Rifkin as Saul Holden, Nora’s brother and the company’s second in command; John Pyper-Ferguson as Sarah’s husband, Joe; Sarah Jane Morris as Tommy’s wife, Julia; and Patricia Wettig as the mystery woman who could bring the Walkers and their company down.

Brothers and Sisters stars Calista Flockhart (Ally McBeal) as Kitty, Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) as Sarah, Sally Field (Norman Rae) as Nora Holden, Ron Rifkin (Alias) as Saul Holden, Patricia Wettig (thirtysomething) as Holly, Balthazar Getty (Alias) as Thomas, Dave Annable (Reunion) as Justin, Matthew Rhys (Titus, Love and other Disasters) as Kevin, John Pyper-Ferguson (Unforgiven, Nightstalker) as Joe, Sarah Jane Morris (Felicity) as Julia, Emily VanCamp (Everwood) as Rebecca Harper and Kerris Lilla Dorsey as Paige.

Ken Olin (Alias, thirtysomething), Jon Robin Baitz (The Substance of Fire, The West Wing) and Greg Berlanti (Everwood) are executive producers. The series is produced by Touchstone Television.

BEING UGLY IS NOT SO FUNNY!

BUT UGLY BETTY IS !!!

Last night’s pilot episode of Ugly Betty was so hilarious – I nearly died of laughing!  What’s so funny about UB is that Betty is not that ugly at all!  

What is sooo funny is that she knows that she is not a glamour (fashionable) kind of a girl.  It is her tried persistence,  audacity and pure confidence to smile with her braces, bushy eyebrows,  unkempt hairdo and really ugly outfits, even in a crowd of offensively bitchy fashionistas. 

Like she got ”who cares or what if I am ugly!”  kind of attitude – drawing a lot of attention!  I love her fighting spirit – bordering on comedy, but not trying hard!

What really made me laugh was when she presented herself like a small boy in a superman or spidey costume with brave confidence wearing (a not so Sex in the city) poncho outfit on her first day of work!  And the scene where she suddenly appeared with that (not so sexy) sex-bomb outfit, without even having her face done!   OMG! I just love this sense of humour!

Anyway, I am so looking forward to the usual peaceful and quiet Sunday night!  For Ugly Betty will surely make me hysterically mad!

I bet she will be a new icon for the drag queens out there – for some comice relief !!!

GOODBYE WILMA !

I have to cancel some of my appointments in order to watch the last episode of Will and Grace last night in the Australian television.   I have heard comments from the Joy Melbourne radio station that the finale is a disappointment – but I managed to maintain an open mind while watching, not to spoil the fun!

Will Grace and Will raise a child together and find ultimate happiness?

I think that was the question that was answered in the end.   And you have to watch this in order to put an end into this long running tv sitcom that first hit our screed in 1998.  

What I really love about  W&G is that it treats homosexuals as normal humans and put an end to stereotypes.   And it never fails to  bring amusement and laughter into some of my really boring layback nights.

My favorite of them all are Karen (Megan Mullaly) and Jack (Sean Hayes)!   I love the duet made by this two in this last episode!  Can you imagine?

 

ARRIANE CAOILI: DANCING WITH A SCAR!

My Tuesday nights are filled with excitement because I am watching Arianne and Carmelo do the Cha-cha, the Tango and the Rumba and I always jump for joy everytime she qualifies to next episode!  Really I adore her – being a proud Filipina (part) origin and she has a very close resemblance to my very close friend Grace – which i find very amusing!  

Last night was a very disappointing and unsettling episode for out of the blue – one of the judges, Todd McKenney,  jumped unto Arianne like a wild crazy cat on high heat and effectively called her a liar!  Three times!  On live national television!  

Well, I was shocked for it appeared like some sort of a public humiliation – an uncalled for “outing” or scandal sort of stuff.   It was very funny that on the second set of dancing, Arriane did a dramatic throwing of water thingy to Carmelo - not realizing that she would be getting wet after the show.

I’m not saying this because I am diehard fan of Arriane.  What is wrong with that!  It is good to support some “pseudo- kababayan” when they surely are worthy of it!  Any non supporter of Arriane surely found Todd’s action a little bit harsh and mean.  And Arianne although I have not heard of her before this contest,  appears to be a very nice and agreeable sort of a person.   She even avoided talking back to the judges even if their comments or criticisms were sometimes ridiculous or unthikable!   Like how would you show emotional connection in dancing ?? – that is a bit a personal perception that varies from one person to person.

Last night was an exception though,  when Todd all of sudden asked her if she had some formal dance training before – she said “No, I did not have, Tood”.  Todd in his very straightforward and condescending manner said that “No,  I do not believe you Arriane, not in a million years!”.   Carmelo, Arianne’s dancing partner,  who was also shocked by this allegation, defended her by saying “Arianne did not have some formal training. And she only knew a little bit of dancing when I met her”.  Arianne sensing that she was being accused of lying said “I do not have any dance training – How could I squeeze dance training when I am busy with my chess lessons 12 hours a day!”.   Again Todd said ” I don’t believe you! You’re dancing is very boring and you have not really shown any improvement at all”.  This was when it became very ugly and  there were a lot of booing from the audience, disagreeing from the ugly comments  of Todd.

For sure, Todd has an ulterior motive why he dropped that “bomb” at this later part of the show.  If indeed Arriane had some formal training in the past, as anyone would have (Beck Wright, Nikki, Miss Universe, etc),  she is still not a professional dancer!   And I have seen her improved her dancing skills since the first episode.  What’s Todd’s point?  

I honestly felt that there was something fishy going on with the judges.  Tamsyn who was really showing excellent performance was given a lower score compared to Kouta.  Was there favoritism?  And with what happened to Arrianne – I sensed some “racism” in the air?  But that is a bit reading too much!

I hope that Arriane will win in this contest.  She would definitely learn a lot of lessons (lesions) out of this and dancing with the stars would be dancing with a scar after this. 

Well, she is still the winner for me anyway no matter what!

GAY’S ANATOMY

Last night’s Episode 27 of Grey’s Anatomy (last of Series 2 this season) was really touching in a sort of a way.   I am beginning to appreciate Izzie.   That scene where she wants to hold and stay with Denny who just died of blood clot (his new heart was rejected by his body),  was really done in “class” -  not too soapy and trying hard to make the viewers cry a bucket.  But the right nuances were there.  Very heartwrenching, yes,  but not too much.  I wish that she is going to stay somehow in the next series,  although in this one she clearly quits from the program.

And I honestly loathe Meredith’s character in this series! 

Of course, T.R. Knight’s coming out recently brings George’s character in a smog light.   I honestly could not help myself from really observing his acting – hoping he’d slip in some of the scenes.   :)  But I remembered noting even at the start of this show that there was something different about George (TR Knight).  I was not sure then.  I am just amazed how some actor’s real life character could somehow affect the image of the characters they are portraying!