Review: Brothers & Sisters (ABC)

There is so much good tv on this season, that I am afraid once the Fall lineup goes into full force I will never be leaving the house. Last night was the Season opener for Desperate Housewives, and while there were some funny spots, I was mosty very underwhelmed with the episode. I am sure things will get going after a few episodes, but last night was slightly disappointing. Eva Longoria's hair was a hair don't. Go back to dark hair please. Following DH in Grey's old timeslot is a new show called Brothers & Sisters. I was never in a state of mind where I was like, "OH MY GOD, I CAN'T wait for this show". After seeing last night's episode I came away surprised that I liked the show. It follows the lives of a family that have more in common with regular families than I have seen in a while. In true mother daughter fashion there is a very strained relationship between Sally Field's character and Calista Flockheart's but we aren't really sure why. A brother who has come back from the war in Afghanistan who seems to have a crack in him. A gay brother, who is single and works a lot. I have heard of gay critics saying that this is one of the more boring gay characters out there. You know what, as a gay man, this character is not very far from me and a lot of my friends. It seems that if the gay isn't there providing comic relief Jack McFarland style then he isn't being representative of the gay population. I am tired of the same gay stereotypes being portrayed on TV. They are pissed when there aren't enough gay characters, and then they are pissed because the character who isn't blatantly a homo. Then you have another daughter whose marriage is not stable and could possibly had an affair at a former job. To round it out, the dad has been embezzling money from pension funds and has a mysterious blonde woman in his office the day before he dies of a heart attack exclaiming she can't pay her bills. I like what I have seen of this show, because they are portraying actual family drama that happens in real life, and I am hoping that ABC doesn't cancel it after 3 episodes.