Summer Week 14 Sitcom Ratings; Blog DVD Review: Brothers & Sisters - The Complete Third Season (9/1)

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Summer Week 14 Sitcom Ratings; Blog DVD Review: Brothers & Sisters - The Complete Third Season (9/1)

Summer is winding down and everything is still pretty light. We will be back with our normal weekly report in less than a month with the first four nights numbers and analysis for the fall, but we still will have our regular how the sitcoms did for the remainder of the summer! Here are our summer ratings:

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of August 17-23)

Til Death (Fox) - A repeat at 7pm did 2.44 million...up a lot week-to-week.
The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - We got double dose of repeats this week with the regular 8pm airing getting 4.18 million, down from previous week. A repeat at 8:30pm did better with 4.71 million.
King of the Hill (Fox) - preempted.
Family Guy (Fox) - A regular repeat at 9pm did 5.17 million.
American Dad! (Fox) 2 episodes - Only 3.97 million for a repeat at 9:30pm. Special repeat at 7:30pm did 2.46 million.

Summer Week 14 (August 24-30)

Monday Sitcoms

How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 2 episodes - 5.36 million for a repeat airing in its normal 8pm slot, up over a million from previous week. 1.9 A18-49 rating was up half a rating point from the previous week...nice. A repeat at 8:30pm did 5.65 million and a 2.2 A18-49 rating, both way up from previous week.
Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 9.55 million for a repeat, up a million from previous week. 2.9 A18-49 rating was up nearly a half a point from previous week.
The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 8.56 million for a repeat is up a half a million from previous week. 2.9 18-49 rating is excellent for repeats, up a bit previous week.

Tuesday Sitcoms

None.

Wednesday Sitcoms

Old Christine (CBS) - preempted for Ted Kennedy special.
Gary Unmarried (CBS) - preempted for Ted Kennedy special.

Thursday Sitcoms

The Office (NBC) - 3.97 million for a repeat at 9pm...up a lot from previous week, maybe a summer repeat high for this summer.
30 Rock (NBC) 2 episodes - 3.49 and 3.1 million for repeats at 8 and 9:30pm...8pm did better than previous week again, while 9:30pm was basically on par again.
Parks & Recreation (NBC) - A repeat did just 2.84 million at 8:30pm...the lowest of the sitcom repeats again, but up some from previous week's repeat.

Friday Sitcoms

Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - A repeat at 9pm did a prelim 1.45 million. That was up from previous week's prelim numbers. Keep in mind it can change drastically in the final ratings.
The Game (The CW) - A repeat did a prelim 1.48 million, also up from previous week's prelim numbers. As with the lead-in, final ratings can change drastically. Stay with us on our message board for final ratings.

Saturday Sitcoms

None.

Tonight you can catch encores of Fox's 'Til Death and animated comedies from 7-10pm. Elsewhere ABC has a new Shark Tank at 9pm and an all-new episode of drama Defying Gravity at 10pm. CBS has 60 Minutes & Big Brother followed by a new episode of There Goes the Neighborhood at 9pm, while NBC will have Dateline at 7pm, followed by NFL preseason football at 8pm. The CW has the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards with red carpet at 7pm and the actual awards starting at 8pm.

It is time for a special Sunday edition of the "Blog DVD Review." Today we we take a look at ABC Studios' Brothers and Sisters: The Complete Third Season. Brothers and Sisters is of course the current ABC Sunday family drama starring Calista Flockhart and Sally Field. The show follows the Walker family, with the ups and downs of running a family business. This show is so great and even funny. See my Blog DVD Review of Brothers and Sisters: The Complete Third Season:

Brothers and Sisters: The Complete Third Season (ABC Studios, $59.99) brings all 24 heartwarming episodes of the third season of the hit family drama on DVD! Take a fascinating look at a complex American family much like your own as you witness the loves, the losses and the personal triumphs of the Walker clan. Their differences make them human and their bond makes them family. The series airs Sundays at 10PM on ABC and stars Calista Flockhart as Kitty Walker, Sally Field as Nora Walker, Rachel Griffiths as Sarah Walker Whedon, Ron Rifkin as Uncle Saul Holden, Balthazar Getty as Tommy Walker, Matthew Rhys as Kevin Walker, Dave Annabale as Justin Walker, Sarah Jane Morris as Julia, Emily VanCamp as Rebecca Harper, Luke Macfarlane as Scotty, with Rob Lowe as Senator Robert McCallister, and Patrica Wettig as Holly Harper. Recurring are Kerris Dorsey as Paige Whedon, Maxwell Perry Cotton as Cooper Whedon, Ken Olin as David, Eric Christian Olsen as Kyle DeWitt, Will McCormack as Ethan Travis, and Luke Grimes as Ryan Lafferty. With special guest star Tom Skeritt as William Walker. Other guest stars include Mitch Pileggi, David Andrews, Dave Foley, Steven Weber, Nigel Havers, Regis & Kelly, Sonja Sohn, Matt Letscher, Jason Lewis, and Cristian de la Fuente.

This third season is very good. When the Walkers get together for a family dinner or any event all together it makes for great television. Some classic episodes include the season premiere "Glass Houses," Kevin gets access to his boss's beach house, he wants to spend a romantic weekend for two with Scotty, but the entire family accidentally butts in and havoc breaks, as always. In "Bakersfield," Nora and Kitty go to Bakersfield, where they meet with George Lafferty, but it doesn't go as planned. In "Just a Sliver," baby Elizabeth needs a liver transplant and with moral support of Scotty and Rebecca respectively, Kevin and Justin both get tested for paternity in order to save her. In "It's Not Easy Being Green," Sarah throws a party for the launch of Greenatopia, while Justin becomes a sponsor to an attractive girl to the dismay of Rebecca, and at the Greenatopia party, Ethan has a shocking revelation for Sarah, as she, Nora and Rebecca each face temptations. In "Lost & Found," Nora invites Ryan to her house, while Holly discovers what Tommy's been up to and the ownership he has in Ojai Foods. In the two-hour movie event titled "Troubled Waters," the Walker family experiences the thrill of a new life born and the desperation and terror of loss when one of their own has a life-threatening crisis. In the very fun episode "Spring Broken," Kevin and Justin take Tommy on a getaway to help him make a decision about his legal future. In "S3X", the Walkers keep up hope that Tommy will return home when Holly considers dropping the charges, meanwhile Sarah makes yet another major career change, Kitty questions whether or not her marriage will survive, and Kevin and Scotty consider a surprising proposal from Chad (guest starring Jason Lewis). And finally in the season finale, "Mexico," the Walker family reaches out to Tommy, they're devastated to find that he may be unwilling to accept their help. Those episodes really stand out, but they are all very good I think and make for a great TV drama.

The episodes run usually in the 42-43 minute range (with a few at 42 or under 42 a bit)...unedited of course. There are about 8 chapter stops per episode. The video is digitally mastered and is in widescreen and looks very good! The audio is great and sounds very good, as it is in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. This is from the 2008-09 season, so it has to be good. The two-hour movie is presented as two separate episodes as part one and two, which is fine.

Packaging has a nice red/orange outer box with headshots of the main cast on a tree on the front cover...the back cover has information on the series & set and has three screen shots. There is also a section detailing the special features in an orange box with technical specifications also. Inside the box is a digipak case. The front of the digipak has a cast photo with nearly everyone holding a wine glass. The back of the digipak has the start of a nice cast photo of Saul, Justin, Nora and Rebecca. Opening the case once, we get a pocket on the left that holds inserts and also a disc-by-disc breakdown on the left panel itself. On the right panel we have a continuation of that cast photo, this time of Kevin, Sarah & Holly. The pocket holds inserts for other ABC Studios products and Blu-ray. We don't get an episode booklet this time. Last set had that nice family recipe cards. Opening the case once more, we get discs one and two in the middle, with the cast photo continuing, this time of Tommy, Julia, Kitty, Robert & Scotty. Opening it one final time, now we see discs three and four, and discs five and six on the far right. The discs overlap, like most ABC Studio DVDs. Each disc is in red/orange color like the color scheme of the set and has artwork of two characters per disc. Disc one has episodes 1-4 with artwork of Robert & Kitty. Disc two has episodes 5-8 and has artwork of Nora & Saul. Disc three has episodes 9-12 and has artwork of rivals Sarah & Holly. Disc four has episodes 13-16 and has artwork of Kevin & Scotty. Disc five holds episodes 17-20 with artwork of Rebecca & Justin. And finally disc six holds episodes 21-24 and has artwork of Tommy & Julia. After you remove the discs, you see nice promotional photos on the panels itself...very cool.

The menu screen starts by showing us little video clips inside of wine glasses before we get to the main menu with the wine glass in the middle. The closing theme is playing in the background. It is really neat once again. On disc one only, before the main menu we have auto trailers for DVDs of ABC TV on DVD, Desperate Housewives, The Proposal and Blu-ray DVD. The options on the main menu are Play All, Episode Selection, Bonus Features, Set Up, and Sneak Peeks. Sneak Peeks is just on disc six. Set Up section has the option of subtitles in English, French, Spanish or Chinese and how to register your DVD. Before everything on each disc, you'll get this option as well for languages. Bonus Features are on each disc and evenly spread. The Episodes option gives us the episode number and title to choose along with a screenshot from the episode.

Moving on to the bonus features. Each disc has deleted scenes for episodes from that disc. I like that instead of having them all on one disc. Disc one has three deleted scenes running 0:54, 1:46 and 0:28. Disc two has four deleted scenes running 0:19, 0:35, 1:16, 0:33. Disc three has two deleted scenes running 2:13 and 0:13. Disc four has three deleted scenes running 0:29, 2:05, and 0:43. Disc five has three more deleted scenes running 0:58, 0:22 and 2:04. And finally disc six has four more deleted scenes running 1:18, 0:40, 0:28, and 0:55. Wow, so that is a total of 19 deleted scenes!

As far as featurettes, disc one has "The Ojai Experience." This runs 12:42 and has cast members going to an acual family winery in Ojai, CA. The cast and crew that were were Sparky Hawes (co-producer), Ron Rifkin, Ken Olin, Matthew Rhys, Dave Annable, and Patricia Wettig. Disc two has a featurette called "In-Between Scenes." This runs 6:33 and we get to see what they do in between scenes as there are a lot of jokes and practical jokes being done. Interviewed are David Marshall Grant (writer/producer), Dave Annable, Scott Scherick (Assistant to Annable), Michael Foley (writer/producer), Matthew Rhys, and Dave Foley. On disc three we have a featurette called "The Mothers of Brothers & Sisters." This runs 10:16 and is about all the mothers on the show and off the show as well with cast and crew. This is a tribute to all moms out there! Interviewed are Rob Lowe, Sarah Jane Morris, Luke MacFarlane, Sarah Caplan (exec producer), Matthew Rhys, Emily VanCamp, Sally Field, Dave Annable, Michael Morris (supervising producer), Balthazar Getty, Ken Olin, Patricia Wettig, Rachel Griffiths, Sparky Hawes, Elysse Applebaum (assistant), Judy Daly Torres (craft services), Denny Dugally (production designer), Ellis Janes (best boy grip), Adria Badagnani (set decorator coordinator), Cole Fowler (assistant), Darlene Brumfield (hair dept. head), Nathan Bishop (production assistant), Alison Schapker (executive producer/showrunner), Kerry Blackman (assistant editor), Eric LaBonte (set dresser).

Disc four has audio commentary on part one of "Troubled Waters" by executive producer Monica Owusu-Breen and actors Matthew Rhys (Kevin) and Rob Lowe (Robert). The trio return for part two on disc five for "Troubled Waters" as well! This is very informative to listen to and see all the tidbits on how Rob Lowe did the heart attack scene and more. Very cool! The final audio commentary is on disc six for the episode "Mexico," which was the season finale, of course. Executive producer Monica Owusu-Breen this time is joined by Ken Olin (David/executive producer) and Alison Schapker (writer/exec producer). They also give great details on this episode. Listen and see! We finally have 5:03 worth of Bloopers & Outtakes. Very fun to watch always and a bit longer than last year.

I highly recommend this series and set. It is such a well written and acted show. Sally Field and Rachel Griffiths have been nominated already, but Rob Lowe and Calista Flockhart deserved nominations this year also. I look forward to it every Sunday on ABC and can't wait until the fourth season starts on Sept. 27. Last time I suggest they release the DVD on the same day as Desperate Housewives, and they did this time! So you ca catch up in time for the Sept. 27 season premiere if you missed any episodes. Don't go all the way to Baja or Bakersfield to buy this DVD because you can just click below to order and you can gather your family and watch the Walker family on your TVs! Your family can't be as wild I hope?

-- Reviewed by Pavan