Brothers and Sistrrrs

While others are going ga ga over Heroes and the latest season of Battlestar Galactica (SPOILERS, AARRGH!!!) I have been experiencing an uncharacteristic lull in my television viewing habits, most probably due to [insert oblique Irishman reference here].

One show has managed to hook me though, ABC newbie, Brothers and Sisters.

I've already blathered on about how it stars Rachel and Sally and almost the entire cast of Alias, what I haven't said is how relentlessly sentimental it is. I love it. I don't know how but it manages to have me in tears despite its preposterously well-worn storylines.

Getting on my soapbox though, I have to say that Brothers and Sisters has one of the single most realistic portrayals of a gay relationship I have seen on the box. And when I say this, I am including both editions of QAF. I think what marks it apart is how interwoven the gay characters are into the fabric of the family. Yes, they are as cheesy as the rest of the bunch but there is a natural flow, something rings true about how they interact.

It is difficult to put a finger on exactly what they have done right here. There are some wonderful television shows where the main character is gay but there is no issue made of it and there are some wonderful shows where one of the ensemble characters is gay and everything is made of it (issues, issues, issues). I think where Brothers and Sisters succeeds is that there is the perfect level of issue taken with the homo-gaiety, about the same amount of issue that comes up in my everyday life.

And it is sweet. I love the exchange:

-"How did you get so cute?"
-"I was born this way, what's your excuse?"

In any respect it is a step up. I don't know if I would call it brave as much as I would call it refreshing. And damn watchable.

Tags: television, gay, queer