Sisters (American TV series)

Sisters
Created by	Ron Cowen Daniel Lipman
Starring	Swoosie Kurtz Sela Ward Patricia Kalember Julianne Phillips Elizabeth Hoffman Jo Anderson Sheila Kelley Robert Klein
Country of origin	USA
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	127
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	May 11, 1991 – May 4, 1996

Sisters is a television drama which aired on NBC for six seasons, from 1991 to 1996. The show debuted on May 11, 1991 for a seven-episode test run and was subsequently renewed for the 1991 fall schedule.

Synopsis

The show revolved around the Reed sisters, who lived in Winnetka, Illinois. Their recently deceased father, a doctor, had been absent and a workaholic, while their long-suffering mother had turned to alcoholism to cope with his neglect and affairs. Having always wanted sons, their father had called the girls by male versions of their full names: Alexandra was called Alex, Theodora was Teddy, Georgianna was Georgie and Francesca was Frankie.

For the first few seasons, each episode began with the sisters' weekly ritual of chatting while taking a steam bath together. During both the spring 1991 run and the full 1991-92 season, the opening credits ran in front of a steamed window as the camera slowly began to reveal the interior of the sauna. During the credits, the women were heard in the background chatting.

Although the opening sauna scenes remained at the start of every episode for a couple of years more, a more traditional opening sequence was given to Sisters as the 1992-93 season began. The new opening consisted of glossy, black-and-white filmed scenes of the sisters engaging in various activities, during both their childhood and adult years. Only the girls' hands and arms were seen as they played jumping jacks, signed a check, played the piano, typed on the computer, or in the case of another adulthood scene, had their spouse unzip their dress in a moment of intimacy. The credits faded in and out over these scenes. The final shot had the sisters piling their hands on top of each others as Sela Ward's Teddy can be heard saying "I love you guys". Again, the only soundtrack used for the opening was the sounds of the characters, but in the fall of 1993 it was finally joined by theme music, a cheery piano solo composed by John Debney. The sounds of the girls were still audible to an extent, as this version ran for the final three years of Sisters.

Another unique aspect of the show was that each episode featured a number of flashbacks, in which the characters would interact with their younger selves (played by younger actresses).

Although a drama with soap opera-style storylines, the show was also quirky and offbeat in the style of other shows at the time like Northern Exposure.

The show was created by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who went on to adapt Queer as Folk for the American market.

Main characters

Alexandra "Alex" Reed Halsey Barker (Swoosie Kurtz)

Eldest sister Alex was wealthy and somewhat superficial, but remained protective and close to her sisters. Her first marriage was to a wealthy, cross-dressing plastic surgeon (played by David Dukes). She later married Big Al (Robert Klein), an outlandish but likeable home appliance retailer who appeared in his own television commercials as "The Appliance King" and later went on to become mayor. She often clashed with her rebellious daughter Reed (played by three different actresses during the show's run: Kathy Wagner, Ashley Judd and Noelle Parker]). Alex suffered from breast cancer and then became a TV talk show host.

Theodora "Teddy" Reed (Sela Ward)

Free-spirited second sister Teddy was a fashion designer and recovering alcoholic. Early in the show, she was extremely upset at the marriage of her ex-husband Mitch (Ed Marinaro) to her sister Frankie. In the first season finale, she even attempted to break up their wedding in a drunken fit of jealousy by using a shotgun. Later, however, they became close friends. She had one daughter, Cat (Heather McAdam), whose major storyline was that she got raped while at college. Teddy had long-term relationships with several men, including British millionaire Simon Bolt (Mark Frankel), police detective Falconer (George Clooney) and Dr. Gabriel Sorenson (Stephen Collins).

Georgiana "Georgie" Reed Whitsig (Patricia Kalember)

The most level-headed and responsible sister, Georgie was a stay-at-home mom and off-and-on real estate agent. She was the most trusted confidant of her sisters. On the surface, she had a seemingly perfect domestic life with a loving if eccentric husband John (Garrett M. Brown) and two sons, Trevor (Ryan Francis) and Evan (Dustin Berkovitz). However, behind closed doors she faced domestic crises that included her son Evan, who battled leukemia, and Trevor, who became increasingly rebellious and ran away from home. The stress led her to seek professional help, and she fell under the spell of a corrupt therapist (played by Kalembar's real-life husband, Daniel Gerroll). He manipulated Georgie into humiliating John and having an adulterous affair, which eventually resulted in divorce. She even considered suicide at one point, but abandoned the idea after realizing how deeply the rest of her family would feel such a loss. Georgie's life stabilized as Evan's health improved and Trevor entered the military after putting his hostile and disruptive behavior behind him. Georgie at one point became a surrogate mother for her sister Frankie.

Francesca "Frankie" Reed Margolis (Julianne Phillips)

Youngest sister Frankie was a workaholic businesswoman who suffered from infertility. She married her sister Teddy's ex-husband Mitch and had a surrogate baby courtesy of her sister Georgie. She was also married to her career though, which put a strain on her relationship with Mitch. In the fourth season, Phillips left the show and the Frankie character moved to Japan for work, although she did return for the two-hour series finale.

Dr. Charlotte "Charley" Bennett Hayes

In 1994, the sisters discovered a fifth sister, a half-sister who was the love child of an affair the Reed father had had with another woman. This fifth sister, Charley Bennett (played initially by Jo Anderson and then by Sheila Kelley) was integrated into the storylines more and more, as Julianne Phillips decided to leave the show. A doctor, who opted to care for people who could not afford health care, she eventually decided to take in a teenage runaway named Jesse, and officially adopted him. Later, she married her colleague Dr. Hayes.

Beatrice Reed Ventnor (Elizabeth Hoffman)

The family matriarch, the sisters' mother suffered from alcoholism. She later married retired local judge Truman Ventnor, who suffered from Alzheimer's. She died in the series finale.

Final season

In the series final season, many things had changed: Georgie was divorced from John, went back to college, and fell in love with Brian (played by Joe Flanigan), a much younger student from school; Cat had decided to become a cop, while her mother, Teddy finally found happiness and married Dr. Gabriel Sorensen; Charley becoming more of a part of the family, and growing close to Beatrice; and Alex dealing with her returning daughter, the troublesome Reed, who had lost custody of her daughter. In the final episode, Georgie's college thesis on her sisters drove the sisters apart. Beatrice had a stroke, and Frankie rushed back to Winnetka. She arrived in time to say good-bye, and the five sisters watched as Beatrice died. Charley was made executor of Beatrice's will, causing Charley to feel awkward in regards to the situation and her sisters holding a slight grudge since she wasn't Beatrice's birth daughter. Finally, the sisters reconciled, and Teddy learned she was expecting a daughter. Frankie decided to move back home, and it looked as though John and Georgie had reconciled. Though, Alex, who had now assumed the position of family matriarch, and husband, Big Al departed for Tennessee, but promised that she would always be home for Christmas.

The last scene showed all five sisters walking into Beatrice's living room with a huge Christmas tree in the center of the room. All five sisters began seeing themselves as little girls around the Christmas tree with Beatrice's spirit looking warmly at them, assuring the sisters that as long as they kept the love alive among themselves as she did when she was alive that she would always be with them.

Famous guest stars

• George Clooney had a recurring role as Detective James Falconer in 1993-1994, just before going on to star in ER. His character dated Teddy after he investigated the rape of her daughter Cat.
• Ashley Judd starred as Alex's daughter Reed beginning in the fall of 1991 (replacing Kathy Wagner, who had originated the role of Reed in the spring seven-episode run), and continued in the role for the next three seasons. She left the show in 1994 to focus on her film career, after she won critical acclaim from starring in the film Ruby in Paradise.
• Actor Paul Rudd (from Friends and The 40-Year-Old Virgin) starred as Reed's husband, Kirby for the first two seasons.
• Actress Nora Dunn of Saturday Night Live had a recurring role as Alex's TV producer "Norma Lear" (a clear play on the name of famous real-life TV producer Norman Lear).
• 7th Heaven star Stephen Collins played Dr. Gabriel Sorenson in the final season.
• In the final season, Joe Flanigan (Stargate Atlantis) played Georgie's much-younger lover Brian, a student she met after returning to college.
• Eric Close (Santa Barbara/Without a Trace) played cop Billy Griffin during the sixth season.

Acclaim

The series received eight Emmy Award nominations over the course of its run, winning once, in 1994 for Sela Ward as Best Lead Actress. Swoosie Kurtz was also nominated twice in the Lead Actress Category.

External links

• Sisters at IMDb