Brothers and Sisters: The Complete First Season

Veteran TV star Sally Field recently won an Emmy for her outstanding work in this much-acclaimed series, one of the few 2006-07 shows to find favor with critics and viewers alike. An ensemble drama with a uniformly terrific cast, Brothers and Sisters stars Field as Nora Walker, strong-willed matriarch of a family that includes father William (Tom Skerritt) and five grown children: political pundit Kitty (Calista Flockhart), working mother Sarah (Rachel Griffiths), loyal scion Tommy (Balthazar Getty), drug-addicted veteran Justin (Dave Annable), and gay lawyer Kevin (Matthew Rhys). Other key characters include Kitty's boyfriend Robert McAllister (Rob Lowe), a U.S. senator with presidential aspirations, and Nora's brother Saul (Ron Rifkin), a junior partner in the Walker family business. The complex storylines are character-driven, and the dynamic (and sometimes contentious) interactions between family members are presented with crisp, pungent dialogue. DVD extras include four audio commentaries, an entire deleted episode, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a blooper reel. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)