Creator ousted from Brothers and Sisters

Jon Robin Baitz, the creator of ABC’s Brothers and Sisters, has been ousted by the show following ongoing behind-the-scenes creative differences.

In an extremely long personal statement posted online, Baitz details his disappointment, citing everything from creative decision-making to LA’s rejection of women.

An embittered Baitz says of the show, “I am no longer the SOURCE for any of it, no longer the instigator of plot, and no longer the voice of the thing. It is no longer in my dreams. I do not wake up and make notes about future episodes.

“I can no longer argue for tone and can only watch as the demographic demands that have turned America into an ageist and youth-obsessed nation drives the storylines younger and younger, whiter and whiter, and with less and less reflection of the real America, which is made up, to the sorrow of the research departments, of people over 35 years of age and of many ethnicities and incomes,” he writes.

“My parking space is now the Robbie Baitz Memorial Bike Park, named by one Rachel Griffiths, one of the most loyal and brilliantly committed actors and pains in the butt I have ever worked with.”

Baitz is returning to New York where he forged success as a playwright prior to his experiences in LA’s television cyclone, including for Alias and The West Wing. He remains an Executive Producer on Brothers and Sisters from a distance and hopes to be asked to write an occasional episode.

“I cannot help but dream about what my version of Brothers & Sisters would have looked like, had I been given the chance to try it my way (in an alternate universe). Perhaps not on a network, my version would fly. On Showtime or HBO or FX.

“A show that could simply hold on the aging and real face of Sally Field, and reflect the sorrow and rage there, and reflect the cold and funny sexuality of Patty Wettig’s Holly, the perfect reconstruction of the LA mistress. A show that would hold on the eyes of Ron Rifkin, and reflect the wisdom, joyous childishness and the melancholy. A show that could explore the lives of the low-income workers whose well-being depended on the fortunes of the family business, Ojai Foods.

“A show where we could have followed the youngest, prodigal son to Iraq, where he was wounded. Shown him there, in the field. Shown his fellow soldiers, dying. A show that allowed Calista Flockhart’s character to be actually truly political — still a commentator, fully articulate and unashamedly bitchy about what she knows and thinks she knows, and to be wrong as often as she is right. A show that allows her to be as smart and funny and comically mercurial as she really is. A show that would go even further in dealing with Kevin Walker’s internalized homophobia and his fear of contact with others. There is nothing that Matthew Rhys is afraid of, no wordplay gives him pause; he is capable of anything.

“A show that followed Rob Lowe’s black charm down the rabbit hole of American politics and revealed the ugliness that lives there. That followed Balthazar Getty in his father’s amoral American male footsteps, and allowed that actor’s virtues to shine more fully. It would show the quiet love that lives under the surface in a family, and unifies it just when pride and rage are tearing it apart. Even to speak about it, I would be shut down for trying to trade in angst — not something I am known for as a playwright, or a person. It would never underestimate the intelligence of the audience and their interest in adult life. A show that could go deeper into the complexity of modern sexuality, without shtick or cute-meet, or cutesy whimsical music, where the ‘Actual’ should be,” he writes.

His full essay is here.