Berlanti Bands With 'Brothers'

Zap2It.com | August 15, 2006

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'Everwood' creator helping out on new ABC series

LOS ANGELES -- "Everwood" creator Greg Berlanti is stepping in, at least informally, to the showrunner void on ABC's new drama "Brothers & Sisters."

Berlanti, who signed a development deal with ABC and sister studio Touchstone TV earlier this month, has been working with the "Brothers & Sisters" writers for the past several days, following the departure of executive producer Marti Noxon. She left the show last week after reportedly clashing with creator Jon Robin Baitz over the show's direction.

Apparently that hasn't been an issue so far with Berlanti. "Everybody is thrilled about this collaboration," a Touchstone rep tells The Hollywood Reporter.

"Brothers & Sisters" is a family drama that has an all-star cast -- including Calista Flockhart ("Ally McBeal"), Rachel Griffiths ("Six Feet Under"), Oscar winner Sally Field and Ron Rifkin ("Alias") -- and a sweet timeslot following "Desperate Housewives" on Sunday nights in the fall. It also has, at least for the moment, the label of a Troubled Show.

The show has gone some fairly extensive recasting since shooting its pilot, with Field replacing Betty Buckley as the family's matriarch and a handful of other roles changing as well. Noxon came aboard as showrunner late in the development process but was there for only a couple of months.

Berlanti, meanwhile, signed with Touchstone in early August and has a couple of projects in development at the studio, including "Eli Stone," a drama about a lawyer who starts having visions and comes to believe he's a prophet. Berlanti is co-writing that script with his "Jack & Bobby" colleague Marc Guggenheim; he's also executive producing another drama about a wealthy family as seen through the eyes of their overworked attorney.