Sons & Daughters (2006– )

The zany and slightly troubled members of a family try to make it through life as comedy ensues. In the center of the mess is Cameron, who is happily married to second wife Liz, with three ... See full summary »

Creators:

Fred Goss, Nick Holly

Stars:

Fred Goss, Gillian Vigman, Jerry Lambert

Cast

Series cast summary:
Fred Goss	...	Cameron Walker (11 episodes, 2006-2007)
Gillian Vigman	...	Liz Walker (11 episodes, 2006-2007)
Jerry Lambert	...	Don Fenton (11 episodes, 2006-2007)
Alison Quinn	...	Sharon Fenton (11 episodes, 2006-2007)
Dee Wallace	...	Colleen Halbert (11 episodes, 2006-2007)
Amanda Walsh	...	Jenna Halbert (11 episodes, 2006-2007)
Eden Sher	...	Carrie Fenton (11 episodes, 2006-2007)
Randy Wayne	...	Jeff Fenton (11 episodes, 2006-2007)
Max Gail	...	Wendal Halbert (10 episodes, 2006-2007)
Greg Pitts	...	Tommy 'Whitey' White (10 episodes, 2006-2007)
Trevor Einhorn	...	Henry Walker (10 episodes, 2006-2007)
Desmond Harrington	...	Wylie Blake (9 episodes, 2006-2007)
Noah Matthews	...	Ezra Walker (9 episodes, 2006-2007)
Nick Shafer	...	Danny Halbert (9 episodes, 2006-2007)

Storyline

The zany and slightly troubled members of a family try to make it through life as comedy ensues. In the center of the mess is Cameron, who is happily married to second wife Liz, with three children. Cameron's teenage son from his first marriage has officially moved in-and has a little-well, a lot-of trouble becoming comfortable in the new environment. Cameron's sister Sharon seems to have the perfect life-although her husband, Don, are both in denial about their sex-less marriage. Then there's Jenna, the gorgeous little half-sister who had her life shook when she became a single mother. Jenna doesn't really know what's good for her, and she always goes for the bad boys like Tommy White, while the nice guys like Wylie Blake love her. Equally problem-filled Colleen and Wendal, the parents of the siblings, try to keep their family in order...somehow. Colleen, though, is admittedly uptight and impulsively judgmental. Even though they're all a little nuts, the Halbert family hangs in there...

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Plot Keywords:

cult tv

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

ABC

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 March 2006 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Altadena, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Broadway Video, NBC Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

13 Episodes were made but only 12 aired.

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Quotes

Sharon Fenton: I was gonna name you PonyBoy, but then the epidural wore off so I named you Jeff, because it's sporty.

User Reviews

A brilliant show that wont last

When this show first started it had the rather lofty legacy left by Arrested Development to live up to, due to various comparisons made by TV critics. This proved fairly unfortunate considering the die hard fan base that surrounds Arrested Development, but at the same time it is not altogether unexpected.

Certainly the two shows bare many similarities. Both are about comical situations that arise from immediate and extended family relationships, and both have a large ensemble cast. Character roles are also very similar between the two shows, Don the struggling actor uncle is much like Tobius the struggling actor uncle, Carrie the sarcastic teen far more mature than her two parents is much like Maeby Funke, Henry the awkward teenager resembles George Michael, and in the center Cameron is relied upon to hold his family together much the same as Micheal Bluth did.

However, that being said co creators Fred Goss and Nick Holly still manage to create a show where every character feels original, realistic and sympathetic. The absurdity of the situation never outshines the emotions of the people within that situation, the humour of an episode never eclipses importance of the relationships between the members of the Walker and Fenton family.

The partially improvised scripting helps this show break away from the normal verbal patterns witnessed in other sit coms, where its generally just examples of feed line, punch line, pause for laughter, feed line, punch line pause for laughter, repeat ad nausea. instead their dialog flows more naturally, overlapping, stuttering and fumbling. Somehow it's truthful, relatable and still very funny.

As the first season nears its end it saddens me to think these characters probably wont be returning to TV screens, due to fairly poor ratings. 11 episodes is barely a blip on the radar for most shows, and its not nearly sufficient in the case of these characters who have so many more stories to tell and so much more history to reveal. If there's any justice in the world we will be seeing much more of Sons & Daughters, but unfortunately we live in a world where American Idol is the most watched show on TV, so justice clearly went out the window.