Anita W. Addison Movies

The sixth and final season of Sisters opens with the series' 100th episode, in which longtime regular Julianne Phillips is conspicuous by her absence. To compensate for Phillips' departure, the writers explain that her character, Frankie Reed, has left her hometown of Winnetka to pursue new business opportunities in Japan. However, Frankie's siblings, Alex (Swoosie Kurtz), Georgie (Patricia Kalember), and Teddy (Sela Ward), are still very much in evidence -- as is the ladies' half-sister, Dr. Charlotte "Charley" Bennett, played in previous seasons by Jo Anderson and now portrayed by Sheila Kelley. This season marks the first appearance of Noelle Parker as Alex's daughter, Reed, a role previously filled by Kathy Wagner and Ashley Judd. Returning to Winnetka minus her husband and her baby, the restless Reed adds to the already heavy emotional burdens of her family by setting up a local prostitution business! Elsewhere, Alex, who has held down a popular TV show for the last few seasons, endeavors to help her lesbian producer, Norma (Nora Dunn), regain custody of her daughter; she also endures a lengthy menopause, and survives an involuntary on-the-air teaming with compative newspaperman Pug Finnegan (Bruce Weitz).

Meanwhile, the newly divorced Georgie has an affair with Brian Cordovas (Joe Flanigan) and finds time to get a graduate college degree, writing her master's thesis on the lives of herself and her sisters (though she prudently agrees not to publish it). Georgie's son Trevor (Ryan Francis), back home from the army, has a lot of trouble adjusting himself to Brian. Having recovered from her brutal rape two seasons earlier, Teddy's daughter, Cat (Heather McAdam), has decided to become a police officer, ending up as the only woman in her cadet class. Growing close to fellow cadet Billy Griffin (Eric Close), Cat tries to help him with his problems vis-à-vis his ex-convict father. Later, Cat's cousin Reed is arrested and her prostitution business broken up, and Reed bitterly holds Cat responsible for ratting her out -- but changes her mind, and her outlook on life, when she is sentenced to community service. And in another development, Cat personally hunts down the carjacker who attacked and nearly killed her mother, Teddy. It is during her recovery from this attack that Teddy falls in love with Dr. Gabriel Sorenson (Stephen Collins), who saved her life. Although she worries about making a full-term commitment to Sorenson upon learning that his daughter, Melissa (Anne Tremko), has a drinking problem, Teddy marries Sorenson, and later saves his career when he is unfairly accused of malpractice -- and, almost as an afterthought, Teddy becomes pregnant again. In the series' final episode, the sisters' mother, Bea (Elizabeth Hoffman), dies of heart failure -- and is everyone in for a surprise when they find out who has been named executor of Bea's will! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

At the end of Sisters' fourth season, Alex Reed (Swoosie Kurtz), oldest of the Reed sisters of Winnetka, was patiently awaiting the release of her new husband, Big Al Barker (Robert Klein), who'd been jailed on a phony tax-fraud charge; Alex's younger sister, Teddy (Sela Ward), had become the bride of Detective James Falconer (George Clooney), who'd been investigating the rape of Teddy's daughter, Cat (Heather McAdam); and Alex, Teddy, and their other siblings Frankie (Julianne Phillips) and Georgie (Patricia Kalember) were trying to reconcile themselves to the discovery that they had a half-sister named Charley (Jo Anderson), the result of a three-decade affair between their late father and his trusted nurse. Season five begins on a tragic note, as Falconer is killed by a booby-trapped car. The only witness to the crime is wife Teddy, who is suffering from hysterical blindness. She eventually regains her sight, but the loss of her husband after only a few hours of wedded bliss has caused her to start drinking again -- whereupon Cat desperately tries to convince her mom to pull herself together. Only when Teddy almost causes the death of her nephew Evan (Dustin Berkovitz) does she come to her senses.

Later in the season, Teddy takes it upon herself to bring her husband's murderer, heroin smuggler Daniel Albright (Gregory Harrison), to justice; she also has an awkward meeting with Jack Chambers (Philip Casnoff), who received Falconer's heart in a transplant operation. Meanwhile, Big Al is paroled from prison when he rescues the governor's wife from drowning, and subsequently runs for mayor of Winnetka -- and wins. When Big Al suffers a mild heart attack, Alex takes over his duties, thereby increasing a workload that has already been intensified by her decision to care for Rosie (Kathryn Zaremba), the daughter of a terminally ill woman (Caroline McWilliams). Elsewhere, Alex's sister Georgie, not fully recovered from the personal problems that weighed her down in the previous season, begins her therapy sessions with smooth-talking shrink Dr. David Caspian (Daniel Gerroll). Not only does Caspian advise Georgie to "divorce" herself from her family, but he also plants the idea that her father molested her years earlier. Before long, Caspian's ulterior motives become crystal clear to everyone by Georgie -- he wants to get her away from her husband, John (Garrett M. Brown), and into his own bed. After she is seduced by Caspian, Georgie dutifully leaves John, only to have Caspian callously inform her that sex was merely a part of his therapy and that he doesn't love her. Also, newly divorced Frankie begins managing Lucky (John Wesley Shipp), a prizefighter whom she has inherited from her first customer when she'd been a marketing analyst. After a brief romantic fling with Lucky, Frankie leaves him (and the series) to head off to Japan on a new business venture, the world-wide promotion of a children's character named Cowletta the Cow. As for Lucky, he hires on as bodyguard for Daniel Albright as part of the sisters' plans to make Albright pay for Falconer's murder. In other developments, Charley is tentatively accepted into the Reed family during Thanksgiving dinner; with Bea's blessing, Alex assists in Truman's suicide, leading her to be put on trial for murder; and Caspian extends his sexual misconduct to another of the Reed sisters. The season ends with a fantasy episode, wherein everyone's dreams (briefly) come true on the enchanted island of Villa Esperanza. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season three of Sisters begins as Alex (Swoosie Kurtz), the oldest of Winnetka's Reed sisters, insists upon micro-managing the marriage between her widowed mom, Bea (Elizabeth Hoffman), and Judge Truman Ventnor (Philip Sterling). Fed up with her daughter's interference, Bea decides to elope with Truman, causing Alex to throw one of her many hissy fits. Another angry outburst results when Alex finds out that her daughter, Reed (Ashley Judd), has quit college to marry Kirby Philby (Paul S. Rudd). Likewise, Alex expresses jealousy over the unexpected business success of her younger sister, Teddy (Sela Ward), leading to a knock-down, drag-out wrestling match between the two siblings! This is the season that Teddy meets eccentric millionaire Simon Bolt (Mark Frankel), who expresses his fondness for Teddy by investing heavily in her undergarment company; he also donates lots of money to the local leukemia fund on behalf of Teddy's nephew Evan (Dustin Berkovitz). But Teddy is too independent -- and too much the loose cannon -- to adapt to Simon's sumptuous lifestyle; nor is she much of a diplomat business-wise, as proven when she throws a pie at a fashion columnist who has given her a bad review. Throughout the rest of the season, Teddy will alternately break up and reconcile with Simon, at one point accepting his marriage proposal...for a while, anyway. Meanwhile, Teddy's troubled daughter, Cat (Heather McAdam), is showing signs of developing into a problem drinker like her mother and grandmother.

On a more upbeat note, Evan and Trevor (Ryan Francis), the sons of Teddy's sister Georgie (Patricia Kalember), have apparently managed to overcome the health and emotional problems that plagued them in the previous season, while Georgie herself has agreed to be surrogate mother for her sister Frankie (Julianne Phillips) and Frankie's husband, Mitch (Ed Marinaro). Unfortunately, Frankie goes into labor while trapped in a wrecked car, when no one is able to come to her aid -- and with the local TV outlets covering the event. Once the baby is delivery as safely as possible under the circumstances, three different Hollywood studios approach Georgie, hoping to make a movie out of her ordeal. The subsequent film epic, "Her Sister's Love," does not meet with her sibling's approval, even though Suzanne Somers agrees to star in it. Later on, Georgie will find work as a real-estate broker, then as a newspaper advice columnist. As for Frankie, she begins cramming for a quick conversion to Judaism so that her child can be bar-mitzvahed for the sake of her husband, Mitch. Despite this, it is clear that the marriage between Frankie and Mitch is in serious trouble as the season draws to a close -- just as it appears that Alex will patch things up with her ex-husband, Wade (David Dukes), even though he has gotten married again. Season three ends with Alex finding out she has breast cancer, and Reed and Kirby leaving Winnetka for a new life in California. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

As season two of Sisters gets under way, John Whitsig (Garrett M. Brown), the unemployed husband of Georgie Reed (Patricia Kalember), suddenly develops a sense of responsibility when his son Evan (Dustin Berkovitz) is diagnosed with leukemia. John records a musical tape, markets it himself, and gains a following as "The CPA of Song." His first nightclub engagement is less successful until he takes a female partner -- which of course does not meet with Georgie's approval. At the same time, the attention lavished on the ailing Evan by John and Georgie has a negative effect on the couple's other son, Trevor (Ryan Francis). Meanwhile, Georgie's impulsive sister Teddy (Sela Ward) tries to reconcile with her daughter, Cat (Heather McAdam), who has been living with her father, Mitch (Ed Marinaro), ever since Teddy used a shotgun to break up the wedding between Mitch and Teddy's sister Frankie (Patricia Kalember) -- the couple ultimately weds in secret to avoid any other such incidents. Clearly, Teddy has inherited her mother Beatrice's (Elizabeth Hoffman) drinking problem, and it is time for her to take the AA pledge. Later on, Teddy suffers a miscarriage (the baby was Mitch's); and, on a more positive note, she begins making good money marketing her own line of undergarments.

As for the oldest Reed sister, Alex (Swoosie Kurtz), she is still reeling from the discovery that her husband, Wade (David Dukes), is a philanderer. Worse, Wade's current girlfriend, Tiffany Blue (Kim Johnston-Ulrich), is an obsessive loose cannon, who tries to have Alex killed! In an effort to overcome her domestic travails, Alex begins seeing a nice-guy plumber named Victor Runkle (David Gianopoulos), but their relationship is scuttled when it becomes obvious that Alex and Wade still harbor fond feelings toward one another. Finally, the Reed girls' widowed mother, Bea, begins dating Judge Ventnor (Philip Sterling), who has helped her reclaim her revoked driver's license. This relationship will be placed on temporary hold when Bea suffers a heart attack, just as Georgie is making a speech while running for the Winnetka school board. This season, Ashley Judd takes over for Kathy Wagner in the role of Alex and Wade's overachieving daughter, Reed. Possibly as a byproduct of her parents' problems, Reed has been expelled from school and has taken a French lover. Later, Reed will become obsessed with Alex's current amour, Victor, prompting him to break off the relationship -- but not before pulling a few financial strings that will enable the Reed family to retain ownership of their house. As the season rushes to a close, Frankie and Mitch find out that they are unable to conceive, prompting Georgie to offer her services as surrogate mom. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi