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It also can't hurt that Brothers and Sisters features three strong female roles played by three actors widely admired by gay men.

To fans of Flockhart's work as the neurotic title character on Ally McBeal, the pilot begins on a familiar note. She's talking to herself, psyching her character up to meet with the creators of the political debate show that will air her vehemently conservative views to her largest audience yet.

Soon afterward, she's calling up sister Sarah (Griffiths) to talk about the family reunion that will occur when she leaves New York, where she's been working and, we learn, escaping the wrath of her liberal mother. The call instigates a chain reaction of dialed numbers that establishes the various roles the Walker siblings play in their family.

Sarah must cope with life in the family business after having left a high-powered job in some unnamed Fortune 500 company. Kevin speaks with Sarah on the way to work, jonesing for gossip about Kitty's personal life — a trait that Sarah dubs “so gay.”

Thomas (Balthazar Getty) seems too occupied with settling a labor dispute among his family's agricultural workers, while everyone seems concerned about Justin, whose status as a veteran seems to have subjected him to stress, the uncomfortable status of “hero” and, it's hinted, a drug habit.

Soon enough, the children and their respective spouses and love interests meet in the family home. At this point, gay viewers will note that poor Kevin is the only one to attend solo. Field's character expresses concern in his apparent lack of a relationship, noting that no one in the family is uncomfortable with his sexuality. Kevin counters with the fact that his job keeps him too busy to meet men.

Discussion of Kevin's sexuality ends there, as far as the pilot goes. It's interesting to note that a family brimming with all manner of political conflicts seemingly has little to say about the one gay son. While one could chose to interpret this silence as a supportive one — in the most optimistic of possibilities, the Walkers could collectively love Kevin enough that gay issues are the one subject they all agree on — the absence of this discussion coupled with the lack of a boyfriend makes for a glaring void about his character.

Hopefully, the cause of this underdevelopment lies more in the fact that Brothers and Sisters boasts a large cast: two parents, five siblings, two spouses, three grandchildren, a fiancée, a girlfriend, a mistress and various co-workers. Subsequent installments may better flesh out Kevin as well as straight brother Thomas, about whom even less is revealed. Besides, anyone familiar with the previous work by the openly gay Baitz — who wrote the pilot, in addition to creating the premise for the show — should know that he does not shy away from gay topics.

By the end of the pilot, however, viewers will likely feel that they've learned much more about the Walker women — a smart move on Baitz's part. Considering the comparative star power the female cast members versus the men, it would be natural to weight the script in their favor.

Moreover, the show's dialogue crackles during the interchanges between Fields, Flockhart and Griffiths. While Kitty and Nora have an emotional showdown over the ethics of espousing the conservative politics that ultimately sent Justin to war, Griffith 's Sarah occupies herself nicely into investigating the discrepancies she finds in her dad's financial records.

Her snooping eventually yields the revelation that Mr. Walker may have been involved in some shady dealings. But before she can confront her father, he has a heart attack and keels over into the pool. The show's producers have been up front with the fact that Skerritt's character will not be a regular on Brothers and Sisters. More specifically, he dies, and one can imagine that much of the drama of this show's first season will involve the aftermath of the Walker 's sudden loss of their patriarch.

The dramatic events of the pilot's final act indicate that, indeed, Brothers and Sisters will not merely be “that political show.” It's a family drama with political overtones that, in the end, recalls the heydays of shows like Thirtysomething or Sisters. An even more appropriate comparison might be some fusion of the recently departed The West Wing and Six Feet Under — the former because it bravely attempts to marry politics and drama and the latter because it involves a close-knit family dealing with the loss of the father figure. (Well, that and Rachel Griffiths.)

If the writing for the rest of the season remains as solid as that in the pilot, then the show runners will have found a clever way to draw viewers in week after week. Observing the Walker family grow and change while at the same time addressing the pressing national issues that so many other shows refuse to even approach.

Brothers and Sisters airs Sundays at 10 pm on ABC

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