The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire

Ever since Picket Fences went off the air, I've been waiting, ever so

freaking patiently, for another great melodrama to come along

from David Kelley. And though Boston Public started off alright, it

sank, rather quickly.

So I'd given up by the time I heard about this one, the Brotherhood

of Poland. And I thought, "What an unappealing title for a show."

But, I found myself home the night it debuted, and figured since

there's nothing good on tv anymore, I'd watch it. And I did. And,

Brotherhood left an indifferent impression on me. It wasn't great

enough to get me excited and hopeful, but it wasn't terrible enough

for me to disregard it completely. So I've kept watching.

And last night, the fifth episode aired, and it's got Picket Fences

Deux written all over it. And I love it. It's blatantly similar to Picket

Fences but that's just fine with me, I've been waiting for this for

years. The actors seem to be connecting more, and the writing

seems to be getting a little less awkward...maybe Brotherhood just

needed to stretch its legs for a few weeks before it started to pick

up some steam? I really don't care if it's 'inaccurate' as far as New

Hampshire towns are concerned, I don't mind that reality seems to

get checked at the door (that makes it better, if you ask me); it's a

fun and quirky show with smart humor and all the melodrama of a

Sirk movie. And wow, Randy Quaid did some fine acting last night;

I've never really seem him in serious roles, and never thought he

could pull them off, but last night he actually impressed me with

his skills. Give this little show a try, it's only been getting better.

"The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire" is David E. Kelley's latest attempt to bring another hit sitcom to television. After a rather confusing premiere, it looks like the usually-dominant Kelley is now 0 for 2 since "Boston Public" three years ago ("Girls Club," which came out last year, lasted two episodes).

Being a resident of the town where the pilot for this show was filmed, I can safely say that the reason this show feels like it started in the middle of a storyline is beacuse the pilot never aired. The pilot was bad (So I heard), so they decided not to air it. Was this a mistake? It might have made some of the points brought up in the premiere a little more clear, rather than dump us right in the middle of something that's already been established and ends up being over our heads.

Aside from that, I don't have high hopes for this show. It's advertised as a comedy, but there is a lot more drama than laughs (The humor, when it does come around, is usually hit or miss). The "first" episode feels too strongly like it's missing the backstory that was the pilot, and doesn't provide any outstanding reason to keep tuning in. The show will have to depend heavily on future episodes to build up what was lost, but between the already lacking appeal and competition of other shows in the timeslot, the future of the show is about as bleak as those of the three brothers it focuses on.

Since the show of 10/22 had "Carter Pike" all it needs now is "Douglas Wambaugh" and it will be great. Seems like a continuation of Picket Fences, maybe the other side of the mountain so to speak. As for NH realism, that isn't important to me or probably most of the viewers. After all it isn't a documentary, just a TV program for entertainment. Thank you David E. Kelley.

I loved the show and all the characters! They never gave it a chance! Im positive that if given a full season that people would have grown to love it like I already did! All of these stars had big potential I always had hopes of someone bringing it back! New Hampshire has a lot of Great possibilities for interesting storylines! Bring it back and give it another go..Purty Please!..lol.

"The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H." was probably the best television drama Kelly E. Kelly produced. It is unfortunate that only a few people found the program! First of all, the title was somewhat strange! CBS gave it a time slot of doom! After 4 or 5 airings, it was gone, & Mr. Kelly did not fight for the show, which is sad. The program could have developed into one of those long-running family dramas. A couple of brothers & their families experience life in a small New England town. The brothers are average middle-aged guys with average middle-aged wives and average kids. The program goes beyond average in tackling above-average issues. The ratings were less than average, & CBS did little to promote the show. The opening music was beautiful, & not one of the episodes was disappointing. I think there were only a total of four shows to make it to t.v. The brothers & their families interacted with each other in attempting to make ends meet, fulfill their dreams, and deal with modern issues. Sounds a little boring when someone could be voted off an island somewhere!