I’m told ABC has renewed “Brothers & Sisters” for a fifth season. The Sally Field soap opera has had, I think, five show runners in four seasons. Maybe they can somehow get back to the show’s basic premise, from which it has seriously drifted, next fall …

http://showbiz411.blogs.thr.com/2010/03/05/lost-returnees-brothers-and-sisters-renewed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheHollywoodReporter_Showbiz411+%28The+Hollywood+Reporter+%7C+SHOWBIZ+411%29

1) It pulls in a decent audience and comfortable ratings in its late Sunday night time period [right after "DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES"].

2) ABC co-owns the series, and they're making money from DVD sales and posting the individual episodes on their website, generating even more income.

3) It's one of the few successes on their schedule in recent seasons.

No matter how many changes there are in personnel on both sides of the camera, viewers seem to enjoy it, and are willing to put up with "variations" in the storyline until it "rights" itself.

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