Building Bridges...

[factsoflife]

"Life has a way of making us stronger, forcing us to confront things we never expected; forcing us from one side of life to another--making us build bridges within ourselves and cross them"---join one family, The Bridges as they do just that.


Meredith Baxter stars in this poigant new drama series as Marla Bridges the matriarch of a Califronia family that is on the verge of crumbling right before her. At age 60 she finds herself alone for the first time and unable to support herself. Her husband Carl died three months ago from prostate cancer which he suffered from for three years and which put his family into great debt; maxing out their credit cards and forcing them to take out two extra morgates of their home. Having spent the greater part of the last twenty seven years as a housewife and mother Marla has little work history and few practical skills, and must somehow find a way to support herself. Unfortunately her three grown children have very little use for her and are not a very big part of her life. How will this woman survive? will she be able to pay off her debt? what lessons will she learn along the way? Co-starring in this series is Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Amy Brenemen (Private Practice, Judging Amy) as Charlotte Bridges-Manhiem, Marla's eldest child and the one she is closet with at this point in her life. Charlotte is indepentaldy wealthy having inherited nearly fifty million dollars from her now deceased ex-husband Charles Manhiem, a textiles importer who died of a heart attack in their third year of marriage. Despite having all the fortunes of the world she steadfastly refuses to bail her mother out and this issue will be a major driving force of much tension between Marla and Charlotte as well as the rest of the Bridges family. Steven Weber (Wings, Brothers & Sisters) plays Henry Ian Bridges, the second oldest Bridges child and oldest son who has spent the last five years of his life traveling the world supporting his now-emploding technology company which is facing a massive hostile take-over from his now ex-wife who is out for revenge. His return to the United States and Marla's home is sure to send shockwaves through the family espeically as he learns of what has transpired in his family the last five years. Rebecca De Mornay (That Hand That Rocks The Cradle) stars as Marlene Hilcrest-Bridges, Henry's now ex-wife who hails from London, England and has a major chip on her shoulder and is definetly out for revenge, only nobody knows why she is upset or how far she'll go to get it. Scott Bridges (Scott Foley) is the youngest member of the Bridges family who was his mother's closest friend in the world and the pride of his father; he was an honor roll student at Stamford University and was heading towards a career in Medicine when out of the literal blue he told his parents he was dropping out of school and never wanted to speak to them again; he moved out of their home and after a series of incoherent messages on their answering machine never contacted them again. Now, six years later his reapperance on Marla's doorstep will have major ramifications espeically as he announces several life-altering decisions that he made during his absence from his family's life; one of which concerns his status as a polyamorous male; meaning that he does not believe in the societal norm of having a manogomous relationship with just one individual and is acutally in a committed relationship with TWO people; Faith Rescott (Elisha Cuthbert), a twenty-nine year old x-ray technician who like Scott is a total vegan and health food nut. Also in Scott's life is Steven Ray Winsor (Wilson Cruz), a thirty-three year old clinical psychologist from Hampton, Massachusetts who is a devout liberal democrat, something that will disturb everyone in the Bridges family. This is not even the most shocking life change that Scott announces upon his return to California... If these things aren't enough to send Marla over the edge than it's possible the reemergance of Porter Winston (Danny Glover) her high school sweetheart who comes back with an agenda and a dark secret to share will definetly cause some trouble for her.

Starring:

Meredith Baxter as Marla Bridges
Amy Brenemen as Charlotte Bridges-Manheim
Steven Weber as Henry Ian Bridges
Rebecca De Mornay as Marlene Hilcrest-Bridges
Scott Foley as Scott Bridges
Elisha Cuthbert as Faith Rescott
Wilson Cruz as Steven Ray Winsor

and... Danny Glover as Porter Winston