"BROTHERS AND SISTERS" RENEWED

Great news for fans of Calista Flockhart, Balthazar Getty and Sally Field. ABC announced late Monday that it is giving its freshman drama "Brothers and Sisters" a full season of 22 episodes after its fourth episode won the Sunday at 10pm timeslot in the 18-49 demo.

The drama has averaged only 12 million viewers this season. Although that number is quite impressive, it is only 60% of the 20 million plus audience that tunes into the drama's lead-in "Desperate Housewives" at 9pm.

"Grey's Anatomy" was certainly doing a much better job last year as it not only managed to retain most of that audience, but after this year's Superbowl game it actually exceeded the 'Housewives' ratings by 10% or more which, as we all know, earned the show its premium timeslot on Thursday nights.

It is quite probable that "Brothers and Sisters" will never grow into such a monster hit for the network. But winning the timeslot in the 18-49 demo as well as among the more affluent viewers is a major plus.

The show's decent performance comes as quite a surprise following all the casting and showrunning changes behind the scenes. Now that the drama is run by "Everwood" creator Greg Berlanti it is safe to assume, however, the series will grow creatively and hopefully the ratings will follow suit.