History Series / Sisters

An American drama series airing for six seasons (1991–96) on Creator/{{NBC}}, ''Sisters'' revolved around four very different sisters from Illinois – Alex (Creator/SwoosieKurtz), Teddy (Creator/SelaWard), Georgie (Creator/PatriciaKalember), and Frankie (Julianne Phillips) – and the issues they, and their aging mother Beatrice (Elizabeth Hoffman), faced from day to day.

Notable as the first primetime network drama to focus specifically on women and issues relating to them, the series was also notable for its multitude of {{flashback}}s where the characters interact with or observe their younger selves, and for being a soap opera-styled drama that was also offbeat and quirky, a la ''Series/NorthernExposure''.

[[caption-width-right:330:Top to bottom steps / youngest to oldest sister:\\
Frankie, Georgie, Teddy, Alex.]]

An Creator/{{NBC}} drama series that aired for six seasons (1991–96) on Creator/{{NBC}}, ''Sisters'' revolved around four very different sisters from Illinois – Alex (Creator/SwoosieKurtz), Teddy (Creator/SelaWard), Georgie (Creator/PatriciaKalember), and Frankie (Julianne Phillips) – and the issues they, and their aging mother Beatrice (Elizabeth Hoffman), faced from day to day.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sisters_3.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:Top to bottom steps / youngest to oldest sister: Frankie, Georgie, Teddy, Alex.]]

''Sisters'' is an Creator/{{NBC}} series that ran from 1991-96. The plot revolves around four very different sisters from Illinois, named Alex, Teddy, Georgie and Frankie, along with their aging mother Beatrice, and the issues they faced day to day. It was notable for being the first primetime network drama to focus specifically on women and issues relating to them. The show was also notable for its multitude of flashbacks where the characters interact with or observe their younger selves, and for being a soap opera-styled drama that was also offbeat and quirky, a la ''Series/NorthernExposure''.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Probably not intentional at the time, but Teddy's high-risk, self-destructive behavior and contrasting low self esteem sure look a lot like bipolar disorder or PMDD, but it's framed more as a given of the life of a [[BlackSheep free-spirited artist]].

* WholePlotReference: To ''Film/{{Ghost}}'', when Teddy's late husband came back to protect her from his killer.

* AdultFear: Evan's leukemia, Trevor's downward spiral, Cat's rape, Reed's joining a cult, Truman developing Alzheimer's and later being a victim of nursing home abuse, etc.

* RapeAsBackstory: When Teddy is held hostage by an ex-employee she admits to being coerced into sex by a former boss five years earlier. She had been [[TheAlcoholic drinking heavily and regularly]] at the time and was caught stealing from the cash register at her job of the week. Her boss fired her and threatened to call the police if she wouldn't sleep with him, so she did. In spite of being played straight, this trope is somewhat averted as Teddy isn't quite considered an assault victim by the standards of the early 90's when it aired, more as a someone revealing details of a DarkAndTroubledPast, but would certainly be received differently today.
** Georgie was a victim of DateRape in college.

* RealityEnsues: Thanks to abandoning her daughter, Reed barely gets visitation, even after getting her act together.

* YourCheatingHeart: The girl's father carried on a long-term affair with another woman, resulting in Charlie.
** Alex's husband cheats on her, then technically cheats on the other woman with her when he attempts a reconciliation without breaking things off with the other woman.
** Georgie cheats on husband John with her therapist.

* FantasySequence: Often. Alex following her husband as a noir PI movie, Frankie's son as a movie star, Bea imagining her daughters as sons, not to mention the RunningGag of the main characters talking to their younger selves in present time.

* FantasySequence: Often. Alex following her husband as a noir PI movie, Frankie's son as a movie star, Bea imagining her daughters as sons, etc.

%%* FantasySequence: Often.

* [[BigBrotherInstinct Big Sister Instinct]]: All of them to each other, even those who are younger--it's third sister Georgie who is frequently seen in the "caretaker" role and while initially rattled to not be the "baby" anymore, fourth sister Frankie positively relishes playing this role in bringing Charlie into the family.

* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: A teenage boy is killed in a car accident, providing Big Al with the heart he needs. At the hospital while they wait, a woman gives birth. To cap it off, this all takes place on what was supposed to be Teddy and Gabe's wedding day.

* FamilyTitle
* FantasySequence: Often.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Teddy decides against having an abortion even after discovering that the baby might be disabled, feeling that she and her husband will love the child no matter what.

* LawOfInverseFertility: Subverted. Frankie ''thinks'' she's finally gotten pregnant just after Georgie becomes her surrogate, but it turns out she's wrong.

* OneWordTitle:

* PrimalScene: Two of the girls walk in on Beatrice and Truman basking in the afterglow.

%% YoungestChildWins: Frankie tends to think this is averted.

* FalseMemories: Georgie's therapist queries whether she had been molested by anyone, citing that it is frequently a cause of the depression and anxiety that she's been battling. That very night, Georgie apparently has a flashback of her father touching her inappropriately. Within weeks, she's not only convinced that her father repeatedly molested her, she accuses her mother of turning a blind eye to it and her sisters of being in denial as well (when they repeatedly deny being similarly abused), claiming that it would explain the myriad of problems that they themselves have had, accusing her husband of being unsupportive, ultimately cutting them all out of her life, all with her therapist's encouragement. Only months later when watching Charlie, a doctor, examine her ill son, does she realize that what she remembered was not her father abusing her, but examining her (he was a doctor as well). She's horrified to realize that the whole thing was a ploy by her therapist to isolate her from her loved ones and ultimately seduce her.

* LuxuryPrisonSuite: Parodied when Alex's new husband Al is sent to jail for tax evasion. When she visits him, we see that the place like a country club—-tennis courts, golf ranges, pools, etc.

* PsychoPsychologist: "Pervert", rather. After Georgie's therapist convinced her she had been molested by her father, then convinced her to turn her back on her disbelieving family. Ironically, had he been correct, this would have been an appropriate reaction, but his sole reason for doing all this was to seduce her. Her attempts at filing a complaint prove futile and he tauntingly suggests that she seek professional help. When she finally catches him in the act (after sending in Charlie to entrap him), she pulls an IronicEcho and says the same thing to him. Given the high likelihood that she's not the only woman he's done this to, she's probably right.

* ChekhovsGun: In rare literal example the rifle Alex keeps under her bed comes into play during Frankie and Mitch's wedding.

* CheckhovsGun: In rare literal example the rifle Alex keeps under her bed comes into play during Frankie and Mitch's wedding.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Probably not intentional at the time, but Teddy's high-risk, self-destructive behavior and low self esteem sure look a lot like bipolar disorder or PMDD, but it's all written off as being part of the life of a [[BlackSheep free-spirited artist]].

* Played straight but in reverse, also with Teddy. She did have an abortion at 17, but isn't exactly considered a "good girl" at the time.