Wishing to develop a new screenplay with a revolutionary theme, Lloyd took to Weinberger and Daniels' idea about exploring familial relationships with the presence of a major—and controversial—life change, that of a relative finally coming out and addressing his homosexuality.

The creative team refused to give up hope on the project, and the same was said for its three leads, who from the beginning were Robert Walden (fresh off his Emmy Award-nominated role of Joe Rossi on CBS' Lou Grant), Paul Regina and Brandon Maggart.

As the producers tried to find a new outlet to pitch it to, development was put on hold, allowing Regina to co-star in CBS' short-lived Zorro and Son (1983), and Maggart to assume a role on NBC's Jennifer Slept Here (1983–1984).

Showtime's mission was to produce and pick up original programming that was outside the boundaries of standard network TV fare, and saw Brothers perfectly fitting that mold.

"[2] Unlike the policies set at rival HBO, who had no intention of preparing any of their first forays into original series for syndication, Showtime had the market in mind as soon as they picked up Brothers.

They felt it would destroy subscription rates and revenue if the public could watch one of their series for free on a local broadcast station, rather than pay monthly to view it on HBO.

Their defense also included the facts that the parent studios of their shows would continue to receive royalties from strong rerun performance in syndication, and that the latter market would attract higher-profile writers and directors to ensure a more quality production.

The pilot and following episodes centered on the efforts of Joe and Lou coming to terms with Cliff's long-held secret of his true sexual orientation, with both coping in their own unique way.

Lou assured his baby brother "Cliffie" that he loved and respected him no matter what, but was convinced early on that what Cliff was feeling was just a phase, and came up with numerous efforts to "cure" him of being gay.

Originally, the storylines on Brothers were permeated with exclusively gay themes, as Cliff and Donald's dating exploits were featured, along with the heterosexual characters' involvement in such stories.

Just as this took place, additional characters started entering their own long-term relationships, which were depicted in a more standard sitcom fashion without sexuality being the key topic in an episode.

By season three, with Paramount Television serious about the show's future in reruns, the scripts were cleaned up as well over the concern that the constant editing of coarse dialogue (Joe's habitual exclaiming of "son of a bitch" and "fuck" and "shit" peppered in accordingly) would be bad for syndication and revenues.

At the start of the third season, Joe began dating a voluptuous beauty named Sam (Mary Ann Pascal), a very materialistic real estate agent who was not only content with the physical aspect of their relationship, but also out to reap the benefits of an ex-pro athlete's bank account.

Meanwhile, Cliff, who graduated from college early in the fourth season, was on the verge on launching his journalism career with a local newspaper when he had an epiphany-–that he suddenly had the affinity for cooking—and announced to everyone that he was enrolling in culinary school.

Joe, Lou, and especially Donald tried to save him for turning down the offer to work at the paper, but in the end, decided to throw caution to the wind after tasting Cliff's impressive tomato sauce.

Later that year, after dating many young men on the fast track, aspiring yuppie Penny fell for none other than Jim Grant (Tommy Hinkley), a construction worker from Lou's company.

The fourth-season finale saw The Point After get upgraded to a three-star establishment by a local Philadelphia food publication, and Joe quickly received an offer by another top restaurateur for a huge buyout of his place.

After a series of flashbacks chronicling memorable moments the cast had at The Point After, Joe ripped up the papers granting its sale, and it was assumed as the episode came to an end that the gang would remain intact.

As Joe and Sam were busy adjusting to married life, as well as preparing to bring in the newest addition to the Waters family, Cliff found himself getting promoted to manager of The Point After while continuing in culinary school.

Other developments included Donald's close brush with a career in Hollywood, when he was hired to meet with a veteran movie actress in hopes of writing her biography.

After getting lost in all of Tinseltown's glitz and glamour, Donald decided on his own will that Philly was where he truly belonged, and hired a "stringer" writer to collaborate on the biography project so he could return home.

He worked many odd jobs to compensate for his loss of income, before Donald proposed a business deal in which he found homeowners who needed private renovating done by a craftsman of Lou's expertise.

A local mansion renovation job put Lou on the map, allowing him to buy out Donald's share in the partnership so he could become a stand-alone private contractor.

Bubba Dean (guest star James Avery) actually revealed to Joe in a first-season episode that he was gay and had been holding a long-time torch for him.

Wilhelmina, in advance right before her death, set up an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas which the entire cast embarked on, with the exception of Kelly (Robin Riker began her temporary leave of absence with this episode).

Since the Hollywood storyline concluded in the same episode, with Donald choosing to return to Philadelphia, it is presumed that removing such an integral character from Brothers would have hurt the show, which was already undergoing many changes that year (read above).

Since it was announced several months later that production on the series would end after five seasons, it can also be figured that hiring a replacement comic foil, or "contrast"-type character to play off the show's leads, wouldn't have been worth casting, even for almost 20 more episodes of Brothers.

The episode featured most of the season three regulars, including Robin Riker but sans Mary Ann Pascal, and focused on Lou and Donald's most severe disagreement yet.

From the pilot episode through the end of season three, Robin Riker and Hallie Todd's names were listed at the bottom of this section, while the pictures floated against a sky background.

The final part of the opening sequence is a videotaped scene of the Waters brothers, finishing their lip-syncing of the show's theme song in front of a candy store named "Babe's".