NBC’s New Sister Act Shuns the Stereotypes

Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline, creators and executive producers of the new NBC sitcom “Three Sisters,” insist it’s not just a “chick” show.

“By the nature of it being called ‘Three Sisters,’ people tend to think of it as a ‘female’ project,” says Heline.

“I guess it’s female, in that it came out of our brains,” she explains. “I would say we have an equal number of male and female writers.” And there has been an equal split on directors--with half the episodes wrapped thus far handled by female directors, the other half by men.

Then too, each episode is seen through the eyes of Steven (David Alan Basche), the husband of the overachieving eldest sibling, portrayed by Katherine LaNasa.

“Three Sisters,” premiering tonight after “Frasier,” chronicles the jealousies, love, humor and intense relationships of the strong-willed, intelligent Bernstein-Flynn sisters.

Rounding out the sisters are Vicki Lewis from “NewsRadio” as Nora, the middle sister--a documentary filmmaker who drinks and smokes too much and is trying to come to terms with a nasty divorce--and A.J. Langer (“My So-Called Life”) as Anne, the young, free-spirited sister who is trying to find herself.

Dyan Cannon plays their mother, Honey, a yoga and L.A. Laker enthusiast, and Peter Bonerz is family patriarch George.

The sisters are somewhat based on Heisler, Heline and a mutual friend. “We decided to make them sisters,” says Heisler. “I have a sister [Heline is an only child] and our mothers have sisters. We thought that [the sibling] relationship is so volatile and fun. We really enjoyed when we wrote on ‘Roseanne’ just how intense the relationships were [between sisters Roseanne and Jackie] and with so much love and conflict mixed into it.”

They also wanted to create a family whose members sincerely love one another. “In sitcoms, people hate their parents,” says Heline. “We wanted to show a relationship where these girls love their mom and love their dad. It is a really solid relationship, but that still doesn’t mean they don’t drive you up the wall or drive you crazy. But there is a lot of love.”

“This is a family [whose members] seek each other out and need each other’s help,” says Heisler. “They are not always trying to flee one another.”

Lewis, who played the acerbic secretary on “NewsRadio,” was careful not to rush back into a series after the NBC sitcom was canceled in 1999.

“I sifted through a lot of scripts,” says Lewis. “Kelsey Grammer was developing a show and wanted me to do that. But it never really got going.”

“Three Sisters” was exactly what she was looking for. “You are really only as good as your writing on TV,” she says. “These girls know how to write.”

“ ‘NewsRadio,’ ” Lewis explains, “was really edgy and a great show, but all of those guys [the writers] were 25 years old and out of Harvard. They had great wit and intelligence.”

What they lacked, says Lewis, was life experience. “This show is neat because they write funny. They always give you somewhere to go emotionally. I am playing a grown-up woman with real issues and real clothes and real hair!”

Cannon was drawn to the series because the characters are not cut “I love to show families that can groove together, because that is how it should be.”

DYAN CANNON,

who plays the mother

from the typical sitcom cloth. “They are real people with real problems,” says Cannon, who does occasional guests stints as a judge on Fox’s “Ally McBeal.” “I have always been interested in taking things that happen to us on a daily basis that audiences can identify with and making fun of it. That is what these girls do. The writers are special, wonderful people.”

Heisler and Heline always had Cannon in mind for the role of Honey. “We wanted to have a really fun, vibrant, sexy woman,” says Heline.

And there is a lot of Cannon in Honey. Not only are they both Laker fans, says Cannon, “they have allowed the life and the energy in me to show.”

The mother of actress Jennifer Grant, Cannon enjoys the fact that Honey really loves her daughters. “I love to show families that can groove together, because that is how it should be.”

Lewis’ character goes through a lot of changes during the first 13 episodes. She attempts to quit smoking and has several love affairs that go awry. “I get to kiss really cute guys,” Lewis says, laughing.

She’s particular proud of the two episodes she filmed before Christmas break in which Nora falls in love with a friend (Roger Rees) of her father’s.

“If you only know me from ‘NewsRadio,’ you know I am funny, but what I have noticed is that [Heisler and Heline] go out more and more on a limb with me in terms of writing kind of heartbreaking stuff and angry stuff they see I can pull off emotionally. The last two episodes we shot was some of the best work I have been able to do on TV. That is a great feeling.”

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* “Three Sisters” premieres tonight at 9:30 p.m. on NBC. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children).