Over the summer, rumors were flying that Brothers & Sisters would be finished at the end of season five.

Much of that speculation stemmed from the fact that series regulars Rob Lowe and Emily VanCamp were leaving, Calista Flockhart was cutting back her appearances, and ABC only committed to 18 episodes for year five. The ratings also hit some all-time lows towards the end of last season with a 2.3 in the all-important 18-49 demographic.

Despite those negatives, executive producer David Marshall Grant maintained, “No one has told me that it’s the last season.” As a result, he wasn’t making any plans to steer the storylines to a series finale. He noted, “I don’t want to do that. It’s sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

If there were any plans by the network to bring Brothers & Sisters to a close, they seem to have been sidelined. ABC recently ordered four additional episodes, bringing the season five total to 22 installments. What’s more, the ratings have come back up.

This season, the Sunday night drama is averaging a 2.8 rating in the demo and 9.09 million viewers. That’s the show’s lowest season average to date but Brothers & Sisters is the network’s sixth best performing scripted series in the demo, coming in just below Private Practice. While they’d surely like the numbers to be better, ABC has lots of weaker shows to deal with.

For now at least, Brothers & Sisters looks to be on track for a sixth season renewal.

What do you think? Do you want Brothers & Sisters to keep going? Should it be renewed for season six or is it time for the show to be cancelled?

Image courtesy ABC.