Parenthood

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Is anyone else watching this on NBC? When I first heard they were making this into a tv show, I thought nooooo, why would you do that? How can you top Steve Martin, Dianne Wiest, Rick Moranis, Tom Hulce, Martha Plimpton, and Keanu Reeves being directed by Ron Howard?

A few months later, I saw the cast list for the tv show and thought whoa, they are really pulling out the stops: Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, Peter Krause, Monica Potter, Erika Christensen.

In January, I saw approximately 56137834153414 commercials for this show during the Olympics and I couldn't decide if the constant pimping was a sign that NBC had a lot of faith in this show or if I had seen most of the pilot thanks to all of the ads.

Then I found out that Jason Katims (who wrote for MSCL) is a producer and writer for this show, which made me think I had to at least give it a chance!

The first two episodes, I was overwhelmed with how many people were in the cast, but after that I was able to keep them all straight in my head and remember how they were all related.

Lauren Graham is really good. She isn't as spazzy or garrulous as she was on Gilmore Girls. Now that I've seen her as this character, I can't picture Maura Tierney in the role (she was cast but had to leave after she was diagnosed with cancer). In every scene, she either makes me laugh or cry.

I loved Peter Krause on Six Feet Under, but on this week's episode he went nuts dancing and making an ass of himself, which was hilarious and adorable.

Monica Potter is awesome every week. She plays Peter's wife and it could have been a blah whiny character, but she plays her so well.

Their daughter Haddie reminds me so much of Angela Chase. Haircut aside, her attitude and outbursts are often very similar to Angela's. Watching this show as an adult, I really feel for her parents. That may be partly because the show is not told from Haddie's point of view, but I think it's also due to the fact that I'm not watching this show as someone Haddie's age.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Tonight's episode reminded me of MSCL again. Haddie's boyfriend wants to have sex, but she's a virgin and breaks up with him over it (in his car outside of her house, no less!). He ends up hooking up with her misfit cousin Amber at the end of the episode. The previews for next week show Amber possibly confessing what happened to Haddie.

I realize sitting in a car, losing your virginity, and having an ex hook up with your friend are not original plots by any means. If anything, they're the cornerstones of teen drama, but it's interesting to see them done again by Jason Katims.

[Sascha]

"Parenthood" is definitely one of those rare shows which actually lived up to the hype. Great cast, amazing stories and realistic characters. And I totally agree, there's a lot of "MSCL déjà vu" in the episodes, especially when Amber (some kind of Rayanne?) and Haddie are involved. Haddie even dyed her hair in the season finale to "feel alive" (black, not crimson red though), adding to the pile of "this could be a MSCL reference" items Natasha already mentioned in her post. I'm only wondering when the "Brian" character will show up . Or maybe Amber's brother Drew is actually the "Brian" of this show.

Jason Katims (who also created the amazing "Friday Night Lights") really stepped up his game -- "Parenthood" merges the spirit and concepts of "thirtysomething" and "My So-Called Life" (and of course the original "Parenthood" movie) and brings them to the 21st century.

I especially like the portrayal of the brother/sister dynamic between Haddie's father (Peter Krause) and Amber's mom (the great Lauren Graham) -- their screaming matches are amazing . (And while I usually don't care about Hollywood gossip, but Krause and Graham would certainly make a great couple if the rumors are true).

But also the rest of the cast is just amazing. Crosby's recation when his son Jabbar calls him "Daddy" for the first time was a fascinating moment. I'm even warming up to Erika Christensen whom I somewhat disliked in "Six Degrees". I'm only having problems with those frequent family gatherings, which seem to happen at least weekly, sometimes in the middle of the day, even for high school baseball *tryouts*... Don't they all have jobs?

Anyway, I'm really glad NBC ordered a second season, even though the ratings could be a lot better.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Haddie's hair dying definitely reminded me of MSCL from her secretly doing it in the bathroom to her nonchalant answer and the similarity to the person who slept with her ex. This was the equivalent of Angela wearing tiny braids after Rayanne slept with Jordan.

I thought Kristina's reaction to Haddie's new hair color was very reminiscent of Patty's reaction, as was Haddie's later softening, explanation, and apology.

My husband's extended family used to have dinner every Sunday night like clockwork so that doesn't seem too weird to me. And when that many siblings live in the same town, it's not that hard for me to believe that they're always barging into each other's houses.

What I find weird is that the two people who actually have real jobs (Adam and Julia) are always doing non-work things. It's one thing for Adam to have lunch with Crosby since everyone is technically allowed a lunch break, but why is Julia on the angel committee to bring homemade chicken soup to a mom who just had a boob job? Since Joel is a stay at home dad, why isn't he doing that instead of making Julia take three hours off from work to run that particular errand?

I mean, I can imagine Kristina, Sarah, Crosby, Joel, Zeek, and Camille meeting up in the middle of the day on a Wednesday but it just seems ridiculous that Adam and Julia are always doing stuff in the middle of the week. If we're supposed to believe that it was a huge deal for Julia to drop Sydney off at school and get to work on time or leave work early to spend 15 minutes in the park with her after school, how are we supposed to believe that she has time to coach the soccer team?

[emmie]

this is definitely one of my fav new shows! mostly the thing I love best about it is the natural feel of it, something I loved about MSCL. I also like the realistic storylines. I mean, there's definitely some drama, but they also have silly little family moments like the impromptu dancing scene. most shows wouldn't allow time for a great little scene like that. I have to say that I'm really liking Dax Sheppard! I always thought he was sort of a dumb*** jock type, but he's proved he can really act.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I was never a fan of Dax Sheppard, but I kept thinking there had to be something about him if Kristen Bell liked him.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

So far, S2 feels like there is so much going on but at the same time, they're only focusing on a handful of characters so certain characters get a scene or two and then we're back to the Sarah and Adam/Kristina show with minor appearances by Crosby.

After four episodes, nothing is going on with Amber except listening to Haddie's speech and avoiding her mom (resulting in getting dragged to a club by her mom).

Although Haddie running for student council was a catalyst for some action (mainly not getting along with Kristina), we barely saw any of that storyline. And it ended with Adam and Kristina ditching her victory party, which seemed pretty crappy.

I guess I'm just used to more in depth storylines with each character which makes the episodes from this season thus far seem like they're just touching on the surface of most of the characters' stories.

But next week, we get another MSCL storyline: Zeek and Camille take ballroom dance classes to help their marriage! But based on the previews, there is a huge twist that Graham and Patty definitely did not deal with in their class!

[stburr91]

I only saw the second to last episode last year, but I been watching it this season. The show has so many characters that it's hard to get to know who's who if you've just started watching. So the first few episodes focusing on only a few characters has helped me get into the show. So far I'm really enjoying it.

[emmie]

I agree with you Natasha, the only good storyline this year is Adam dealing with work problems. everything else is just sort of skimmed over. hopefully it will get a better flow to it soon.

[Jody Barsch*]

Tonight's episode was titled "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities"!
Clear MSCL Jason Katims connection. (Or is everyone in LA just reading the same short story anthology?)