Parenthood - New TV Series on NBC (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

One of the few good things about the recession is that the networks have refocused on family dramas about decent people making decisions that, while imperfect, are to the best of their abilities. I'm really enjoying "LIfe Unexpected" over at the CW, and I'm really enjoying this as well. Dax Shepard has played a lot of unlikable characters in a lot of mean-spirited comedies, so it's a real joy to see him make the potentially unlikable Crosby into someone we can really root for. He and Sarah are running neck and neck for the most flawed of the four siblings, but Sarah has had to be an adult for a lot longer than Crosby has. It's fascinating watching him make decisions about things that have long been settled for the other three siblings, for better or worse. I like that he solicits advice from his siblings and actually listens to it, but still has the strength of character to make his own decisions when his instincts tell him to. The last scene outside Jasmine's door was a real stand up moment for him. I really hope that Jabar turns out to be his.

To understand Sarah's dressing down of Adam, you have to understand that she's been a working poor single mother for a decade, if not longer. She's been the only thing standing between her kids and the big bad world for a long, long time. Intellectually she probably understood that her brother had no choice but to take Max for yogurt, but she wasn't in an intellectual place for that confrontation. Another in a long line of men had hurt her son, and this time that man was her own brother. She felt just as betrayed as Drew did.

The nice thing for Adam about the Asperger's diagnosis is that it allows him to justify to himself the steps he needs to take for Max in a way that he couldn't when Max was just the weird kid with behavioral problems. You get the sense that he's been internalizing a lot of frustration and failure for a long time now, and he's finally starting to let it out. By letting Sarah's condemnation blow over him and then confessing everything about where he's coming from, he ceded a bit of his position as the strong sibling that fixes everybody's problems. But it left him and Sarah in a much better place than if he'd kept it to himself. I don't watch "Friday Night Lights", but I definitely agree with you that Adam Braverman is the best TV dad on the air right now. Peter Krause gives an outstanding performance in a very understated role.

The ratings aren't fantastic, but they're still comfortably within renewal territory by NBC's standards. Unless it takes a nosedive over the rest of the season, I'll be really surprised if this show isn't back in the fall.

 

[Greg_S_H]

That's good to hear. I don't know much about ratings, but I get concerned when I see all of these "NBC falters with Parenthood" headlines. It seems to get Chuck numbers--between 5 and 7 million--and I don't know if that's good or bad, but hopefully it's enough after the fall of the Jay Leno show.

I understood why Sarah was so mad at Adam, but it was kind of frustrating since we saw Max's tantrum as it happened in the house and in the car. There's nothing you can do but give in, and I know Adam is going to be a good, reliable father figure to Drew in the future. I do wish Drew had gotten on the phone with Max, since he had had a way of talking him into playing baseball throughout the episode, even when he didn't want to when Adam asked. This new turn is going to ultimately be good for all three of them, as Max is really opening up around Drew, and Drew is doing the same.

I need to check out Life Unexpected. I've heard it's good, but I had forgotten about it. Since I've missed something like 11 episodes, I doubt if they are all up on OnDemand (if OnDemand even carries it).

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Greg_S_H

That's good to hear. I don't know much about ratings, but I get concerned when I see all of these "NBC falters with Parenthood" headlines. It seems to get Chuck numbers--between 5 and 7 million--and I don't know if that's good or bad, but hopefully it's enough after the fall of the Jay Leno show.

The ratings expectations are different for a 10 PM show versus an 8 PM show. An 8 PM show is always going to need higher ratings to stay alive. This is why a lot of niche shows have thrived in the timeslot.

Since the first episode, I haven't been able to stop thinking how frustrating it must be to be Adam. His entire life is compromises, and it's so nice to see a decent portrayal of a father on television. There was a long stretch where TV fathers were either simply out of the picture, deadbeats, or comical buffoons. It's almost like television had to invert the "Father Knows Best" era before things could normalize.
Life Unexpected is a bit more soapy, being on the CW, and the parents are way more flawed (there's a reason they didn't have custody of their daughter for her first sixteen years) but it's another show that cares about its characters and shows them as caring, loving and often intelligent people.

 

[Citizen87645]

That girl was freakin adorable when she said "she couped me and I didn't even want to be the princess!"

 

[Garrett Adams]

That was a great line, although at her age I thought coup would not be in her vocabulary.

 

[Mike Frezon]

My wife and I have been hooked on this show from the first episode.

The ensemble is stunning. Coincidentally, we started watching Season 1 of Gilmore Girls at about the same time as this show started. So, I now have a mad crush on Lauren Graham (which I have already noted in the "Tribute to Brunettes" thread in AHL).

It was strange that NBC was running promos for this week's episode a full week before last week's episode aired. We are now in the second full week of the "Women fake orgasms" promo. After last week's episode, my wife turned to me and said, "Where was the 'faking it' storyline?"

I am most amazed at how effortlessly the writers weave together the different family storylines. All the players are solid...including the children. I agree with many of the comments here about cast, music, etc.

I hope the show catches a strong foothold in the NBC lineup. Among other things it's nice to see a solid scripted family drama on network TV.

 

[Walter C]

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon

I am most amazed at how effortlessly the writers weave together the different family storylines. All the players are solid...including the children. I agree with many of the comments here about cast, music, etc.

I hope the show catches a strong foothold in the NBC lineup. Among other things it's nice to see a solid scripted family drama on network TV.

Same here. I did not think it would be possible to work in all the big names in TV, but I am surprised. I thought this would be a copycat of Brothers & Sisters, but so far, I am liking this show better.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight's hour just flew by. I was pretty immersed in all of the storylines. Sarah is headed for a trainwreck with Amber's teacher, who is the perfect guy that just happens to be off-limits. It's not just that he's Amber's teacher, it's that he's the teacher that Amber's crushing on. When a kid's had as many disappointments as Amber's had, you shouldn't take something that innocent away from her. Adam feels his manhood is threatened when he finds out that Kristina fakes it sometimes, not realizing that that has everything to do with the constant stress of what they're up against and nothing to do with his performance. Julia's fears about Raquel are confirmed, but putting an end to it would mean destroying her daughter's first and deepest friendship. She's the high achiever who's managed to have it all so far, so she's not used to having to make choices like this. Eventually she decides to be a parent first and a jealous spouse second.

My favorite storyline was Crosby's, though. For once, he got the timing on everything exactly right; he waited until he knew for sure before telling his parents, but more importantly he waited until he had a relationship with his son before telling his parents. He had the credibility of someone who has taken the first steps down the road of being a parent. The scene where he first introduces them was sublime: Crosby and Jabar pull up, and you can see the comfort level that's developed between them. Cut to the parents, who are visibly excited to meet their new grandkid. They come around the corner, and are stunned to see he's black. Both of them lock up, and all of the excitement drains away. Crosby and Jabar stroll up, lost in their own little world together, and miss all of this. Then Jabar says hi, and the rigidity melts away. By the time he shakes their hands, Jabar has completely won them over. All the scenes that follow are them seeing a side of their son they probably didn't have much faith even existed.

 

[Greg_S_H]

The shot of the Braverman plate was nice. I like the Cros. I hope we catch up on how Crazy Katie is handling his fatherhood soon. Maybe this is stupid, but I thought it was cool that even this early, the show was comfortable with Crosby talking about Adam and Julia with joke names--"Judge Judy" and now I can't remember his name for Adam--without holding our hands to let us know who he meant. I'm not sure Lila's bribery method with Max is all that great, but maybe it'll end up working over the long haul. I'm a little skeptical. Guacamole is a great name for a lizard, though.

 

[Patrick_S]

I'm really liking Parenthood and was glad to see that it won the 18 - 49 demo against the other 10pm shows last Tuesday.

I know some people call it "bribery" but really it's bargaining and it's a valuable lesson for Max to learn. He simply can not always have his way all the time.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Great entire post Adam. Agree 100%.

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt /forum/thread/298617/parenthood-new-tv-series-on-nbc#post_3678524

 

[Greg_S_H]

Originally Posted by Patrick_S

I think she has been posted in the thread, but probably not by me. I was really limited by Yahoo's image search engine. By the way, did you know her dad was once a rhythm guitarist with Aerosmith? And if anyone's wondering why I called her Lila, that's her character on Friday Night Lights.

 

[Mike Frezon]

What's the actress' name?

 

[Greg_S_H]

Minka Kelly.

 

[Mike Frezon]

OMG...that's Derek Jeter's squeeze! [/url]

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon

I'm really happy they don't appear to be going down the obvious road and show Adam having feelings for her and/or flirting with the idea of an affair. Casting someone that good looking and still plausibly getting to a place where the wife enjoys her company is so much more interesting. I also find it refreshing to see a dad who's so focused on his family obligations that he doesn't even notice the beautiful woman in front of him except for her capacity to help his son.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt
To be fair, the beat where it's pointed out to her that Amber has a thing for her teacher hasn't happened yet. It was in one of the promos for "future episodes" a week or two back. For some reason, NBC draws scenes from the next two or three episodes when making promos for this series. It creates a really strange feeling of deja vu.

Adam, I'm not sure they really showed that. You see, I remembered a preview with someone saying "she worships him", and I'm pretty sure the speaker was Crosby. But that was actually Crosby talking about Raquel, however, through misdirection, they insinuated he was talking about Amber and her teacher. They do a lot of this with previews, show you something in such a way as to make it appear it is about one thing, but really something else. Like back before the episode where Crosby was playing with the fire and Jabar, they made the hospital phone call seem to be that one of them, Crosby or Jabar, had gotten burnt, when it was actually the finger stuck in the can.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Qui-Gon John

Adam, I'm not sure they really showed that.

I can't be certain, John...but I'm pretty sure they did.

It seemed to me to be fairly straightforward that the speaker was addressing Sarah about Amber. I'm pretty cautious about this kind of thing since I watch a fair amount of "reality" TV where they make that kind of lame manipulation (through editing of upcoming material) standard fare.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

I know what you mean, especially the weigh-ins on Biggest Loser. They cut to a commercial and you'd swear the person being weighed gained weight, then when they come back from the commercial, it's nothing like that.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Qui-Gon John /forum/thread/298617/parenthood-new-tv-series-on-nbc/30#post_3679322