Parenthood: Season 1

There is nothing like the family unit as the basis of a television series. After all family oriented shows have been the foundation of TV programming for over a half a century now, some of the first comedies and dramas revolved around the traditional nuclear family of parents and children providing most of us with our oldest and fondest memories of television and our own family living room. Since it is axiomatic that television reflects the society that comprises its audience family series have evolved, changing as the definition of ‘typical’ family changes. The paradigm of mommy, daddy and 2.3 children no long applies as ‘Normal’ or even ‘Typical’. One of the new family series is one of the latest on NBC’s line-up, ‘Parenthood’. Here the family if more diffused, spread out and extended as the children grow up and ostensibly move out to form families of their own. This extended family has always been around and is in fact the cultural basis in many ethnic groups. The family under consideration here, the Bravermans, is several generations leaning heavily upon each other just to get through the difficult times inherent in our modern world. The premise of this series is indicative of the American audience’s desire to return to simpler core values. While there is a place for cutting edge series and have brought a lot of attention to the ever growing number of cable networks. With these niche networks free to experiment the standard broadcast stations can continue doing what they have traditionally done; provide the public with strong family dramas. What first drew my attention to this series was the cast. As a long time Gilmore Girl fan I was curious as to what the next project engaged by Lauren Graham was like. Added to that my long standing admiration for the acting abilities of Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia and I pretty much made it a point to tune in. after the first episode it received a place on my DVR season pass list.

The primary executive producers for this series are extremely well known; Ron Howard and his creative partner Brian Grazer. Aside from the very long list of award winning movies Howard was one of the first true child stars of television growing up on family oriented series like ‘Mayberry’ and ‘Happy Days’. With this series they bring their trademark commitment to quality entertainment back into our living rooms. The point being success begins at the foundation and this team of two men knows how to create entertainment. The series follows the life and times of three generations of the Braverman clan. The grandparents are Zeek (Craig T. Nelson) and Camille (Bonnie Bedelia). Zeek has wandered from one career to another running the gamut from hippie activist to businessman. As part of the Baby Boomer generation he was constantly in the process of ‘finding himself’. Fortunately holding down the home front and raising kids came relatively easy to Camille. The oldest of these ‘kids’ is Adam ((Peter Krause), forty years old, finds his corporate job stressful but is consistently the ads hoc problem solver among his siblings. He has a wife, Kristina (Monica Potter) and two children, eight year old Max (Max Burkholder), who has autistic spectrum order and fifteen year old Haddie (Sarah Ramos) who is starting to act out a bit more than her parents expected. Considering Max demands to dress like a pirate this may seem mild. Next after Adam is Sarah ((Lauren Graham), 38 and recently moved back into the parental home because she was unable to make ends meet in this financial climate, she has two kids, a son the very sensitive Drew (Miles Heizer) who has reacted badly to his absent father and the required teenage rebel Amber (Mae Whitman). She has become a bad influence on her cousin Haddie but is trying to straighten out her life. This effort is throw off when her mom begins to date a teacher Amber has a crush on.

Crosby (Dax Shepard) is next in line and generally considered the family screw-up; the one who refuses to grow up. He lives on a house boat, just get by and is commitment phobic. Just when he thinks he is ready to settle down a former girl friend shows up telling him he has a son, Jabbar (Tyree Brown). All of the sudden Crosby is the father of a bi-racial child and begins to bond with the boy. The youngest of the Braverman clan is Julia (Erika Christensen). Julia is high strung, ambitious, hyper competitive and stubborn, while great qualities for a corporate lawyer it frequently gets in the way of relating to her family. She and her stay at home husband Joel (Sam Jaeger) have one child, Sydney (Savannah Paige Rae) who just tested in the gifted range. One of the best thing about a multi generational format like this is there is bound to be some character or set of circumstances that you can identify with on a personal level. In the economic climate prevalent in the country today an increasing number of adults find they have to retreat back to the security of their parent’s home like Sarah here. This fiscal crisis hit the grandparents. Zeek made a bad investment that now threats the stability of their retirement. Another theme presented here is the growing concern with autistic spectrum disorders. Max is considered high functioning but the series doesn’t under play the importance of this disorder and the disruptive influence it has on the entire family. Naturally the usual theme like teen angst and spousal jealousy are addressed but the writers use the more familiar topics to flavor the proceedings not to drive it. The cast is excellent it is interesting to watch Graham tackle a variation of her well known Gilmore persona with the ‘anti-Rory’ as a daughter. You might recognize the young woman playing Amber, Ms Rae is becoming a popular actress in the Indy world and is remembered as the president’s young daughter in ‘Independence Day’. Christensen is perfect as the wound too tight Julia. Not only does every family have at least one hyper type ‘A’ personality but watching her is such a fit of activity that any life seems sedate by comparison. These are flawed people that have to face the real world and its inherent problems. there is a lot of heart in this series but it is presented with a warmth and gentle humor that will keep you coming back as a true fan.

Posted 08/12/2010