Parenthood (new NBC series)

[Fievel]

I really hope this show is good. The original movie is still a favorite of mine (holy crap!! It's 21 years old now!!).
The cast for this is pretty well stacked, too. Although Maura Tierney having to drop and Lauren Graham stepping in might be debated though I think they're both good.

[Tyrone_Shoelaces]

I liked the movie when I saw it, lo those many years ago. I vaguely remember seeing the first series they did and not liking it. This time I just can't bring myself to give a shit. Losing Maura Tierney doesn't help that.

[Ribbons]

Hey, Lauren Graham is a pretty fantastic actress and the fact that she never got nominated for an Emmy while Gilmore Girls was still on the air is criminal. That said the previews don't look that good.

[stereosforgeeks]

The previews don't look good at all, but Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights, Roswell) is running it now so that could mean good things.

[Ribbons]

I caught the first two episodes. Despite the fact that a wealthy Californian family with relatively minor problems isn't one of the more compelling stories on television, I did find the characters and their relationships pretty interesting. The actors all do a good job, and they have great chemistry together (as spouses, siblings, parents), so that helps.

Basically the biggest problem for me is that it feels dated. I've never seen the 1989 movie (or the failed 1994 TV show) on which it's based, but it seems ridiculous that all these characters keep winding up in the same room 5 times an episode. What with real life, cell phones, the Internet and all, why do they keep driving to each other's houses to have 5 minute conversations? Don't they have responsibilities that would make that kind of behavior really inconvenient? I dunno. It also verges on schmaltz a little too often, but it's definitely more entertaining than the commercials make it seem, at least.

[Fievel]

I've only seen one or two episodes of this front to back. Most of the time I come in during the middle of an episode and miss out on quite a bit.
Having said that.... I think this show is really good.

[Peven]

i have seen every episode, thank you Hulu, and it has become one of the few shows i look forward to every week, though not without its flaws. i don't think showing the family actually being in the same room together is smaltzy or contrived or dated either. it rarely shows them all in the same room together, though they are into big family get togethers....as are many other real families. so they live in the same area and make a point to actually see each other instead of just drop a text, that just seems like natural behavior for people who live in a big but close family, plus it makes for more interesting watching when you have a decent ensemble to mix and match like that. have some people become so WALL E-like that real face to face interaction with people you know on a regular basis seems dated? that is both sad and scary to me

[Ribbons]

I should have made it clearer in my original post that I understand WHY they do it. It's much more interesting to see two actors play off of each other face-to-face than over the phone, or not at all. And the family get-together at the beginning of the first episode is probably my favorite scene in the entire series (and wish they'd do another one of those sometime). It's just that it's a pretty huge extended family, and considering how many different things they have going on as separate families and as individuals, all the driving around and stopping by for a question or a quick chat seems like kind of a stretch.

However I have continued to watch the show and I like it, despite a couple of problems. Even though most of the issues they deal with are personal, it almost never gets cliched or melodramatic. And the cast has such great chemistry together it's kind of incredible; they really feel like an actual family. It's kind of hard to single anyone out, but I've been pretty impressed with Mae Whitman, who plays Lauren Graham's daughter Amber.

[Fievel]

I still love this show and am bumping it up from Page 3 just to say that. Well that and that their Thanksgiving episode was really good. One thing that the show handles really well is the family dynamic. They are such a flawed family and that aspect is really well-written without becoming a pathetic cliche (although the grandparents' affairs is a step in that direction for me).

[Bob Samonkey]

threshold, Oh I do not attribute that may commence unflinchingly. conscionable the doom of horse you somebody seen the pol, paw?! " Inner the tacit, so still intense. See both of the.

God thats so true... I am crying right now....

[Fievel]

Thank the gods you quoted that!!! That is SOLID GOLD.
Shakespeare's corpse is weeping at the sheer beauty of the prose.

[Fievel]

This show is so criminally underrated.
Fantastic season finale.

I wish Craig T. Nelson was my dad or grandfather.

[Ribbons]

The only episode I watched this year was the one with Michael Emerson as The Amazing Andy.

Good to hear that it's still good, though. After watching all of Friday Night Lights in the past year, I'm willing to give anything involving Jason Katims a chance.