Parenthood, NBC, Tuesdays 10pm
IMDb; NBC; TV.com; TWoP; Wikipedia

Caution: spoilers.

So... this 2010 show is based on a 1989 movie that I never saw, and there was a 1990 TV series also based on that movie, which I also never saw. But I wanted to check this show out because the cast includes some actors I like. There's Lauren Graham (who was awesome in one of my favorite shows ever, Gilmore Girls). There's Mae Whitman (who was awesome in several live-action as well as animated roles, including my very favorite show ever, Avatar: The Last Airbender). There's Peter Krause, from yet another of my favorite shows, Sports Night. There's Craig T. Nelson (who was in "Coach," which I was never big into, but he did voice work in one of my favorite movies ever, The Incredibles). There's Sarah Ramos (who was good in American Dreams). And... a bunch of other people, who are mostly unfamiliar to me. It's a sprawling ensemble cast.

Anyway. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia play Zeek and Camille Braverman, the grandparents in this large family. Their grown children include Sarah (Graham), who has just moved back in with her parents (in Berkeley), as she's suffered some financial trouble. She's divorced, and she and her two kids, 16-year-old Amber Holt (Whitman) and 14-year-old Drew Holt, had been living in Fresno. Amber is rather rebellious and sarcastic. Drew seems a bit withdrawn, and would apparently rather be living with his dad, though his dad... hasn't got time for him. Then there's Adam (Krause), who is the most stable of the middle generation of Bravermans, who the others often go to for guidance (he has especially good chemistry with Sarah). But he has problems of his own. He and his wife, Kristina, have two kids, 15-year-old Haddie (Ramos), who has always been a good kid, but apparently starts cracking under that pressure; and 8-year-old Max, who has just been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. This is something that's hard for Adam and Kristina to deal with, and Adam's hoping for support from his own father, though he has never been happy with how Zeek raised him and his siblings. Then there's Julia Braverman-Graham, who is successful at work, but stressed out, and who is clearly not happy that her husband, Joel Graham (a stay-at-home dad), seems to be better liked by their precocious 5-year-old daughter, Sydney, than she is. Finally, the youngest of Zeek and Camille's kids is Crosby, who isn't big into responsibility or commitment. At the start of the series, he's dating a woman named Katie, who wants to have kids, and he reluctantly agrees to do so (in three years). Then out of the blue, he finds out that an old girlfriend, Jasmine Trussell, has a young son named Jabbar, and he's the father.

Anyway... it's a show about family, and in particular, as you might have guessed from the title, about the nature of parenthood, and its various joys and challenges, I suppose. But, of course, it's about all types of family connections; being kids, being siblings, being cousins, whatever. And, of course, there are various ongoing plot threads throughout the first season. Amber has a crush on her English teacher, Mark Cyr, but her mom eventually starts a relationship with him, though... they kind of put that on hold for awhile. Also, Amber has a boyfriend back in Fresno named Damien, who Sarah doesn't want her seeing anymore. Drew starts looking to Adam as something of a father figure. Crosby starts getting more involved in Jabbar's life and really seems to take to being a father, which is rather unexpected. He also eventually gets involved with Jasmine again (though I don't even remember exactly when his relationship with Katie ended). Haddie had a boyfriend named Steve, but eventually she broke up with him (partly on Amber's advice), and that... led to some major drama between Haddie and Amber. Zeek made a bad investment, which could ruin him financially, he might end up losing his house. But there's also an incident from years ago that combines with various issues to threaten Zeek and Camille's marriage. At the end of the season, Jasmine gets a job in New York, and Crosby contemplates moving there to be with her and Jabbar. And throughout everything, there are ongoing issues for the various characters, like Sarah worrying she's making mistakes and not a good mother, Adam and Kristina worrying about Max, as I mentioned, and... well, lots of different things going on in everyone's lives. It's complicated.

In season two, Sarah gets a job as an intern at Adam's company, and eventually starts dating Adam's boss, Gordon, for awhile. But the company is in financial trouble, and eventually Gordon sells it to a guy named Cory (who Adam doesn't respect, because he's kind of a hippie or something). Jasmine returns and her relationship with Crosby continues to get more serious. Adam and Kristina continue to have trouble dealing with Max's Asperger's, as well as problems when Haddie starts seeing a 19-year-old recovering alcoholic named Alex. They like Alex, he's clearly got a lot of good qualities, but they're not comfortable with their 16-year-old daughter dating him because he's older, has his own place, and because of his history with alcohol. And that leads to a major rift between Haddie and them; she moves in with her grandparents, which causes tension between Kristina and Camille (who already knew Alex before Haddie met him; he worked at a soup kitchen where she volunteered). Also, Zeek and Camille continue to have troubles with their marriage, though they keep trying to work on it. And... as always, there are all kinds of other things going on throughout the season, with all the many characters.

Anyway, I really like the writing and acting. I find all the characters interesting, and I enjoy the way they relate to each other (even if it's sometimes painful). There's lots of good drama (and melodrama) as well as plenty of humor. Plus, I should say I have a personal interest in Asperger's (which I may have myself; it's not really something that generally got diagnosed when I was a kid, though it seems to have become quite trendy, in the last few years). So that whole storyline is important to me. But really, I'm interested in all the various storylines pertaining to all the characters....