Parenthood

Parenthood
Parenthood intertitle
Genre	Family drama Comedy-drama
Created by	Ron Howard
Developed by	Jason Katims
Starring	Peter Krause Lauren Graham Dax Shepard Monica Potter Erika Christensen Sam Jaeger Savannah Paige Rae Sarah Ramos Max Burkholder Joy Bryant Tyree Brown Miles Heizer Mae Whitman Bonnie Bedelia Craig T. Nelson
Opening theme	"Forever Young" by Bob Dylan "When We Were Young" by Lucy Schwartz (international version)
Composer(s)	Jon Ehrlich
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	53 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Ron Howard Brian Grazer Jason Katims Thomas Schlamme
Producer(s)	Dylan Massin
Location(s)	Roseville, California
Running time	43 minutes
Production company(s)	True Jack Productions Universal Television Imagine Television
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Picture format	1080i;[1] HDTV
Original run	March 2, 2010 (2010-03-02) – present
Chronology
Preceded by	Parenthood (1989 film) Parenthood (1990)
External links
Website

Parenthood is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Katims and produced by Imagine Television and Universal Television. The first season premiered on March 2, 2010, on NBC. Loosely based on the 1989 film of the same title, Parenthood is the second adaptation of the film to air on television preceded by the 1990–91 television series.

Following on the heels of the critically acclaimed TV series, Friday Night Lights, Jason Katims approached Ron Howard and Brian Grazer with the idea of creating an updated, modern adaptation of the 1989 film and bringing it to television.^[2] Production began in 2009 with Katims as the head writer, showrunner, and executive producer.

The series was renewed for a fourth season, consisting of 15 episodes, on May 10, 2012.^[3]

Overview

The show revolves around the Braverman family, which has expanded to three generations, featuring patriarch Zeek Braverman and matriarch Camille Braverman, their oldest son Adam, his wife and three children, their daughter Sarah and her two children, their second son Crosby, his new wife Jasmine and their young son Jabbar, and finally their daughter Julia, her husband, their young daughter Sydney, and their newly adopted young boy, Victor.

The series is set in Berkeley, California and the San Francisco Bay Area, but is filmed primarily in Southern California.

Cast

• Craig T. Nelson as Zeek Braverman, the patriarch of the Braverman family, Camille's husband and the father of Adam, Sarah, Crosby, and Julia.
• Bonnie Bedelia as Camille Braverman, the matriarch of the family and Zeek's wife.
• Peter Krause as Adam Braverman, Kristina's husband and Max's, Nora's and Haddie's father. He is the oldest Braverman child and all of his siblings and parents consult him in times of crisis.
• Monica Potter as Kristina Braverman, Adam's wife, and a source of stability and support for anyone who needs it. She is the mother to Haddie, Max and Nora.
• Sarah Ramos as Haddie Braverman, Adam's and Kristina's 17-year-old daughter. She is a straight-A student who plays soccer and has several friends; she aspires to be the quintessential "good girl" in order to compensate for her brother's behavioral problems.
• Max Burkholder as Max Braverman, Adam's and Kristina's 11-year-old son, who was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. He is also incredibly gifted academically.
• Lauren Graham as Sarah Tracey Braverman, the second child and oldest daughter. She and her two children (Amber and Drew) have moved back into her parents' house because of her financial situation.
• Mae Whitman as Amber Holt, Sarah's rebellious, willful, and not very studious daughter who is seeking direction in life.
• Miles Heizer as Drew Holt, Sarah's sensitive son, who longs for a male role model. His girl friend is Amy.
• Dax Shepard as Crosby Braverman, husband of Jasmine, father of Jabbar. He works as a small-time record producer. His former lover now wife, Jasmine, introduced Crosby to his five-year-old son, Jabbar, after five years.
• Joy Bryant as Jasmine Braverman, a dancer, Crosby's wife, and mother of Crosby's son Jabbar.
• Tyree Brown as Jabbar Braverman, Jasmine & Crosby's son.
• Erika Christensen as Julia Braverman-Graham, Sydney's mother and the youngest of the four Braverman children. She is a lawyer at a top corporate firm while her husband, Joel, supports her ambitions by serving as a stay-at-home dad to their daughter.
• Sam Jaeger as Joel Graham, Julia's husband and Sydney's father. He is a stay-at-home father, and is popular among the stay-at-home mothers in their social circle at Sydney's school, a fact which sometimes puts strains on his marriage. We discovered in the season finale of Season 3 that he is Jewish.
• Savannah Paige Rae as Sydney Graham, Julia and Joel's 7-year-old daughter. We discovered at the end of Season 3 that she is half Jewish.

Braverman family tree

Series background and premiere

The series premiered on March 2, 2010, at 10:00 p.m. on NBC following The Biggest Loser.^[4] The series was originally scheduled to premiere on NBC on September 23, 2009. However, on July 10, 2009, it was announced that Parenthood would be pushed back to midseason due to actress Maura Tierney's breast cancer.^[5][6] On September 10, 2009, a spokesperson for Tierney announced that she was leaving the show because of conflicts with her treatment schedule.^[7] Tierney's already-filmed scenes were deleted.^[8] On October 9, 2009, it was reported that Lauren Graham would replace Tierney in the upcoming series. Helen Hunt had been approached, but she and NBC could not come to a financial deal.^[9] The premiere date was then set for March 1, 2010, at 9:00 p.m. but was moved again to the following day at 10:00 p.m. after The Jay Leno Show was cancelled.

Parenthood's pilot episode was filmed in Northern California, using local crews, while the rest of the series continues to be filmed in Los Angeles.^[10] The series premiere was dedicated to the memory of Nora O'Brien, a Vice President at NBC, who died on the set of Parenthood on April 29, 2009, after collapsing from an aneurysm.^[5] Two other shows, Warehouse 13 and Sanctuary, are also dedicated to her memory.^[11]

On April 20, 2010, Parenthood was renewed for a second season by NBC, as reported by Variety.^[12] The second season premiered September 14, 2010. Later that year on November 15, it was announced that Parenthood would be moving to Mondays at 10/9c beginning March 7. However, due to an overhaul of NBC's Law & Order: Los Angeles putting the show on an indefinite hiatus, the network announced on January 18, 2011, that Parenthood would remain in the Tuesday 10/9c time slot.

On May 12, 2011, Parenthood was renewed for a third season and premiered at 10:00 p.m. on September 13.^[13] On May 10, 2012 NBC has renewed Parenthood for a 15-episode fourth season.

Soundtrack

On August 31, 2010, Arrival Records/Scion Music Group released a soundtrack for the first season of Parenthood. The soundtrack consists of 10 songs including the theme song for Parenthood, "Forever Young" by Bob Dylan, and the international theme, "When We Were Young" by Lucy Schwartz. The soundtrack also includes a cover of "Forever Young" performed by John Doe and Lucy Schwartz.

Andrew McMahon, of the band Jack's Mannequin, revealed in speaking about the band's album, People and Things, that the song "Casting Lines" was written after he was contacted by producers of the show as a possible theme song for the series. After recording the song and sending it to producers, he was told they appreciated his efforts but they had selected "Forever Young" as the show's theme song. The song does appear on Jack's Mannequin's third album, People and Things.

Track listing

1. "Forever Young" – Bob Dylan
2. "Darlin' Do Not Fear" – Brett Dennen
3. "Colors" – Amos Lee
4. "Kick Drum Heart" – The Avett Brothers
5. "Put Your Records On" – Corinne Bailey Rae
6. "In My Dreams" – Eels
7. "Change of Time" – Josh Ritter
8. "When We Were Young" – Lucy Schwartz
9. "In These Arms" – The Swell Season
10. "Solitaire" – Wilco
11. "Let It Be Me" – Ray LaMontagne
12. "Forever Young" – John Doe and Lucy Schwartz

Reception

Parenthood itself received mostly positive to mixed reviews, scoring a 61 out of 100 on Metacritic.^[14] Newark Star Ledger's Alan Sepinwall wrote that "Like the movie that inspired it, Parenthood isn't an instant classic, but it's smart and warm and knowing, and it casts its net so wide that at least part of it should connect with you."^[15] While Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Parenthood isn't better than Modern Family, but it's different—it's its own creation, thanks to the deft touch and careful characterizations developed by executive producer Jason Katims and his writers."^[16] Sheri Levine of The Vancouver Sun wrote, "The cast moves effortlessly from providing serious, thoughtful answers to cracking jokes and allowing the funny moments to shine through. It's almost as though art is imitating life, or life imitating art."^[17]. Already in its third season, the show received a glowing review in The New Yorker, where Emily Nussbaum wrote "it's one of only two great dramas on network television. (The other is "The Good Wife.")...If it gets cancelled, I may never recover. The show has become stronger with each season"^[18]

Accolades

Episodes

DVD release

Notes

External links

Television portal

• Official website

• Parenthood at the Internet Movie Database
• Parenthood at TV.com