It’s a show with the capability to make you laugh out loud, grin widely at your screen and jerk you to tears in the last thirty seconds of an episode. With an amazing cast, captivating plot and incredibly realistic portrayal of what it means to be family, “Parenthood” is a must-watch show.
The first season begins with all the right ingredients of an eventful series. The Braverman family includes Zeek Braverman, the headstrong, loving patriarch of the Bravermans, along with his compassionate wife Camille. The show also features their four adult children: Adam, the earnest and caring eldest; Julia, the hardworking eldest sister; Sarah, the fun-loving sister; and Crosby, the youngest and troublemaker of the family. Along with the immediate family comes the partners of each sibling and a gang of grandchildren, who add a dynamic and fresh energy to the show. As a family-oriented person myself, I couldn’t help but become immediately addicted.
The accuracy in the portrayal of family dysfunction is what makes this show so real and so moving. As an audience, we watch and sympathize with the heartbreak and joys that come with raising a family. We experience the struggle Julia faces as she and her husband adopt a young boy, and how they try their hardest to incorporate him into their family. We also see Sarah struggle to raise her kids as a single mom after her drug-addicted husband leaves their family. Adam and his wife Christina’s interactions with their family are constantly chaotic and stressful as they cope with a teenage daughter and a younger son with Aspergers. The situations are as endless and inventive as they are brutally realistic.
Along with authenticity, Parenthood has an amazing and talented cast. Patriarchal Zeek is played by Craig Nelson, whose earnest nature and honest intentions perfectly capture his role. While you may have seen him in small roles in recent movies like “Blades of Glory” or “The Proposal,” this show has him at his greatest acting abilities, with a role he fits into extremely well. Lauren Graham, known for her performance on “Gilmore Girls,” plays Sarah, one of the daughters. Graham’s wit and fun-loving nature suit her role as Sarah, who is young at heart and always finding herself in uncomfortable situations. At only age 16, Max Burkholder plays a grandchild “Max,” who suffers from Aspergers. With his stunning acting and devotion to perfecting the noticeable effects of Asbergers, I was truly convinced he had experienced the syndrome first hand.
The content on TV today doesn’t have to be carefully crafted in order to air. I feel that every fall a new batch of comedies, dramas and sitcoms are announced, all lacking the potential for their story-lines to be developed. However, “Parenthood” differs from them all. Without being too bland or too corny, the show establishes a perfect combination of sentiment and joy, making for a wonderful show.
You can watch seasons one through four on Netflix… Trust me, after you finish the entire series in two weeks, you’ll thank me for this one.