Parenthood Information

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. 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.

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, husband to Camille and father to Adam, Sarah, Crosby, and Julia.
• Bonnie Bedelia as Camille Braverman, the matriarch of the family, wife to Zeek and mother to Adam, Sarah, Crosby, and Julia.
• Peter Krause as Adam Braverman, husband to Kristina and father to Haddie, Max, and Nora. He is the oldest Braverman sibling that is often the first sought for advice in times of crisis.
• Monica Potter as Kristina Braverman, wife to Adam and mother to Haddie, Max and Nora.
• Sarah Ramos (starring seasons 1"3, recurring season 4) as Haddie Braverman, Adam and Kristina's daughter who has often struggled to understand and accept her brother's condition, and has recently moved away to attend college.
• Max Burkholder as Max Braverman, Adam's and Kristina's son who was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and is incredibly gifted in many ways.
• Lauren Graham as Sarah Tracey Braverman, mother to Amber and Drew. She is the second oldest Braverman sibling who copes with the challenges of a single parent raising two children whom have spent most of their lives without their father. Due to financial reasons, Sarah moved back in with her parents.
• Mae Whitman as Amber Holt, Sarah's rebellious, yet willful daughter who is a musician and currently works for Adam and Crosby in the recording studio.
• Miles Heizer as Drew Holt, Sarah's mild-mannered son who is more forgiving of his father's past indiscretions than his sister. He often struggles to identify with his mother's recent love interests and is quick to dismiss their attempts at bonding with him.
• Dax Shepard as Crosby Braverman, third child to Zeek and Camille, husband to Jasmine, and father to Jabbar. He works as a record producer in a family business recently started with his brother Adam. At the beginning of the series, Jasmine, ex-girlfriend at the time, introduced Crosby to his five-year-old son, Jabbar, for the first time. Crosby is known for erratic, irresponsible behavior at times and often needs guidance from other family members to get out of difficult situations.
• Joy Bryant as Jasmine Braverman, wife to Crosby and mother to Jabbar. Jasmine is a dancer who initially faced conflicting emotions about dating Crosby while juggling professional demands.
• Tyree Brown (recurring season 1, starring seasons 2"present) as Jabbar Trussell, Jasmine and Crosby's son.
• Erika Christensen as Julia Graham, wife to Joel and mother to Sydney and Victor. She is the youngest of the four Braverman siblings, and was a lawyer at a top law firm until quitting recently to focus more on her family.
• Sam Jaeger as Joel Graham, husband to Julia and father to Sydney and Victor. Initially a stay-at-home father, Joel has recently returned to construction as a project manager.
• Savannah Paige Rae as Sydney Graham, daughter to Julia and Joel.
• Xolo Mariduena (season 4"present) as Victor, Julia and Joel's adopted son.

Braverman family tree

Development and production

The series premiered on March 2, 2010, at 10:00 p.m. on NBC following The Biggest Loser. 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. On September 10, 2009, a spokesperson for Tierney announced that she was leaving the show because of conflicts with her treatment schedule. Tierney's already-filmed scenes were deleted. 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. 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 pilot episode was filmed in Northern California, using local crews, while the rest of the series continues to be filmed in Los Angeles. 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. Two other shows, Warehouse 13 and Sanctuary, are also dedicated to her memory.

On April 20, 2010, Parenthood was renewed for a second season by NBC, as reported by Variety. 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.

On May 10, 2012, NBC renewed Parenthood for a 15-episode fourth season. Ray Romano joined the cast on September 11, 2012.

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

Critical response

Parenthood itself received mostly mixed to positive reviews, scoring a 61 out of 100 on Metacritic. 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." 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." 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."

Already in its third season, The New Yorker writer Emily Nussbaum noted the show's positive development saying that it "has become stronger with each season". She deemed Parenthood one of only two great dramas on network television next to The Good Wife and cited its ability to be warm and sentimental without being dumb as one of its strengths. Upon the fourth season premiere, The Washington Post TV columnist Jen Chaney called the show "a perfect piece of 'reali-scapism': A television show that tackles subjects many of us confront in our own lives and dips all of it in just enough escapism to make it enjoyable to watch." Rachel Stein of Television Without Pity felt that the show "possesses the same family bonding that Lorelai and Rory [of Gilmore Girls] had (times 18 for every member of this family), each episode has a lot of purposeful quirk and there's a certain quaintness about life that it captures in the Braverman clan." Parenthood was furthermore praised for the way it tackles Asperger's syndrome. The moment during which Kristina and Adam explain to Max he has the syndrome was listed in TV Guide Top TV Moments of 2011.

Accolades

Year	Awards Group	Category	Recipient	Result
2010	Casting Society of America	Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Television Pilot - Drama	Carrie Audino, Laura Schiff and Nina Henninger	rowspan="9"
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Female Breakout Star	Mae Whitman
		Choice TV: Parental Unit	Lauren Graham
	Television Critics Association Awards	Outstanding New Program
2011	ALMA Awards	Favorite TV Actress - Supporting Role	Sarah Ramos
2012
	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series	Ken Whittingham
	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV series - Supporting Young Actor	Max Burkholder
		Best Performance in a TV series - Guest Starring Young Actor 18-21	Max Ehrich
	NAMIC Vision Awards	Best Drama		rowspan="4"
	PRISM Awards	Drama Series Episode " Substance Use	Episode "Damage Control"
		Male Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline	Craig T. Nelson
		Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline " Mental Health	Max's Asperger's
		Performance in a Drama Episode	Lauren Graham	rowspan="3"
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Guest Actor in a Drama Series	Jason Ritter
2013	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Joy Bryant

Episodes

Season	Time slot (ET)	Episodes	Season premiere		Season finale		TV season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Viewers (in millions)	Date	Viewers (in millions)
1	Tuesday 10:00 pm	13	March 2, 2010	8.10	May 25, 2010	6.04	2009"10	71st	6.39
2		22	September 14, 2010	7.60	April 19, 2011	6.32	2010"11	77th	6.87
3		18	September 13, 2011	6.29	February 28, 2012	5.16	2011"12	76th	6.57
4		15	September 11, 2012	5.48	January 22, 2013	4.87	2012"13	TBA	TBA

DVD release

DVD Name	Region 1 Release Date	Region 2 Release Date	Region 4 Release Date	Ep #	Discs	Additional Information
Season 1	August 31, 2010	July 11, 2011	December 1, 2010	13	3	Deleted scenes, Extended episodes, Episode commentary with Executive Producer Jason Katims and "Get To Know Your Parents" featurette#
Season 2	August 30, 2011	TBA	September 7, 2011	22	6	TBA
Season 3	August 8, 2012	TBA	October 3, 2012	18	4	TBA