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'Parenthood' - 'Pilot' Recap (Series Premiere)
by Allison Waldman, posted Mar 3rd 2010 9:45AM
(S01E01) There are moments in 'Parenthood' that are so uncomfortably realistic that you might think it's a re-telling of the PBS series 'The Loud Family.' Yes, it's that real in some ways, but is it entertaining and inviting? Would you want to keep up with the Bravermans week after week? That depends. The show offers promise, but it's a jell-o that's yet to be jelled. It would be hard for any series to go wrong with Lauren Graham and Peter Krause and Craig T. Nelson top-lining the cast. They all acquit themselves well, although the characters are all under more pressure than a pressure cooking with a faulty lid. You just sense explosions around every corner. And that's the way it is with a lot of pilots, especially where there's so large a cast.
There was too much stuffed in the show so everyone had a moment to register. You walked away from the program feeling like you had overeaten at at a holiday dinner. Or in the case of the Bravermans (like the Walkers on 'Brothers & Sisters') drank too much wine. What is it about California family dramas that just overdoes the vino? Where were the two-liter bottles of Sprite and Diet Coke?
Big brother Adam, Peter Krause, has all the angst on his shoulders. The siblings turn to him more than Daddy Zeke. Zeke has issues and pushed all their buttons too much growing up. But Adam has all the signs of the facilitator. Still, he can't make Max whole. When Christina flipped out because Max may have Asperger's, the scene rang true. And later when Adam had to admit to his father -- his father who knows everything about everything -- that his son is damaged, it was heartbreaking. (Although 'Men of a Certain Age' handled Albert's neuroses with more subtlety than Max's story.)
Julia didn't have much air time to come off as more than a workaholic mom who silently questions the wisdom of her choices. Crosby's story had the most bizarre elements, as his commitment phobic attitude was challenged by his long-time girlfriend's biologically ticking clock. It was all over the top, played at with the volume on eleven, and then the capper was the surprise appearance of Jasmine with Jabbar. Hello, daddy.
Sarah's story was the most real, if only because she doesn't have a job, a home or everything figured out. She's made a mess of her life by marrying the wrong guy and now has returned home to start over for herself and her teens. The kids resent her making them move from Fresno, but Sarah is doing her best and that came across. But the pilot overload included not just Amber's arrest, Drew's running away but also Sarah's hook up with her high school ex. That would have been enough for three episodes!
So, bottom line, will 'Parenthood' be a keeper? It is. It'll get better. The pace will slow down and the characters will come into focus. They'll add some comedy. NBC now needs only to give it room to evolve.
Other points of interest
-- Who would put frozen sperm in a thermos in the freezer next to the coffee grinds? Great line, though: "That's right, I Googled your sperm."
-- The scene with Max at school was a great way to show his problems. It wasn't the fight, it was the inability to cut construction paper in the shape he wanted.
-- Entire extended families do not go to Little League baseball games. That was unrealistic and TV b.s. Just like they all showed up for the recital. Come on, really? I'm in a family of five and we all don't attend every school play and activity for our nieces and nephews.
-- Julia's needling Sarah about a job at the first dinner was brilliant. Family can be so annoying.
-- This 'Parenthood' is not like the 1989 movie. It could use some of that movie's humor, though. It needs some levity.
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