(S01E07) "Would you boys like to come over for a play date?" - Yoga girl to Crosby

I love 'Parenthood.' Yes, there's a lot of people to keep track of, but it's all good. The show has some great players, but really, all I need is Peter Krause and Lauren Graham. And Dax Shepard and Jason Ritter. He reminds me of his dad, which makes me both happy and sad, but mostly happy.

The kids on this show are awesome, too -- Max Burkholder, Mae Whitman, Tyree Brown ... ok, since I'm filling in for Danny, I'll stop crushing on all the actors and get to the review. Follow me after the jump.

Parenthood was supposed to be one of NBC's fall shows this year. They really could have used it too, since it's actually good, and "good" seems to be in short supply at NBC these days. However, star Maura Tierney had to stop filming early on due to health reasons. Eventually she needed to leave the cast permanently, and re-shoots had to be done with her replacement, Gilmore Girls' Lauren Graham.

NBC has just released the first two promos for Parenthood, which is now premiering in March, after the Olympics. The first one features Graham as Sarah, a single mom to two difficult teenagers. Her daughter is played by Arrested Development's Mae Whitman. It's a short clip, but it's a pretty good indication of the character, which is basically what would have happened to Lorelai Gilmore if Rory hadn't turned out so perfect.

Joan Cusack has made a career of finding the comedically crumbling foundations beneath what are at first normal-seeming characters. The two-time Oscar nominee also has a knack for making the most out of her roles, and in the new Lifetime movie Acceptance, both of her greatest skills are on display.

In the movie, which debuts on Saturday at 9PM ET, Cusack plays Nina Rockefeller, the hard-driving and high-strung mother of the movie's protagonist, Taylor (played by Mae Whitman of Arrested Development). The movie examines the pressure on high school overachievers to go to just the "right" college, and the story is told in a way that looks at it from both the students' and the parents' perspectives.

Cusack called me from Chicago (where she lives full-time) earlier this week. We talked about college pressures, if the notion of a Lifetime movie has changed, and why she loves working with her brother John so damn much.