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I really want to like 'Parenthood.' Especially since it seems I can't avoid it. NBC is promoting the new series, which premieres March 2, constantly during the Olympics. And unfortunately, those oft-repeated promos make the show look like grim death.

Watching these clips, you wouldn't even necessarily be able to tell what 'Parenthood's' premise is, unless you already knew that the show is an update of the 1989 Ron Howard movie. As it is, the promos just make the show look like it's about a parent who has trouble communicating with her kids, which makes it like, oh, every other family show in the history of television.

Maybe it's just me, but in every promotion for NBC's upcoming family dramedy 'Parenthood,' the images of Lauren Graham has a 'Gilmore Girls' vibe. Will Lauren be able to convincingly play a new character, divorced mom Sarah Braverman, and erase the nostalgic shadow cast by her performance as single mother Lorelai Gilmore? Or are we to believe what the NBC ads are showing us -- that Sarah B. is really just Lorelai 2.0.

According to Joel, who saw the pilot, Sarah is no Lorelai. She's not chummy-chummy with her children. She's a lot tougher and more of a mom than a buddy. That would definitely be different from 'Gilmore Girls.' Lorelai and Rory's relationship was unique because they were really best friends... most of the time.

More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about the women who made us laugh the most during the decade.

Since Lucille Ball, television has been a bastion of funny ladies, and the '00s were no exception. Like Lucy, many of the women on this list played second fiddle to no one. And those that weren't the stars of their own shows managed to steal the scene anyway the moment they got in front of the camera.

The '00s will probably go down in television history as one of those decades where the sitcom sputtered and almost died -- again! But it's alive and well now, with an amazing turn-around in 2009. But, as this list proves, it was never truly in danger. Throughout the decade these women provided plenty of laughs in both the hour and half-hour formats, proving that as long as we want to laugh, there will be brilliant actresses around to crack us up.

Here's our list of the top funny ladies of the decade:

Here's a play date you won't want to miss: NBC has just announced the premiere date for its new midseason drama series 'Parenthood.'

The one-hour dramedy, from the creative dream team of writer/producer Jason Katims ('Friday Night Lights') and producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer ('Arrested Development') will debut in a post-'Chuck' slot on Monday, March 1 at 9PM (this is after both the 'Heroes' season finale on Feb. 8 and the Winter Olympics have aired).

In honor of the great Frank Costanza, and to ring in the holiday season, we're celebrating Festivus here at the Squad by sharing our personal TV wish lists. This year, I'm wishing for ...

• An awesome end for Dollhouse. I know its cancellation was inevitable – the series was forever tanking in the ratings, and even Joss Whedon devotees were sometimes underwhelmed by it – but I really loved the experimental nature of the show. Dollhouse was a weird, funny and sometimes very dark playground where Whedon could try out new ideas and put new spins on old ones. I'm looking forward to watching the final episodes.


• More sci-fi stuff on Stargate Universe. I love the slow burn character arcs, but would it kill the writers to shake things up a bit with a little action and some fantastic science fiction-based stories?

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.

It's official. As of today, Lauren Graham will replace Maura Tierney in Parenthood, the NBC mid-season family drama. After the talk of Helen Hunt getting the role of a divorce mom struggling to get by, the former star of Gilmore Girls has landed the role... just like Bob wrote.

Hip-hip-hooray! Don't get me wrong. My heart goes out to Maura Tierney who had to drop out because she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I wish her a speed recovery and a great role in another series after her treatments are successful. And Helen Hunt might have been a lovely choice, too. But I am a major Gilmore Girls fan. I'm thrilled to pieces that Lauren is coming back to series TV.

UPDATE 10/12: It's official! Lauren Graham has just signed a deal to co-star in 'Parenthood,' premiering at midseason on NBC (full story here). And with that, we're officially calling bragging rights.

Original story:

Last month, when news broke that Helen Hunt might replace Maura Tierney in 'Parenthood,' my colleague Kelly Woo was so outraged she took her anger to our blog (read her "7 Actresses Who Should Star in 'Parenthood' Instead of Helen Hunt" post here).

Apparently, someone at NBC was listening. According to the Ausiello Files, one of Kelly's suggestions -- 'Gilmore Girls'' Lauren Graham -- is now up for the part of single mother Sarah Braverman, and just met with executive producer Jason Katims to discuss it (Tierney, who originally played Sarah in the pilot, left the show in September to continue her treatment for breast cancer).

Frequent TV Squad readers know about my undying love for Gilmore Girls. Newbies, you're about to get a taste (and you can thank ABC Family's endless slate of GG reruns for this post).

Since the show ended its seven-year run in 2007, I've been following the careers of stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel very closely. Graham won raves earlier this year for her Broadway debut as a nightclub singer in a revival of Guys & Dolls. Things were looking up for the talented actress until ABC recently decided not to pick up her new sitcom, but Graham continues to show up in supporting roles on the big screen.

Jon Gosselin's rumored infidelities have made big headlines in recent weeks -- and now they have the fifth season premiere of 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' running late, as producers scramble to incorporate the couple's marital woes into the series. Yep, Jon is on a roll.

In other news, Fox has pulled the dismally rated animated sitcom 'Sit Down, Shut Up' a week early, Lauren Graham and David E. Kelley's new pilots WON'T be picked up, and Joss Stone is set to return to 'The Tudors.'

See more of today's TV headlines, casting scoops and premiere dates after the jump.

I've been pretty hard on NBC of late, like calling for Jeff Zucker's head when NBC announced it will present Jay Leno every weeknight in prime time next fall, but I think I'm going to have to tip my cap to the network for how ER is coming to an end.

Not only have the producers lured George Clooney and Juliana Margulies back for a last go-round, they've also cast Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon for a guest turn. George, Julianna and Susan will all appear on ER on March 12.

I'm curious to see their appearances, but here's the casting that will have me definitely tuning in: Alexis Bledel is booked for ER two-hour finale on April 2.

Oh, Festivus, Oh, Festivus, the holiday for TV fans. How exciting that once a year we can close our eyes, click our heels and make our wishes for the magical ways television can be made better in the year to come. Still, there are more than a few changes that I think need to be made to make TV better ... not to say that it's bad. It just that everything can be better.

This is a great opportunity to get a little Scrooge-y and vent about what I want to see corrected/improved/altered in TV in 2009. Is it wrong that I hope the bigwigs at the networks and cable companies are surfing the net and take my grievances to heart? Is it wrong that I still believe they care about what viewers think? Yeah, probably, but here's my wish list anyway:

I used to get a lot of flak from my friends simply for being a dude who watched Gilmore Girls. The jabs about my ever-fading manliness would stop whenever I forced one of these Gilmore bashers to actually sit and watch the show. If they weren't drawn in by the witty dialogue, its amazingly sap-free wholesomeness, or its addictive plot lines, they were always impressed with star Lauren Graham's performance as Lorelai Gilmore.

If we lived in a perfect world, Graham would have a bookshelf full of awards for her seven-year run as Lorelai. When the show ended in 2007, Graham headed to the movies, usually landing small roles that failed to fully display her talent. Now, she's returning to TV.

Here's some news that I'm ready to sing about! One of my favorite TV actresses is heading to Broadway. Gilmore Girls' Lauren Graham will star in the revival of Guys and Dolls that opens in New York next March. She's not only going to be making her Broadway debut, she'll be doing it in one of the greatest musicals of all time. And she'll be playing not the ingenue role (Salvation Army missionary doll Miss Sarah Brown). No, she's smartly taking the very funny, very distinctive comic role as Miss Adelaide, lead singer/tootsie at the Hot Box nightclub!

For fans like me who always lamented the fact that Lauren never got the Emmy recognition she most definitely deserved for Gilmore Girls, the prospect of her doing Guys and Dolls could also mean she's got a shot at a Tony award.

Back on the night that Stephen Colbert announced that he'd be hitting Philadelphia, taking the show on the road for the first time, I had decided to go to bed early and just catch the rerun in the morning. My friend called me just as I began to doze off and immediately told me that she had gotten tickets for us to see Colbert in Philadelphia. I had no idea what the hell she was talking about, so when I hung up, I just shrugged it off as a late-night half-dream. The next morning, I watched the episode and it finally made sense: We were about to go on another Colbert Report adventure.

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