Did anyone catch this? We remembered about 10 minutes after it started and switched to it. We had been looking forward to it, despite having the promos crammed down our throats every 20 minutes during the Olympics- it looked like a good ensemble cast, mix of comedy and drama, and we’ve been looking for another good hour-long drama to get involved in.
We were underwhelmed. Since we missed the first 10 minutes, we missed the (presumed) explanation for why all four families are living with their parents in their huge, beautifully decorated suburban home, or if not living there, appear to spend every free moment there. The situations were contrived and implausible, the plot was unrealistic, and the whole thing reeked of “let’s throw this big family together and see how silly it can be, but with some touching moments”. :rolleyes: In that respect it was worse than Brothers and Sisters.
At the end I said “and now the kid will hit a home run. No, it’ll just be a double; a home run will be too over the top”. Fortunately they didn’t show you the hit- you only heard the clink of the aluminum bat- so I guess that was somwhat redeeming.
Is this based on the Steve Martin movie “Parenthood”?
I could be wrong, but I seem to remember there was a short-lived sitcom spun off from that film back in the early '90s.
Yep. It’s the same producers as the movie. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.
Having just rewatched the movie a couple weeks ago the TV show seemed lifted right out of the movie which was disappointing. Same characters and same situations. Like a made for TV remake of the movie.
It was disappointing in that sense but may get better once they break away from those plots and get into their own story lines.
I’ll be honest–I probably would’ve given it a shot, but it seemed so familiar to the fantastic Modern Family from the incessant ads that I figured it was unlikely to be better (despite being twice as long). I’ve heard some good things, but I’m fine with the one family comedy I’ve got now.
I like Peter Krause just fine, but I got so sick of the advertising for this show (not only on TV, but seemingly in every magazine I read) that I skipped it. It just didn’t look that compelling.
I’ve never seen the orgininal movie, so all the critical comparisons to that don’t bother me. And I barely watched the Olympics, so I wasn’t overwhelmed with ads for it.
My wife and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I like Peter Krause and Ron Howard, so I imagine it will be good. Hopefully it’ll last longer than the last time Ron Howard teamed up with Mae Whitman, on “Arrested Development.”
(My wife was like “What’s that girl Amber been in?” I said, “That’s Ann, George Michael’s girlfriend.” She was like “Who?” I said, “Ann Veal.” She said “Her?”)
We have also never seen the film Parenthood, and watched it last night.
It was OK - will probably watch another episode or two.
Insane sports fans are not exactly our cup of tea, so if it continues to be all about sports and manly games, we’re probably not going to stick around to watch much more.
Seemed to be a lot of characters, and it is going to take a few viewings to figure out who is who and the why and the what. Modern Family is a better show - but then again, Parenthood is listed as a drama, not a comedy or dramedy, so I guess that is comparing apples to oranges.
Huh? There was one insane sports fan in the show - Nelson’s character. And he was portrayed as just that - an overly competitive person that everyone else disdained for that character trait.
Also - did you miss the other 11 plot threads that didn’t revolve around sports?
The whole show seemed to be about baseball and basketball - grandpa a sports nut, dad and brother both coaching little league and quite insane about it as well, plus the “does the kid dress for the game?” plot, getting tossed out of the game plot, the “gee dad, isn’t this game day?” final bit and the whole family, without missing a beat, suddenly jumps in cars and everyone dashes to the game. At least 20 minutes of that hour show was sports, sports and more sports.
I thought the sports was a pretty minor plot device, but I was more frustrated by the behavior of the adults acting so unrealistically that you could practically see the script direction.
Thirty-something mother of two tweens who:
Calls her sister to fly off the handle & bitch about fixing her up with the barista, after about the first 10 seconds into the date; then
Falls for the guy over dinner and screws him about an hour later on the couch in her parents’ house; then
Brings him into their kitchen, both in their underwear, and starts swigging from the bottle of booze when her son walks in.
You’re in a house with about a dozen other people, making noise and tramping around in your underwear. Was there any surprise someone walked in on you? This is like the plot of a bad '80’s sitcom.
Then the couple at the end who just kept talking over each other about their son, not letting the other one speak, so the wife could have the dramatic line “there’s something wrong with my son!” that finally shuts the guy up. Please. I like drama, not melodrama.
I don’t see it. The dad and brother weren’t “sports nuts” just because they played ping pong and coached the baseball team. The brother, in fact, was missing the game because he was busy banging his girlfriend. That’s not a “sports nut”. And I’d classify the father blowing up at the ref not as a sports-related or motivated incident, but rather an overly protective parent.
If you view the final “he’s actually going to dress for the game” bit as a sports moment and not a family moment, this show probably isn’t for you.
If it was a play he was involved in, or a video game club, or a role-playing group, would you be able to see that the issue wasn’t “Oh god, he won’t play sports!!” but rather, “holy crap is it hard to get Timmy to socialize with anyone his own age”?
To be fair - they had dated in high school, so this wasn’t exactly new ground they were breaking.
There were only 2 people in that house - it was the detached guest house.
But I see where you’re coming from. Yeah, it was predictable - but it was all (pretty much) straight from the movie. I think it’s a strong cast, and the script was well adapted to some more modern issues. Modern Family is better, but I’ll give it a shot.
The final “we’re all going to rush to the game because that’s what this family does, gosh darn it!” was over the top and idealistic. But I like that. I like the fact that it’s presenting a best-case scenario for people with a lot of shit in their lives.
(I also think that it won’t be Craig T. Nelson having an affair, but the mother, and the condoms are for the pool boy.)
I watched it since there was nothing on and I like Lauren Graham. It was just ok. Some of the plot seemed contrived and the scene with the parents shouting at each other on the street made me want to duct tape both of their mouths shut until they learn to communicate properly. I’ll watch it on TV if I’m not doing anything at the time, but I don’t think I’ll bother to catch up if I miss a few episodes.
I got a kick out of the Berkeley landmarks though, but I read that they only shot the first episode in Berkeley and the rest of the episodes were moved to LA for cost considerations.
This was the part that pretty much ended any chance of my wanting to watch another ep. (I had not caught the layout of the house/guest house. And even if the parents weren’t in the guesthouse, her 2 teens were.) Any reason they didn’t go to HIS place? That scene was just SO UNBELIEVABLE, that I can’t imagine what it would take for me to believe anything else in the show. Or to give a shit about any character that would be so stupid.
My kid used to watch Gilmore Girls. I never cared for the actress who played the mom, and in this show she seemed to be playing the exact same character.
And yes, weren’t the homes all fabulous? From the opening scene when the guy went out for a run, my wife commented, “What a beautiful door.”
It seemed like they were trying to toss in every conceivable dramady cliche, and unrealistic extension on those cliches. Oh yeah - here’s your son …!
I did get a giggle about, “You googled my sperm” and the clueless brother’s “sorta engagement.” But that wasn’t enough top put up with the rest. Probably a good thing, as I don’t need any more TV to watch.
I remember the previous series - was Edd Begley in it? - as mildly amusing.
