Wednesday, September 12, 2012

LET'S ALL HANG OUT AT THE LUNCHEONETTE:  Because of NBC's oddball scheduling proclivities, last night was the first time we saw our friends the Bravermans (Bravermen?) on Parenthood in over 6 months (last season's finale was February 28, to make way for Fashion Star).  I have to say that if the rest of the season keeps up that level of quality, the show deserves to be in the Emmy conversation for next year.  A few specific points:
  • I'm not sure I can picture another show doing a plotline like the Crosby/Jasmine/Jabbar one from last night.  Yes, The Good Wife did something kind of similar with Grace's search for religion (which kind of disappeared without explanation), but handling this plot without clearly defined "right" and "wrong" sides of the debate was really well done.
  • Similarly, I'm not sure if I can picture another network drama having the Julia/Joel adoption plotline not being entirely a happy ending for them.  I'm particularly interested to see how this plays out given that the young actor playing Victor is now a regular and has been added to the credits.
  • The adult cast of the show gets a lot of credit (and deservedly so), but one thing that struck me in last night's episode in particular was how good some of the scenes involving only the younger actors were.  In particular, the scenes between Max and Haddie and Max and Victor were very well performed.
  • I didn't watch Everybody Loves Raymond (find Patricia Heaton exceedingly shrill) or Men of a Certain Age (despite hearing from many people how good it was), and was pleasantly surprised to see that Ray Romano winds up fitting into this world really well.
Because of NBC's wonky scheduling, the show's slated for a short season this year (though depending on how badly NBC's fall goes, anything is possible), but I suspect I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

4 comments:

  1. Tosy and Cosh10:57 AM

    The "I feel like I'm waiting to fall in love with my son" line was the most hard-hitting and emotionally devastating a line I've heard in a family drama in a long while. Maybe since Once and Again's "Telling Jesse that her Mom and I were getting a divorce was like hitting oher over the head with a hammer." (paraphrased). And I too was quite impressed by the religion plotline, although I kind of hope they aren't done with it. I knew Romano had an arc, but on Sepinwall's podcast they said it was 10 episodes, at least. Didn't know he was sticking around for that long. Very happy he is.

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  2. Paul Tabachneck3:32 AM

    Long live the Bravermans!  I'm thrilled this show is back, and Ray Romano had us laughing in a way that he never has — the context worked nicely.  

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  3. Sophietje3:27 PM

    I only watched the first season... (I think?)   Would it be hard to pick it up now?  I vaguely remember Crosby and Jasmine getting married.

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  4. Crosby and Jasmine got married at the end of last season.  Part of the joy of the show is that there aren't tons of huge plot reversals and such.  The triumphs and stories are all fairly small, especially in comparison to most other shows.

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