The Olympics are over and it’s time for our misplaced patriotism to be shoved back into its shoebox in favor of original scripted television drama again. God bless America! While I’m of course psyched for tonight’s return of Chuck Meets The Cast Of Superman, I’m more interested in tomorrow night’s premiere of Parenthood, which is odd considering how little I’ve seen advance footage or reviews on the ‘net so far. But rest assured, there are good reasons to be excited for this show. Let’s go over my favorites:
1 – The Legacy
This Parenthood is a revamp of the short-lived 1990 series of the same name, which itself was spun out of the 1989 Steve Martin film of the same name. The 1990 series was praised by critics as the best film-to-television adaptation since M*A*S*H*. That’s quite the pedigree to revive, particularly considering all three iterations were spearheaded by one Ron Howard.
2 – The Cast
Again a legacy matter, as the film featured Steve Martin, Keanu Reeves, Diane Wiest, Joaquin Phoenix and Rick Moranis while the 1990 series starred Ed Begley Jr., Leonardo DiCaprio, Thora Birch and David Arquette. The new series features established stars Craig T. Nelson, Lauren Graham and Peter Krause along with popular up-and-comers like Dax Shepard and Mae Whitman (whom I am honorbound to love for her involvement in Arrested Development, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World). Not only are these all talented actors, but they’re damn likable.
3 – The Producers
It’s easy to overlook how important a production team is on a show considering how many producers have ten shows on the air in any given season. You’ve undoubtedly seen both Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s names all over the place, but there’s only one TV show I can think of where I’ve seen their names together before, and that was fellow cancelled-too-soon cult favorite Arrested Development. Yes, that’s why the show’s promos prominently feature the executive producer credits, because they want the audience to remember “these are the guys who made Arrested Development” without namedropping a rival network’s commercial flop. And you know what? It worked, because here I am, totally pumped up for some Parenthood.
As one of the few new scripted shows of NBC’s 2009/2010 season (discounting variety shows like the failed Jay Leno Show and the upcoming Marriage Ref), the quality odds are also in Parenthood‘s favor. Trauma and Mercy have both proven to be popular and compelling, and lone sitcom Community has easily proven to be my favorite new series of the year. Basically, outside of their late-night spaz-out, NBC’s been on fire this year with quality content. If I were a betting man and there were a stock market for such things, I would put a ridiculous amount of my money on Parenthood to be great and successful.
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