Lauren Graham
First of all Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) belongs on HBO or Showtime and maybe this creation from Ron Howard and Brian Grazer may prove too big and complicated for NBC, which has been stuck in “Law and Order” mode for the last 10 years, and the show will wind up on cable, just like Southland. Parenthood has a large cast that helps to answer the question “I wondered what happened to Bonnie Bedelia, Erika Christensen, Craig T. Nelson and Monica Potter?” which suggests that TV and cable is where the work is. The writers in the first episode pick up on themes that are reminiscent (they watch cable too) of Weeds, Nurse Betty, Modern Family and Californication in fact Lauren Graham as Sarah Braverman, reminds me of a less lethal Nancy Botwin as played by Mary-Louise Parker.
Mary-Louise Parker
The story lines are diverse and challenging and I am afraid that NBC will chicken out like they did (I believe) with Southland. Here is a chance in a drama format to educate a large portion of our society who still believe that if your kid is Autistic that its your fault, that families without a traditional mother and father setup are doomed or still see race as black vs white. For certain this program is about a white family and I think the creators of the show want to touch on something real, so we will see plenty of “post racial” issues as they go forward.
I was surprised that I enjoyed the first show, they are usually hectic attempts at establishing who people are. I will be looking to see if NBC can pull this off.