It's amazing how a show about genuinely nice people with good intentions who don't absurdly over-react to situations can be so enjoyable. No murders, no catfights, no hit-and-runs, no annoyingly cute child actors... just good, solid acting and believable, relatable storylines. It's refreshing, is what it is. Curse you, family drama, for being so engaging and appealing! Hell, it's even made me like Monica Potter, and I didn't think that was possible.

Tags: Parenthood

It's the second episode of Parenthood, or as I like to think of it, make it or break it time. I realize that pilots aren't perfect representations of shows because there is so much set up (especially when you've got a ginormous family to contend with like this show has), and that this show was in a particularly unique pickle because Lauren Graham stepped in for an ailing Maura Tierney and had to adjust accordingly. That said, the pilot mostly won me over, but I was so distracted by Lauren Graham being Lorelai with two surly teenagers and a druggie ex, that I barely paid much attention to the rest of the family. Especially the relations that resembled Dax Shepard and Erika Christensen.

Tags: parenthood

Parenthood's Season 1 finale airs tonight, and though it's true that the show is by no means brilliant or groundbreaking, and is even pretty boring or annoying at times, I'm really glad it's coming back next year. It's the perfect thing for the Brothers & Sisters fatigue I've been suffering for the past three years (why can't I stop watching that awful show?), and it's nice to watch Peter Krause and Lauren Graham again. That's the way I'd describe Parenthood: it's nice. I know that doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement, but it is. I need shows like this to break up the intensity of whatever the next Losts and 24s are, you know?

Tags: parenthood