Happy "Parenthood" Endings

I was surprised to learn that the TV series "Parenthood" was ending its season three months early. Yet, I was eager to watch the season finale this past Tuesday. And, with so many continuing storylines loaded with drama in this season, I expected an even balance of happy and sad endings - especially given the storyline about Julia and Joel prepared to adopt the baby boy of Zoe, the former barista girl at Julia's law firm, only for Zoe to change her mind at the last nanosecond and keep her baby once it was born.

Not too surprisingly, it all turned out very differently. I haven't seen so many happy endings since "The Wonderful World of Disney."

As everyone already knew, Crosby and Jasmine finally got married. (A black gospel group performing a Bob Dylan song at this interracial wedding was a nice touch.) The only losers were the people they dumped for each other, although Jasmine's boyfriend, Doctor Joe, took it much better than Crosby's girlfriend, the cute cellist working at Crosby and Adam's recording studio. Speaking of which, a persistent recording company representative offered more than two million dollars to buy the studio, with Adam ready to sell but Crosby refusing to. Ultimately, Crosby relented, and the sale was tentatively made pending paperwork and forms to be processed . . . until Adam announced at the wedding reception that he changed his mind - also at the last nanosecond - and decided that working with his brother and having a beautiful wife and three children were more important than money.

Sarah broke up with her boyfriend, a teacher about twenty years her junior, when she realized she didn't want a baby and he did. But they reconciled at the wedding reception, and now they're engaged. They're going to worry about starting a family later, if it ever comes to that. While this was going on, Sarah's daughter Amber returned to work on Berkeley city council candidate Bob Little's campaign after almost having an affair with him, and Sarah's son Drew consummated his relationship with his girlfriend Amy. There might be a poison pill there in the form of an unintended pregnancy; ironically, Sarah could become a grandmother first, then still have a child of her own. That would strengthen the parallel between Sarah and her counterpart in the movie Parenthood, Helen Buckman (played by Dianne Wiest), who went through the same thing.

Incredible. Apart from the prospect of Drew becoming a teenage dad, there wasn't one hint of a sad or shocking ending or plot twist to keep us guessing until September. Certainly, Julia and Joel's unsuccessful adoption efforts had to be the one sad coda in this season finale. (Ironically, a similar storyline on ABC's "Modern Family" - gay couple Mitchell and Cam's unsuccessful efforts to adopt a son - is being played up not for drama but for laughs, as their efforts increasingly resemble those of Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy's football.)

In fact, the 2011-12 season finale of "Parenthood" ended with Julia and Joel bringing in a foster son older than their own biological daughter.

I don't like this - numerous storylines neatly tied up with little to build up anticipation for the next season. Some of the resolutions were more appropriate for a series finale rather than a season finale, which makes me wonder if "Parenthood" will be back in the fall. It is an NBC series, and that alone is enough reason to doubt its fate. A big shakeup at fourth-place NBC for the 2012-13 season has been promised by its Comcast overlords; it will be a miracle if even only a handful of the shows currently in NBC's lineup survive it.

What "Parenthood" Looks Like

It looked like Crosby and Jasmine got back together on "Parenthood" after sleeping with each other in last week's episode (guess that settles the question of the timidity of the producers in showing interracial romance on American television!). But since Jasmine has a boyfriend, Crosby declared that it was a mistake and chose to quietly carry on without her.

It looked like Adam was in hot water indefinitely after failing to fire a secretary who kissed him as if he were her own boyfriend and catching flak over it from Kristina, whom he shouldn't have shared the news of the incident with in the first place. Kristina, having just born a daughter, returned to work after feeling betrayed. But Kristina's anger subsided - after what happened with Max.

It looked like Max, Adam and Kristina's Asperger's-affected son, would get kidnapped or beaten up after he tried to go to a natural history museum in San Francisco on his own when his parents couldn't take him and ended up in Oakland. But he made it home to Berkeley safely, and he, his sisters and his parents all went to the museum together.

It looked like Julia wouldn't adopt the unborn baby of Zoe, the barista girl who works in Julia's law firm, after all, when it turned out that the father of the baby wouldn't sign the adoption release papers without financial compensation. Such a deal is actually illegal in California. But when Zoe's boyfriend (the father) kicked her out, she had nowhere to go . . . but to Julia, who took her in.

It looked like a cash-crunched Amber was moving back in with Sarah, until her aunt Kristina gave her a job at the political campaign she just started working for.

It looks like "Parenthood" is going on another December hiatus. There were no previews for the next episode following the one that aired last night. In an earlier episode, Julia admits to not being raised in any particular tradition, so it looks like the Bravermans don't celebrate Christmas.

So it looks like there will never be a Christmas episode of "Parenthood" even if the show lasts a decade. It's on NBC, so it looks like that won't happen.

More Parenthood Issues

NBC's "Parenthood" has taken quite an interesting turn in the past couple of weeks. While other NBC shows have been failing simply for being on NBC, "Parenthood" continues to be intriguing . . . though not always for the right reasons. I'll explain shortly.

In the latest plot twist, the two Braverman brothers, Adam and Crosby, have apparently switched personalities; the cautious Adam has become more reckless, and the irresponsible Crosby has become the adult in the room. The two brothers have opened a recording studio together, and when they make an attempt at accommodating neo-soul and hip-hop artist Cee Lo Green (who played himself) for a session, Adam is convinced they can pull everything together in a day or two; Crosby, who knows a thing or two about professional recording, is aware of the logistical difficulties involved and gets impatient with Adam for his naïveté. They manage to pull the Cee Lo Green session off, after more than a few hitches, but the married Adam's self-control unravels to the point where he ends up engaged in a passionate kiss with Rachel, his and Crosby's new secretary. Crosby, whose sexual selfishness destroyed his engagement to Jasmine, manages to avoid such temptations. In the next episode, Adam's wife Kristina finds out about his indiscretion. If the pattern holds, the series will go on hiatus for December, and so a huge cliffhanger is in the offing for next Tuesday.

And while all this is going on, Julia is going to adopt the unborn child of the barista girl at her law firm after all. The unwed mother-to-be didn't want to give her baby to anyone she knew personally . . . until she saw first-hand what great parents Julia and her husband were to their little girl.

Now for a more unwelcome turn. For much of the show's existence so far, interracial relationships have been part of the storylines. As noted, Crosby and Jasmine broke up acrimoniously. But Adam's daughter Haddie suddenly found herself unattached when her black boyfriend Alex felt he had no alternative but to break up with her after being arrested for assault. Although cleared of the charges, he decided that his violent past was too much of an impediment in his and Haddie's relationship. Alex has completely disappeared. Meanwhile, Jasmine has begun dating a pediatrician who, like herself, is black, although Crosby is jealous not because of Jasmine but because of his and Jasmine's son, whom he feels is spending way too much time with her new boyfriend. Oh yeah, there have been recent episodes where Joy Bryant, who plays Jasmine, doesn't show up at all - or she makes an appearance that feels more like a walk-on.

I'm suspecting that, despite the increase in the number of interracial unions in America - and even the President of the United States is a product of one - advertisers are still reluctant to sponsor a show that deals with them. Both NBC and the writers and producers of "Parenthood" must have caved in to outside pressure, as the show seems to be deviating further from this once-vital plot device. I'm pining for the days when Norman Lear could put an interracial couple on one of his shows and make viewers like it, but in an age of growing ethnic paranoia, and at a time when NBC is one Nielsen report away from being liquidated, the pressure to avoid the exploration of such relationships on "Parenthood" must be too great for producers Jason Katims, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer to withstand. (Remember, this is all speculation; I can't say for sure that this is the case.)

Oh, yeah, few if any of NBC's other current shows are meeting their ridiculously low expectations . . .but that's another post.

Parenthood Issues

The second full season of "Parenthood,"  having started a week before the 2011-12 season, did so with a few surprises and some rather intriguing plot lines. 

Despite indications to the contrary back in April, when the previous season ended, Crosby and Jasmine are not back together.  Not yet, anyway.  Yes, Crosby bought a house for himself, Jasmine, and their son, and yes, Jasmine came to look at it in the last episode of the previous season, but it turns out they're still living separate lives, even as they're still trying to raise their kid together.  Crosby is hoping a new real estate venture - restoring a recording studio popular with legendary San Francisco bands - will pay off, and he even has his brother Adam, having lost his job, on board, but Crosby seems to be trying to re-create a glorious rock and roll past that can never be brought back.  But maybe that's just me.  Meanwhile, Adam has to figure out how to bring in some money to help is growing family, what with his wife Kristina about to have a baby and all.

Adam and Crosby's sister Julia wants to adopt a baby, and she works up the gall and the nerve to ask the pregnant, single barista girl at her law firm if she can adopt her unborn baby.  The answer? "No."  And Adam's daughter Haddie has to deal with her boyfriend Alex having to go to trial for hitting someone who was harassing him at a party, only to find out that he has a criminal record - he robbed someone.  

This is getting interesting . . . hopefully interesting enough to warrant Emmy nominations next year.  "Parenthood" kind of hasn't won any Emmys yet.  But as long as the cable-TV Emmy darling "Mad Men" is still not back, this is probably the best drama you're going to see on television right now.

And some folks don't have cable.

"Parenthood": The Season Finale

Last week's episode of "Parenthood" ended with Amber in an appalling car crash. Last night's season finale began with her in the hospital, undergoing surgery, with the Braverman family in the waiting room clinging to hope; it ended with hope for all of the Bravermans restored - even Crosby, who seems to have reconciled with Jasmine, though the lack of words between them at the end puts their relationship on the bubble.

There was also a lot of apologizing going on. Amber was apologizing to Sarah for riding with a drunken driver and getting drunk herself, and the actors reading Sarah's play apologized to Sarah for being less understanding about her daughter (the producer helping Sarah, played by Richard Dreyfuss, told them that Amber was dead!). Sarah received an apology from her nephew Max (who has Asperger's syndrome) for his callous outburst in the hospital while the Bravermans waited to find out about Amber and for saying he didn't care if Amber was in surgery and that it was beyond their control (ironically being out of control himself), and of course Crosby couldn't stop apologizing to Jasmine for sleeping with another woman.

Julia finds herself suddenly having to help her daughter's teacher as she gives birth owing to the unavoidable absence of the father, and she later sees her daughter's teacher and her husband with their new baby. (Julia's daughter's teacher is Asian and her husband is white; that's three interracial couples I've counted on this show so far. Subtle.) The experience of helping a pregnant woman give birth inspires Julia, no longer able to bear children, to . . . adopt a second child. (I saw that coming.)

The surprises didn't concern Sarah or her daughter Amber, but rather Adam and his wife Kristina. Adam gets fired from his job for not being comfortable in his position despite his hard work; his kid boss can tell he's not happy. But the biggest surprise comes when Adam finds a pregnancy test kit while rummaging through the garbage looking for Max's dental retainer; the test kit shows positive. Adam immediately thinks his sexually active daughter Haddie is pregnant.

It's Kristina.

And Max finds his retainer.

This all promises for some wonderful storylines when "Parenthood" returns this September. Will it in fact return? Well, it does enjoy the second highest ratings of any NBC drama, but will that be enough? Also I remember "Ed," when Nancy (Ed's friend's wife) became pregnant at the end of the fourth season.

There was no fifth season. "Ed" was canceled.

So, a pregnant character on "Parenthood" could curse the show. I hope not. I hope very not.

Unfinished Braverman Tales

Last week's episode of "Parenthood" left a lot of unanswered questions involving the Braverman family that are not going to be resolved immediately. For all I know, they won't be resolved this season, and of course it's already April.

Here's where the writers left us last week: Sarah interests a theatrical director and producer (played by Richard Dreyfuss) that her father served with in Vietnam into producing her unfinished play, despite the fact that he hasn't produced or directed anything in years. Sarah's daughter Amber learns she won't be going to UC Berkeley or anywhere else for college. Julia finds out her chances of having the second child she and her husband Joel wanted are slim to none. The chances of Crosby and Jasmine reconciling after he slept with another woman, despite his eternal shame, are even worse, as she won't forgive him or reconsider renewing their now-broken engagement.

How many of these issues will be developed further in tomorrow's episode? Likely zero. Based on the previews at the end of last week's show, it seems that this week's show will be devoted entirely to Adam's daughter Haddie's relationship with her boyfriend Alex - which did not get any attention last week. This week, Alex and Haddie are off the the prom. Meanwhile, I'm left wondering if Amber will go to college, or if her mother's play will get off the ground. Or if Julia and Joel will consider adoption. As for Crosby and Jasmine, stick a fork into that affair; it's done. In fact, Crosby's life is so screwed up - the woman he slept with was his nephew Max's educational therapist, which Adam (Max's father) is still ticked off at Crosby for - I suspect that the trajectory of his future is that of a long decline.

And, as always, let's hope the ratings don't follow a similar path.

At least "Parenthood" isn't going up against the CBS Monday night juggernaut, at least not for now. Rumors of a move to Monday nights in March, obviously, proved to be greatly exaggerated.

Parents In the 'Hood

I don't know if this means that NBC is finally regaining its relevance, but its comedy-drama "Parenthood" is easily one of the best series of the 2009-10 season, and one that we can expect to stick around for awhile. Although it's co-produced by Ron Howard and is reported to be based on his 1989 movie of the same name, and although there's a slight similarity in some of the characters and ongoing story lines, the only thing "Parenthood" the TV series really has in common with Parenthood the film, apart from Ron Howard's association, is its title.

Instead of following the Buckmans of Kirkwood, Missouri, the extended family featured in the movie, "Parenthood" follows the Bravermans of Berkeley, California. The family is headed by patriarch Zeek Braverman (played by veteran actor Craig T. Nelson), a free spirit who has tried his hand at many careers and professions and distinguished himself at none of them, his wife Camille (played by the always wonderful Bonnie Bedelia) and their grown children, all of whom have their own immediate families.

The sons, Adam (Peter Krause) and Crosby (Dax Shepard) are as alike as night and day. Adam is a corporate professional who strives to keep his family happy but has to deal with his rebellious teenage daughter, and he and his wife Kristina (Monica Potter) find their lives becoming more complicated when their son is diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. "Parenthood" has already gotten plaudits for this step by bringing to light a condition not normally talked about or depicted in any way. Crosby, a recording engineer with a Peter Pan complex, suddenly has to grow up and be responsible when his former lover, a dancer named Jasmine, returns to Berkeley and informs him that their fling from five years earlier produced a son, whom he now races (gladly, it turns out) to catch up with and be a father to.

Oh yeah, Jasmine is black - she's played by Joy Bryant - and of course Crosby is white, and so NBC has brought to prime time a subplot involving a child who's both biracial and illegitimate. More reently, Crosby and Jasmine have renewed interest in each other and ended up in bed together, breaking another TV taboo - that of depicting interracial sex.

Zeek and Camille's daughters are no less interesting. Julia (Erika Christensen) is a successful lawyer and her husband Joel (Sam Jaeger) plays "househusband" by raising their precocious daughter. Sarah (played by the always wonderful Lauren Graham) can only dream of having her sister's success. A single mom, divorced from a man who pays no attention to their children (leaving their son withdrawn), Sarah has to move in with her parents and work at bartending jobs to keep her family going even as she deals with a daughter who has trouble with school as well as her bitter son. Sarah's economic plight is displayed best by her car - a Chevrolet Chevette, which she drives in the first couple of episodes. The Chevette, for the record, hasn't been produced since 1986; when I started watching the show, I thought it was set at an earlier time than the present. But, given that an old Chevette is all Sarah can afford, it seems appropriate that her car soon dies on her completely and she suddenly has to worry about how she's going to replace it.

NBC has already announced the renewal of "Parenthood" for a second season. That's good news, not only because it marks the return of Lauren Graham to series television, and this time on a real network. (A low-rated, emaciated, directionless, humiliated NBC is still preferable to a CW at the height of its broadcasting abilities.) It's good news because it deals with touchy subjects and personal issues- career choices, race, and, as noted, Asperger syndrome - and deals with them in an intelligent, touching way. "Parenthood" is able to explore these issues more deeply as an ongoing TV series than the movie could have, and the movie, released in 1989, only glossed over less controversial topics while only acknowledging more controversial subjects in passing. (In the movie, Tom Hulce plays an irresponsible dad with a biracial son, but his black girlfriend is never depicted.) There was an earlier attempt at making a TV series out of the movie in the early nineties, but that didn't go anywhere. Now co-producing a series anyone can relate to, because the issues dealt with are as diverse as this extended family, Ron Howard can count on this "Parenthood" being around in the long term, unlike Sarah's Chevette.