# Parenthood - Season 4 Thread



## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

I don't think we've got enough interest for episode threads, but I really wanted to see if anyone else was watching Parenthood and your thoughts. 

I've always liked the show, but this season has really been hitting on (almost) all cylinders. Though they certainly have highlighted the drama with Kristina's cancer storyline, mostly they have done it very realistically and emotionally well. My sister-in-law died of cancer when she was 36, so a lot of the scenes hit me pretty hard.

This most recent episode, 'What to my Wondering Eyes' 12-11-12, really hit some high notes. Adam and Zeek was very compelling, and then Adam watching the video Kristina made and then his praying was very well done.

I've also really liked the Amber/Ryan relationship this season, with Amber possibly actually learning from her mother's life, while Sarah herself continues to make the same stupid mistakes over and over again. It's a good contrast.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Overall, this show does not get the praise it deserves. Any fan of Friday Night Lights should be watching this show. It's about as good as it gets for a network drama.


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## dbranco (Nov 20, 2003)

billypritchard said:


> Overall, this show does not get the praise it deserves. Any fan of Friday Night Lights should be watching this show. It's about as good as it gets for a network drama.


I agree with everything you've said in both of your posts. The actin on the show is top-notch with interesting story lines, compelling characters, and great acting. It draws me in every week.


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## andyw715 (Jul 31, 2007)

I really like the show but whiny talk over each other dialog is really annoying.


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## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

andyw715 said:


> I really like the show but whiny talk over each other dialog is really annoying.


yes it is, but it's pretty normal... I think. At least it is in our house. People talk over each other constantly. It's a bit nerve wracking! But, very accurate in the show.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

andyw715 said:


> I really like the show but whiny talk over each other dialog is really annoying.


Don't watch any Robert Altman films then.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

I like the show, but I thought the Xmas episode was ultra hokey. I would have preferred it not being a Xmas miracle episode. They could have had the same Kristina almost dying episode outside of the Christmas theme and I would have enjoyed it better.

It also seemed a bit out of character, (at least to me) that Zeke would be so into the holiday. I thought his background was as a former hippy and he seemed non religious. Maybe I just read the character wrong.

As with Sorkin shows, I've gotten used to the cadence the characters use in this show. It's very distinct and that's why it takes some getting used to. I'm glad they found a story line for Julia and Joel. It always seemed the writers were struggling to find something to write for them. I like the way Crosby and Jasmine are going, and they seemed to have some agreement in their relationship. The new baby should make things interesting.

Also, since there's a lot of belief that the CT shooter might have Asburghers (that came out during a 60 Minutes piece last night), I wonder if they will make any changes in the way they write the kid in the show.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

Steveknj said:


> I like the show, but I thought the Xmas episode was ultra hokey. I would have preferred it not being a Xmas miracle episode. They could have had the same Kristina almost dying episode outside of the Christmas theme and I would have enjoyed it better.
> 
> It also seemed a bit out of character, (at least to me) that Zeke would be so into the holiday. I thought his background was as a former hippy and he seemed non religious. Maybe I just read the character wrong.
> 
> ...


During the episode where Jamal or whatever his name is was praying, they specifically said Crosby had an atheist upbringing. I guess atheists can celebrate christmas too. It's more of a commercial than a religious holiday.

I was hoping Ray Romano (i am so bad with character names) was going to be real with Max at Santa's village and tell him to stop being such a hard to get along with ass. It is my opinion that the bribing and coddling they do with Max contributes to his bad behavior. You don't reward kids for acting correctly, you expect it of them.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

I don't see anything odd with Zeek's Christmas story. It's not like he talked about seeing the baby Jesus. Just Santa.


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## efilippi (Jul 24, 2001)

tiams said:


> During the episode where Jamal or whatever his name is was praying, they specifically said Crosby had an atheist upbringing.


I don't get the impression that the Bravermans are atheists. Are you sure you are recalling Crosby's upbringing correctly? I don't doubt that he 'left the church' as he grew up , but I hardly think his parents put him on that track.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

efilippi said:


> I don't get the impression that the Bravermans are atheists. Are you sure you are recalling Crosby's upbringing correctly? I don't doubt that he 'left the church' as he grew up , but I hardly think his parents put him on that track.


Yeah, I'm pretty sure Crosby mentioned that he had an atheist upbringing and that was why he could not relate to his son wanting to pray. He even asked the son to show him how to pray.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

tiams said:


> Yeah, I'm pretty sure Crosby mentioned that he had an atheist upbringing and that was why he could not relate to his son wanting to pray. He even asked the son to show him how to pray.


Yes I remember it that way too.

And if that's the case, the Bravermans went too ALL out Christmas for atheists. But, how else could you write a Christmas miracle episode without...ummm..Christmas.

Still, either way, very hokey, and pardon the pun, I thought it took away something of the spirit of the show by doing it this way. The episode felt more like a Christmas special on Lifetime than an episode of Parenthood.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Steveknj said:


> Yes I remember it that way too.
> 
> And if that's the case, the Bravermans went too ALL out Christmas for atheists. But, how else could you write a Christmas miracle episode without...ummm..Christmas.
> 
> Still, either way, very hokey, and pardon the pun, I thought it took away something of the spirit of the show by doing it this way. The episode felt more like a Christmas special on Lifetime than an episode of Parenthood.


I reject your hypothesis. My father and step-mother are about as anti-religion as you get, and they go all out for Christmas. The holiday can be very divorced from actual spiritual belief if you want to. I find it very believable because of the 'Family' traditions of Christmas, and the Bravermans are all about family tradition.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

billypritchard said:


> I reject your hypothesis. My father and step-mother are about as anti-religion as you get, and they go all out for Christmas. The holiday can be very divorced from actual spiritual belief if you want to. I find it very believable because of the 'Family' traditions of Christmas, and the Bravermans are all about family tradition.


I'm sure you're right. It just seemed out of character for Zeke Braverman. There was a bit too much talk about the magic of Christmas and so forth.


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## DougF (Mar 18, 2003)

Something I posted at another forum about the Christmas episode. I'm not sure what the rules are for spoilers and the full-season threads and I'm not going to bother to look them up, so tagging just in case.



Spoiler



I wish Kristina would have died. Not because I dislike her or Monica Potter, but because I think that would have made for some great future stories. Yeah, I know they already have one single parent but imagine watching Adam try to deal with raising those three kids, The Luncheonette, etc.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Steveknj said:


> It just seemed out of character for Zeke Braverman. There was a bit too much talk about the magic of Christmas and so forth.


You know he was just saying all that 'for the children', right?


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

DougF said:


> Something I posted at another forum about the Christmas episode. I'm not sure what the rules are for spoilers and the full-season threads and I'm not going to bother to look them up, so tagging just in case.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



Funny, I kind of thought the same thing. But, mostly because Kristina annoys me and is my least favorite character on the show. But yeah, of all the "parent" I could see Adam, who is already having trouble juggling work and home between a wife with cancer and an autistic kid and before that an older daughter in love with someone they didn't approve of, having trouble dealing with being a single parent. And then meeting someone falling in love and all that. Definitely would have made some great stories.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

Steveknj said:


> Yes I remember it that way too.
> 
> And if that's the case, the Bravermans went too ALL out Christmas for atheists. But, how else could you write a Christmas miracle episode without...ummm..Christmas.
> 
> Still, either way, very hokey, and pardon the pun, I thought it took away something of the spirit of the show by doing it this way. The episode felt more like a Christmas special on Lifetime than an episode of Parenthood.





Steveknj said:


> I'm sure you're right. It just seemed out of character for Zeke Braverman. There was a bit too much talk about the magic of Christmas and so forth.


I am going to disagree with you. First and foremost the Braverman's are about family. Celebrating Christmas to them (and to many familes) is about the joy and love of the Family. That is the way that Zeke celebrated.


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## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Steveknj said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> Funny, I kind of thought the same thing. But, mostly because Kristina annoys me and is my least favorite character on the show. But yeah, of all the "parent" I could see Adam, who is already having trouble juggling work and home between a wife with cancer and an autistic kid and before that an older daughter in love with someone they didn't approve of, having trouble dealing with being a single parent. And then meeting someone falling in love and all that. Definitely would have made some great stories.


This.:up:


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## Regina (Mar 30, 2003)

I think - and this is pure speculation so I am not spoilerizing - that Crosby and Jasmine will have fertility issues..and of course that will lead to other issues... like I said, pure speculation...

I love Haddie-and Sarah Ramos, the actress who portrays her...I loved her on "American Dreams," another show where people often spoke over each other....and that was one of my favorite parts of the show...to each their own, I guess....


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

Regina said:


> I think - and this is pure speculation so I am not spoilerizing - that Crosby and Jasmine will have fertility issues..and of course that will lead to other issues... like I said, pure speculation...


Going out on a limb there, eh?? 

That's the way this show works. It's constant strife, angst, bad stuff...


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## Regina (Mar 30, 2003)

jsmeeker said:


> Going out on a limb there, eh??
> 
> That's the way this show works. It's constant strife, angst, bad stuff...


LOL!  It was sweet watching Jasmine with baby Nora....


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

The only thing unbelievable to me was Crosby actually _wanting_ another baby. He's going to have a lot more growing up to do.


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## dbranco (Nov 20, 2003)

DougF said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> I wish Kristina would have died. Not because I dislike her or Monica Potter, but because I think that would have made for some great future stories. Yeah, I know they already have one single parent but imagine watching Adam try to deal with raising those three kids, The Luncheonette, etc.


The (full) season isn't over yet... just sayin'.


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## Regina (Mar 30, 2003)

steve614 said:


> The only thing unbelievable to me was Crosby actually _wanting_ another baby. He's going to have a lot more growing up to do.


Oh-I didn't think of that-maybe Crosby will come down off the Christmas "high" and realize he doesn't really want another baby, and Jasmine will still want the baby, and THAT will be the drama....


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

Regina said:


> Oh-I didn't think of that-maybe Crosby will come down off the Christmas "high" and realize he doesn't really want another baby, and Jasmine will still want the baby, and THAT will be the drama....


Maybe Jasmine will die during childbirth early next season and Crosby can be forced to raise 2 young kids by himself. It would be interesting to watch man-child Crosby have the same problems as Adam.


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## Regina (Mar 30, 2003)

tiams said:


> Maybe Jasmine will die during childbirth early next season and Crosby can be forced to raise 2 young kids by himself. It would be interesting to watch man-child Crosby have the same problems as Adam.


...maybe Jasmine's mother will try to get custody of the kids....

(man, we are going to some pretty harsh places... )


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## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Crosby is the only Braverman who hasn't had a *baby*. Jabar is his son but they met when Navarre was 5. I'd liked to see him experience some real parenthood.


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## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

I watched the new years day episode last night.

Had me shedding tears in the first 10 minutes! I wondered if they were going to have her shave her head or if they were going to do some kind of "make up" to make her look like she was bald. After it was all said and done, I couldn't figure out if it was a real shaved head or a make up job. Either way, it got me choked up.

On the adopted kid front, I'm siding with the adopted kid. Their little girl pushed him and pushed him. She's really my definition of a brat. Glad he didn't actually hit her with the bat, but he made a pretty profound statement. He shouldn't have broken the window. But, he got his point across.

I'm looking forward to how Crosby handles the new living situation!! That is going to be very interesting!!


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## efilippi (Jul 24, 2001)

Sadara said:


> On the adopted kid front, I'm siding with the adopted kid. Their little girl pushed him and pushed him. She's really my definition of a brat. Glad he didn't actually hit her with the bat, but he made a pretty profound statement. He shouldn't have broken the window. But, he got his point across.!


Nope, I'm 100% in the other camp. The girl has been a rock, in my opinion, watching the new kid get all the attention and basically putting up with it. After again being the ignored child (eat your broccoli!) she sat and watched the little hero over act with his baseball training set, a set no doubt bought just for him after he joined the family. She gave him some sh*t while he let off steam, but no more than any guy would have done. And the kid just blew it.

There is absolutely no excuse for flinging a bat like he did. Handling the bat safely is drummed home to everyone who ever played the game. Striking out and banging the bat on the ground in frustration is considered a major misplay and would not be tolerated. Flinging it at someone is unforgivable. No matter what the provocation.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

Sadara said:


> I watched the new years day episode last night.
> 
> Had me shedding tears in the first 10 minutes! I wondered if they were going to have her shave her head or if they were going to do some kind of "make up" to make her look like she was bald. After it was all said and done, I couldn't figure out if it was a real shaved head or a make up job. Either way, it got me choked up.


There is no way she shaved her head for real. It was a bald cap. If that actress had really shaved her head for the part you would have heard about it in the media. Her hair is all she is.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

tiams said:


> There is no way she shaved her head for real. It was a bald cap. If that actress had really shaved her head for the part you would have heard about it in the media. Her hair is all she is.


You can especially see the line of the cap on the first swipe of the shears.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

I thought that was one of the better episodes of the series, even if I pretty much predicted what was going to happen. When she was partying with the other Braverman girls, I said to my wife...she still has her hair....and then, she loses it. BTW, I thought she looked really good in the red wig.

As for the adopted son...he's totally wrong. Sorry, nothing condones throwing a bat. Yeah, the girl is being bratty, but, she's a 7 or 8 year old girl...and well, that's how they are, especially when having to deal with a situation like this.

The Crosby situation....as soon as we found out his MIL lost her job, I said to my wife, she's moving in. I am sure by next episode the MIL will be trying to "change" everything, from the way the house is, to telling them how to handle Jabbar.

As for next week's trailer:



Spoiler



I knew that she was going to get preggers.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

The scene with Dick from Veronica Mars hitting on Kristina was great. And I liked how Kristina admitted she was really '34'. Ha!


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## dbranco (Nov 20, 2003)

Steveknj said:


> I thought that was one of the better episodes of the series, even if I pretty much predicted what was going to happen. When she was partying with the other Braverman girls, I said to my wife...she still has her hair....and then, she loses it.
> 
> The Crosby situation....as soon as we found out his MIL lost her job, I said to my wife, she's moving in.


When my husband does this, I say "Sshh - spoilerman!"


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

dbranco said:


> When my husband does this, I say "Sshh - spoilerman!"


My wife usually just punches me in the arm 

My kids used to think I could just predict anything on TV! There are times when I would just recite the next line word for word, having never even seen it before. To me, it just seemed obvious that's what they would say.


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## DreadPirateRob (Nov 12, 2002)

billypritchard said:


> Overall, this show does not get the praise it deserves. Any fan of Friday Night Lights should be watching this show. It's about as good as it gets for a network drama.


This. So, so, this.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

Steveknj said:


> BTW, I thought she looked really good in the red wig.


So did I. She looked pretty HAWT.


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## DreadPirateRob (Nov 12, 2002)

tiams said:


> There is no way she shaved her head for real. It was a bald cap. If that actress had really shaved her head for the part you would have heard about it in the media. Her hair is all she is.


Monica Potter (the actress who plays Kristina) did not actually shave her head - the bald cap they used to cover her full head of hair was freakishly oversized and very noticeable. Distracting, actually. I was so much happier when she had the red "wig" on. Going forward she needs to get another "wig" or her hair needs to grow back super fast.


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## DreadPirateRob (Nov 12, 2002)

billypritchard said:


> The scene with Dick from Veronica Mars hitting on Kristina was great. And I liked how Kristina admitted she was really '34'. Ha!


Yeah, I laughed at her "admission". My wife thought she was serious, but I thought it was pretty clear based on her expression, and Adam's, that she was having a laugh.


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## malayphred (Jan 29, 2007)

efilippi said:


> Nope, I'm 100% in the other camp. The girl has been a rock, in my opinion, watching the new kid get all the attention and basically putting up with it. After again being the ignored child (eat your broccoli!) she sat and watched the little hero over act with his baseball training set, a set no doubt bought just for him after he joined the family. She gave him some sh*t while he let off steam, but no more than any guy would have done. And the kid just blew it.
> 
> There is absolutely no excuse for flinging a bat like he did. Handling the bat safely is drummed home to everyone who ever played the game. Striking out and banging the bat on the ground in frustration is considered a major misplay and would not be tolerated. Flinging it at someone is unforgivable. No matter what the provocation.


Totally.

+1

This entire story line gives me a headache. In reality, there is no way in he** that CPS would put a kid in an environment where he would be the oldest child. It just doesn't happen. And what message does his behavior send?

I'm struggling to stay a fan of this show. Crosby is a total loser; ever single conversational exchange is identical; every theme starts and ends the same.

JHC, is there no such thing as an original thought anymore?

Please - get some new creative personnel!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

efilippi said:


> Nope, I'm 100% in the other camp. The girl has been a rock, in my opinion, watching the new kid get all the attention and basically putting up with it. After again being the ignored child (eat your broccoli!) she sat and watched the little hero over act with his baseball training set, a set no doubt bought just for him after he joined the family. She gave him some sh*t while he let off steam, but no more than any guy would have done. And the kid just blew it.


She has been and is pretty mature. I would like to see them sit down and explain to her that some rules are going to be bent because he is finding his way and that they are struggling with acceptance/discipline (obviously not in those words) rather than just expect her to roll with the punches. She could actually help.

As for the bat, though, that was over the top and Joel let the kid off too easily. Normally, they are a united front. They haven't been lately.


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## efilippi (Jul 24, 2001)

TonyD79 said:


> She has been and is pretty mature. I would like to see them sit down and explain to her that some rules are going to be bent because he is finding his way and that they are struggling with acceptance/discipline (obviously not in those words) rather than just expect her to roll with the punches. She could actually help..


Though we haven't been shown that explicitly, I have no doubt that this family did indeed do that. We will see what comes next.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

efilippi said:


> Though we haven't been shown that explicitly, I have no doubt that this family did indeed do that. We will see what comes next.


I don't see it. Every time a conflict comes up, they just wave it off. No evidence that they ever talked to her about it. No small reminders or even once saying "you know it is hard for him to adjust"

Besides, that kind of scene fits this show to a tee.


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## pendragn (Jan 21, 2001)

malayphred said:


> In reality, there is no way in he** that CPS would put a kid in an environment where he would be the oldest child. It just doesn't happen.


I don't know if Iowa is differenet than California, but my sister-in-law and brother-in-law did exactly this. They had three children and adopted a fourth child that was older than their three children.

tk


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## scooterboy (Mar 27, 2001)

The top half of her head was so fat she reminded me of Eli Manning.


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## Satchel (Dec 8, 2001)

A few observations:

The bald cap was obvious when she started shaving her head. You don't go from full head of hair to smooth bald in one front to back swipe of the hair trimmers. They don't cut that cleanly.

And didn't they get kind of railroaded into adopting that kid? I seem to remember the CPS lady showing up late one night with this kid for them to watch temporarily? They didn't pick him out. He was kind of thrust upon them. They were trying to get a baby...right? Not a 9 year old?

And the little girl was being a total bully by making him feel bad that his mom didn't want him and was in jail.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Satchel said:


> And the little girl was being a total bully by making him feel bad that his mom didn't want him and was in jail.


Which is normal kid behavior when they feel slighted or hurt.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

I kind of guessed that Amy was going to get pregnant. I thought it was interesting how they handled the abortion issue. I wonder if they got flooded with emails after that aired.

I also kind of guessed that Sarah was going to think about getting back with Mark. I figured if he would have been written out completely if he was out of the picture.

Loved the way they handled the puberty issue, and considering I created a whole thread about handling this with my daughter, it hit home. My first thought, could you imagine them talking about this with Little Ricky on the I Love Lucy Show? I wonder about when did that become acceptable to talk about on TV? (and I'm totally fine with it btw). 

Crosby - MIL battle is totally predictable. You could already see MIL starting to try and "change" the routine in the house and how Jasmine is starting to do things "mommy's" way. It's just a matter of time before Jasmine and Crosby blow up about it.

Anyone else sick of the adopted kid story. You know it's going to end up with them keeping the kid. I just wish it would get there already. It is pretty well done though. But I find it kind of cringe worthy.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Steveknj said:


> I kind of guessed that Amy was going to get pregnant.


Yeah, and I bet we find out later that it wasn't Drew that got her knocked up.
I think it was the college guy that Amy was seeing a few episodes back.


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## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

I agree on the adopted kid topic, it is kinda cringe worthy. But, it's also a good story line. I don't know how accurate it is, but I imagine there are a lot of parents out there that adopted an older kid and had many moments of regret.

I'm giving Crosby lots and lots of props! He's putting up with a lot, a lot more than my own husband would tolerate from my Mom! 

The puberty conversation with Max had me cracking up! Quite a number of hilarious moments there!

I don't think the abortion issue is finished, they left it at the end to play on with it throughout the upcoming episodes. I'm sure they'll highlight the consequences of it and the aftermath that all parties go through. or at least I'm interested to see how they handle it.

Oh and I totally saw it coming when the police showed up. I even said it when the kid face planted on the floor! I have to admit I don't know that I would be handling him much different than Julia is. She's doing her best with a troubled kid. I'd like to say he's ungrateful, but he's hurt and lonely and I think that is preventing him from being grateful for his situation. He may also be misunderstanding and thinking that if he acts up enough he'll *get* to move on to another home. I've never been in a situation related to adoption, but don't adopted kids *want* to be adopted, at least once they know their biological parents are no longer an option. I didn't think kids wanted to drift from foster home to foster home.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

Isn't Max too old to just now be getting the talk? They are starting the topic in my daughters class this semester. She is ten. And of course, I have already had many such talks with her about what changes to expect. 

I don't have boy children, but I helped supervise a 4th grade field trip to the zoo and some of those boys stunk!


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## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Sydney has undeniably been a brat recently, but it has been brought on by Joel & Julia's favoritism of Victor all season. In the early part of the season my wife and I kept remarking how Sydney was getting the short end of the stick (which is realistic given the situation) and we knew it was building up to something. The show-runners are pretty good about these long arcs in their child characters.

But c'mon, Victor, if you're so dead set on getting back to your "real" mom maybe you can get thrown in jail and have adjoining cells. If you're bouncing around foster/potential adoptive families, I think Joel & Julia are a pretty awesome place to land.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

MacThor said:


> Sydney has undeniably been a brat recently, but it has been brought on by Joel & Julia's favoritism of Victor all season. In the early part of the season my wife and I kept remarking how Sydney was getting the short end of the stick (which is realistic given the situation) and we knew it was building up to something. The show-runners are pretty good about these long arcs in their child characters.
> 
> But c'mon, Victor, if you're so dead set on getting back to your "real" mom maybe you can get thrown in jail and have adjoining cells. If you're bouncing around foster/potential adoptive families, I think Joel & Julia are a pretty awesome place to land.


I agree about Victor, but he's a kid, he doesn't realize how good he has it. What I'm trying to understand is that at the beginning of the season, after he started playing baseball, he seemed to be pretty happy with Joel and Julia. Refresh my memory, was there something that brought him back?

Maybe they need to take him to see where his "mother" is. not let him actually SEE her, but show him that she's in prison, and that she did bad stuff to get there. Scared straight.

I don't blame Sydney for being a brat either. I agree, she's been given the short shrift and she's too young to understand what her mom and dad are trying to do.


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## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Steveknj said:


> I agree about Victor, but he's a kid, he doesn't realize how good he has it. What I'm trying to understand is that at the beginning of the season, after he started playing baseball, he seemed to be pretty happy with Joel and Julia. Refresh my memory, was there something that brought him back?


I think it was after he got a B or something on a math test, and he wanted to tell his "real" mom. Joel & Julia told him that he couldn't see her - even explaining it was a court order - and that set him off. He's been a complete @(*$ ever since.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

Steveknj said:


> I kind of guessed that Amy was going to get pregnant. I thought it was interesting how they handled the abortion issue. I wonder if they got flooded with emails after that aired.


to think I thought that the abortion thing was the reason they put up the "viewer discretion advised" warning prior to the start of the show (I knew about that story line because I actually watch previews).

But nope.. We got to hear about boners and ejaculation.


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## Satchel (Dec 8, 2001)

That kid who plays Max should get an Emmy...

I agree that they should sit Victor down and ask him what he wants. Do you want to live with us? No? OK, back into the system you go.
Want your real mom? Too bad, she's in jail.
I thought the adoption was done until the CPS lady asked if they were still going through with it. 
I was thinking..."HELL NO."

I always seem to yell at this show for 50 minutes because people don't say what needs to be said...then it all gets said in the last 5 minutes.


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## jbx (May 21, 2005)

Steveknj said:


> I agree about Victor, but he's a kid, he doesn't realize how good he has it. What I'm trying to understand is that at the beginning of the season, after he started playing baseball, he seemed to be pretty happy with Joel and Julia. Refresh my memory, was there something that brought him back?
> 
> Maybe they need to take him to see where his "mother" is. not let him actually SEE her, but show him that she's in prison, and that she did bad stuff to get there. Scared straight.
> 
> I don't blame Sydney for being a brat either. I agree, she's been given the short shrift and she's too young to understand what her mom and dad are trying to do.





MacThor said:


> I think it was after he got a B or something on a math test, and he wanted to tell his "real" mom. Joel & Julia told him that he couldn't see her - even explaining it was a court order - and that set him off. He's been a complete @(*$ ever since.


I thought part of what made the kid start missing his past life and wanting to tell his real Mom about his grades was because Julia let him spend time with the friend/neighbor from his old neighborhood. I thought for sure that is where the story was going but they haven't mentioned anything more about it.


----------



## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

jsmeeker said:


> to think I thought that the abortion thing was the reason they put up the "viewer discretion advised" warning prior to the start of the show (I knew about that story line because I actually watch previews).
> 
> But nope.. We got to hear about boners and ejaculation.


I started to watch the show with my kids in the room and when I saw that view discretion advised come up, it startled me, I hit pause and waited until my kids were in bed! I thought it was over the abortion topic as well, but that almost didn't sound right because they do such a good job of talking about stuff without saying all the words, ya know. I rolled laughing when the "ejaculation" topic came up. But, suddenly understood why the warning was given. My autistic son would have been asking me for days "mommy, what's ejaculation" and he likely would have asked at school too. He's still too young for that to be explained to him!


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## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

Satchel said:


> That kid who plays Max should get an Emmy...
> 
> I agree that they should sit Victor down and ask him what he wants. Do you want to live with us? No? OK, back into the system you go.
> Want your real mom? Too bad, she's in jail.
> ...


Julia and Joel's story lines sure do leave a lot of unsaid stuff. I would have offered to show him where his Mom was, I would have already asked him if he wanted to live some place else and done my best to show him where that would be, not with his mother.

I like to help my kids understand things as fully as possible. I don't want to be responsible for leaving information out. Julia and Joel leave out a lot of information with both their kids. They expect them to understand and follow the rules without understanding why. Or understanding why there are some times exceptions to the rule, i.e. Sidney being a major brat some times. So the Julia and Joel story line drives me absolutely insane!


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Hank, Mark, meh. Sarah needs a non-romantic, non-magical (the play) storyline, STAT.

I thought the Drew/Amy story was played very subtle, and I liked that. Only negative is that since Amy isn't a Braverman, we didn't get to see her struggles with the choice. But the show only has so much time.

To someone above, Jason Katims last show, 'Friday Night Lights' had a teen abortion as well. Must be his thing!


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

On the good news front, ratings for Parenthood are stable and fairly strong compared to some other shows. I thing there is a really good chance we'll get a season 5.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

billypritchard said:


> On the good news front, ratings for Parenthood are stable and fairly strong compared to some other shows. I thing there is a really good chance we'll get a season 5.


I hope so. As hokey and predictable as it is sometimes, I enjoy it a lot.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

I just caught up on the last two episodes. Love this show! Some things are a little heavy handed, but it's really good on the whole.

I cried through the last half of the damn show. First at Drew with Amber, then when Zeke and Camille were discussing puberty (I didn't think I was going to be able to breathe!) and then again when Drew showed up at his mom's door.

I've never seen teen pregnancy on TV from the father's perspective before. I don't doubt it's been done (I haven't watched FNL) but I haven't seen it. Poor Drew.  As much as it sucks for Amy, at least she gets to make the decision. But then the flip side is she _has_ to make the decision. This is what Parenthood does best: messy situations where there's no one right answer.

Does anyone think she didn't go through with it? The way they shot it it's a possibility, but I think she did. I'd say I'm 70/30.

I wanted to kick Mark's ass for not telling Sarah that Amy had been involved in Drew being upset. As a former teen mom (?) herself I think she'd have had a chance at having a clue.

Please please please let Christina keep wearing hats. Her swollen head is incredibly distracting.

I loved their conversation about Adam having to talk to Max. "I talked to Haddie." "But that was easier." "Yep." unspoken: "nyah nyah."

Renee really ticked me off. The problem isn't your pride, the problem is being a guest in someone's home and admonishing them about eating their dinner.

(Did anyone else notice Sarah was going to order trout at the restaurant, and that's what Crosby's family was having? Was it Trout Week and no one told me?)

My in-laws lived with us for six months when they moved to the area and were househunting. They were incredibly respectful of us, and of our parenting decisions and how we run our house. For example, they're Christian and we are not. They pray before meals, we do not. They never once tried to lead a prayer before dinner or even ask if they could, they simply said their own prayers silently and subtly before they ate.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

Sadara said:


> I started to watch the show with my kids in the room and when I saw that view discretion advised come up, it startled me, I hit pause and waited until my kids were in bed! I thought it was over the abortion topic as well, but that almost didn't sound right because they do such a good job of talking about stuff without saying all the words, ya know. I rolled laughing when the "ejaculation" topic came up. But, suddenly understood why the warning was given. My autistic son would have been asking me for days "mommy, what's ejaculation" and he likely would have asked at school too. He's still too young for that to be explained to him!


Is it true that boys are considered to have reached puberty at their first ejaculation? Seems weird that for girls it is starting their periods which is purely physical and for boys it is something purely sexual.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

Yeah, I don't buy that.


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## Neenahboy (Apr 8, 2004)

billypritchard said:


> On the good news front, ratings for Parenthood are stable and fairly strong compared to some other shows. I thing there is a really good chance we'll get a season 5.


Hopefully a full 22 this time...I'm sick of these January finales that can never get any ratings traction (S4's airs on the 22nd). Either do a full back end or do 15-16, hold it for midseason and have it finish in May. Smash is to blame, of course, but that doesn't make the NBC brass any smarter.


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## DreadPirateRob (Nov 12, 2002)

My wife and I had to rewind and rewatch the Zeke/Camille/Max ejaculation discussion at least 3 times because we were laughing so hard. Hysterical. 

I really hope it gets renewed - it truly is one of my favorite shows at this point.


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## DreadPirateRob (Nov 12, 2002)

tiams said:


> Is it true that boys are considered to have reached puberty at their first ejaculation? Seems weird that for girls it is starting their periods which is purely physical and for boys it is something purely sexual.


I don't think so. I don't think there is a definite trigger for boys - it's some combination of growth in the genital region, and voice deepening (which makes for amusing voice "cracking" episodes). It apparently can start anywhere from age 9-14, which freaks me out a bit since my son is 10. Any day now!


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

DreadPirateRob said:


> I don't think so. I don't think there is a definite trigger for boys - it's some combination of growth in the genital region, and voice deepening (which makes for amusing voice "cracking" episodes). It apparently can start anywhere from age 9-14, which freaks me out a bit since my son is 10. Any day now!


OK. I thought it weird that they said puberty for boys was their first ejaculation which is tied to sexual arousal while for girls it doesn't involve anything sexual. I am a little freaked out too because I have a 10 year old girl. This week her 5th grade class began their sex ed course. It is a little traumatic for me. She asked me tonight what ejaculation was and it freaked me out a lot.


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## DreadPirateRob (Nov 12, 2002)

DreadPirateRob said:


> I don't think so. I don't think there is a definite trigger for boys - it's some combination of growth in the genital region, and voice deepening (which makes for amusing voice "cracking" episodes). It apparently can start anywhere from age 9-14, which freaks me out a bit since my son is 10. Any day now!


Weird. I had also mentioned "pubic/underarm hair growth" as one of the signs of puberty onset in boys, but somehow managed to delete it.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

tiams said:


> OK. I thought it weird that they said puberty for boys was their first ejaculation which is tied to sexual arousal while for girls it doesn't involve anything sexual. I am a little freaked out too because I have a 10 year old girl. This week her 5th grade class began their sex ed course. It is a little traumatic for me. She asked me tonight what ejaculation was and it freaked me out a lot.


Well a "period" is part of the reproduction cycle isn't it? In broad sense, so is a male ejaculation. BTW for many boys, the first ejaculation is involuntary (as mentioned in the episode, the wet dream). That would be kind of consistent with the period, wouldn't it?

For both sexes, there are many signs of puberty, hair growth in sexual regions of the body, voice changes. So I'm not sure there's one THING that defines puberty.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

Steveknj said:


> Well a "period" is part of the reproduction cycle isn't it? In broad sense, so is a male ejaculation. BTW for many boys, the first ejaculation is involuntary (as mentioned in the episode, the wet dream). That would be kind of consistent with the period, wouldn't it?
> 
> For both sexes, there are many signs of puberty, hair growth in sexual regions of the body, voice changes. So I'm not sure there's one THING that defines puberty.


The menstrual cycle doesn't require sexual arousal, ejaculation does. Even if that arousal is during sleep. I agree there is not one thing that signifies puberty, I was just taking issue (no pun intended) with the show saying that male puberty was reached at the first ejaculation.


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## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Anyhow, a weak episode last night. Crosby was the strongest of the bunch.

Max is Marshawn Lynch now?

Yet another of these:
1) Max has a tantrum/is slighted in some way
2) Kristina whines to other parents and is rebuffed
3) Kristina goes back for more and wins the day


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## Satchel (Dec 8, 2001)

Sorry, but the Skittles shower scene at the end seemed a bit forced.

Once again, it takes until the last few minutes for the people of this show to tell each other what needs to be said.

Christina could have started her first "vending machine moms" conversation with, "Hey, can we have a healthy snack-only vending machine?"
But did she? 
No.

I love this show, but it drives me crazy for 45 minutes and then it gets pretty good for the last act.

Like Hank finally telling Sarah she has to decide.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

So basically the Drew-Amy situation was completely dropped? (At least for this episode). I don't know about your family, but if something like that would happen in mine, this would be a topic of conversation for weeks. Yet Sarah walks into school and work as if nothing happens. Not a word about it to Mark when she sees him in school or during their coffee meeting. But it is so predictable that they would get back together, otherwise you probably would have seen the last of Jason Ritter.

Also predictable...

1) Christina / Max "winning" the vending machine battle. The thing with that whole thread is, in most schools, would this be something a student council could influence? I'm not convinced.

2) Crosby and the MIL fighting and Jasmine ending up backing her mother. 

3) Joel ends up rehiring the vet.

4) The kid ends up getting adopted (prediction....he will end up calling her mom by the end of the next episode)

Still love the show though as most of it is done well. Wife and I commented that we like Amber's hair. She looks a lot better.


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## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

Steve, I agree. The Drew-Amy conversation being dropped so quickly was a surprise to me. I fully expected to see something in this episode about it.

:up: to Hank!!

:up: Crosby!! He is on the right side of that argument!

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Joel and Julia and the adopted kid. That I'll have to see how it plays out.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

I don't think we've seen the last of Drew/Amy.

Crosby was great. I'm ashamed to admit I didn't even see that angle.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

The only reason Max wanted the vending machine in school was so he could get skittles whenever he wanted. So a "healthy choices" vending machine should not be satisfactory for him. I wanted Max to have to live with not getting his way.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Robin said:


> I don't think we've seen the last of Drew/Amy.
> 
> Crosby was great. I'm ashamed to admit I didn't even see that angle.


Since next week is the season finale:



Spoiler



There was not a mention of that in the preview for next week. And I wonder why there was NOTHING mentioned about it between Mark and Sarah, since that was the genesis of them getting back together. While I think something related to Drew / Amy will eventually come up, it was too conveniently swept under the rug.


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## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

tiams said:


> The only reason Max wanted the vending machine in school was so he could get skittles whenever he wanted. So a "healthy choices" vending machine should not be satisfactory for him. I wanted Max to have to live with not getting his way.


I've wanted this from the beginning of the show. As a Mom with a son who is autistic (high functioning) and not considering technically aspergers, I am constantly wanting my son to understand what it means to not have his way. If he pitches a fit, he definitely doesn't get what he wants.

Now, my son is regularly rewarded with good things and getting what he wants for good behavior and a jobs well done. But, fits and tantrums always assure him of NOT getting whatever it is that he wants at the moment. It has had a huge impact on him understanding to get good things, he has to be good. And he has to learn how to deal with it when he doesn't get what he wants.

After all, adult life is riddled with not getting everything we want when we want it!


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Sadara said:


> I've wanted this from the beginning of the show. As a Mom with a son who is autistic (high functioning) and not considering technically aspergers, I am constantly wanting my son to understand what it means to not have his way. If he pitches a fit, he definitely doesn't get what he wants.
> 
> Now, my son is regularly rewarded with good things and getting what he wants for good behavior and a jobs well done. But, fits and tantrums always assure him of NOT getting whatever it is that he wants at the moment. It has had a huge impact on him understanding to get good things, he has to be good. And he has to learn how to deal with it when he doesn't get what he wants.
> 
> After all, adult life is riddled with not getting everything we want when we want it!


I will say this. The way it was written, we were given the impression that Kristina and Adam felt that Max was right in this case. Kristina even said this to Adam. That's why Kristina went out of her way to help Max succeed. Whether you agree or disagree with this is up to you (I personally don't necessarily agree, but I can see the point that he ran on that platform and the kids voted him in, and that the PTA would not even listen to him), but to me this wasn't a case of them appeasing Max just because he threw a tantrum. Maybe they should have just sat him down and explained that (maybe they did and cut the scene out, who knows).


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## wouldworker (Sep 7, 2004)

They must be afraid that they won't get another season. They wrapped up everything with no real cliffhanger. You could argue that Sarah's story is not wrapped up but I say that she got what she deserved.


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## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

Yeah, it really did feel like it could be a series finale.

My only disappointment was they seemed to have written Sarah Ramos (Haddie) out. They even dropped her from the credits.

Yeah, I know she's off at school. And we did see her for all of 5 to 10 seconds in the Christmas ep when Kristina was in the hospital. But parenthood doesn't stop when a child goes off to college. Hell, that's the basis of the show: it is multi-generational. The adult Bravermann kids still have to occasionally turn to Zeke.

Still, this last ep _did _try to wrap a number of things up, as if they were worried the series was not coming back.


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## wouldworker (Sep 7, 2004)

I don't even notice Haddie's absence. To me, she was always the least interesting character on the show.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

They definitely designed the season to be the end if necessary, and because of that some of the last two episodes has felt forced. (vending machines, adoption, etc...)

Overall though I have to think that this 4th season of Parenthood has been pretty awesome. How many shows pull off maybe their best work in the 4th year? Impressive, and mostly driven by the cancer storyline and how deftly they pulled it off.

5th Season Request - Please don't put Sarah in a triangle! Sheesh. If they can get him, I would guess they might return to Seth as the endgame for Sarah.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Pretty good article at Grantland about reasons to watch Parenthood.

Binge Watch Parenthood

Although I don't really agree with the posted Braverman Power Rankings. I'd put Joel on top, most likely. And Adam at #12? C'mon!


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## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

Ya, felt to me like they wrapped this up as a series finale. Too bad, if it doesn't come back, I like this show a lot.

Though, Adam.... sheesh that buy. Some times he was trying to be so positive that he was in a fantasy land. I get being positive, it's good t be positive. But, some times being on a realistic level is good too.


----------



## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

Oh, I was disappointed they didn't spend more time on the abortion topic. I thought they would touch on it more this episode, but they totally swept it under the rug!


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## mike_k (Sep 20, 2005)

Sadara said:


> Oh, I was disappointed they didn't spend more time on the abortion topic. I thought they would touch on it more this episode, but they totally swept it under the rug!


Once Drew found out that he had been accpeted to Berkeley, I was expecting Amy to tell him that she didn't go through with the abortion.

And when Amber went to Ryan's appartment and they were talking outside of his door, I was expecting another woman to be inside.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

mike_k said:


> Once Drew found out that he had been accpeted to Berkeley, I was expecting Amy to tell him that she didn't go through with the abortion.
> 
> And when Amber went to Ryan's appartment and they were talking outside of his door, I was expecting another woman to be inside.


Agreed to both of those. Kudos to the writers for not going with standard soap opera trope.

When Hank was having his "big talk" with Sarah I was 50/50 on whether he was going to move away or propose.


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## mike_k (Sep 20, 2005)

Robin said:


> Agreed to both of those. Kudos to the writers for not going with standard soap opera trope.
> 
> When Hank was having his "big talk" with Sarah I was 50/50 on whether he was going to move away or propose.


Yeah - I was pretty sure that Sarah was going to tell Mark that she picked Hank, but wasn't sure what Hank was going to tell her.

If there is a next season, I hope we're done with Mark. He was fine at first, but now is just annoying.


----------



## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

mike_k said:


> Once Drew found out that he had been accpeted to Berkeley, I was expecting Amy to tell him that she didn't go through with the abortion.
> 
> And when Amber went to Ryan's appartment and they were talking outside of his door, I was expecting another woman to be inside.


Huh. I just didn't feel that way at all, but maybe it's because I'm used to the Katims-Season-Finale-As-Possible-Series-Finale style. There was no way he was going to throw those two loops in the last episode of the season. Friday Night Lights had the same possible series enders every year and worked the same way.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

I cannot fathom why Sarah would pick Hank, but I'm a dude. So, essentially over the course of this season, Hank methodically picked apart Sarah's engagement (by manipulative measures, as Mark pointed out, plus the elevator conversation), scooped her into bed/relationship immediately, and then as soon as he gets her committed, he leaves the state. Total d-bag.


----------



## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

That being said, I really liked Ray Romano in the role and thought it was very well acted. And I enjoyed his scenes with Max.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

billypritchard said:


> I cannot fathom why Sarah would pick Hank, but I'm a dude. So, essentially over the course of this season, Hank methodically picked apart Sarah's engagement (by manipulative measures, as Mark pointed out, plus the elevator conversation), scooped her into bed/relationship immediately, and then as soon as he gets her committed, he leaves the state. Total d-bag.


If you think that way because you're a dude then I'm a dude, too.

Plus Hank's gross.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Robin said:


> Plus Hank's gross.


Shalloooow!


----------



## Sadara (Sep 27, 2006)

billypritchard said:


> Shalloooow!


But, she's right. He is totally gross!!


----------



## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

billypritchard said:


> Shalloooow!


Do you say the same to every guy here who's ever asked "is she hot" or called a size 8 actress fat?


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Robin said:


> Do you say the same to every guy here who's ever asked "is she hot" or called a size 8 actress fat?


Sure! Did my spelling not make the word read in its proper silly tone?


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

billypritchard said:


> I cannot fathom why Sarah would pick Hank, but I'm a dude.


At the end, when they showed hank in the snow in front of the new house, the camera panned across what appeared to be a car covered in a lot of snow. I half expected a car door to open see Sarah step out.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

billypritchard said:


> Sure! Did my spelling not make the word read in its proper silly tone?


Ha ha! Sorry, misinterpreted.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Robin said:


> Ha ha! Sorry, misinterpreted.




It's sad that I debated for 45 seconds on the proper way to spell shallow so that you would exaggerate the O sound at the end.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

I appreciate your dedication to your art.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Someone can correct me (I know you will) but I don't think Parenthood has ever done cliffhangers.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

Was there one after amber 's accident?


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

billypritchard said:


> They definitely designed the season to be the end if necessary, and because of that some of the last two episodes has felt forced. (vending machines, adoption, etc...)
> 
> Overall though I have to think that this 4th season of Parenthood has been pretty awesome. How many shows pull off maybe their best work in the 4th year? Impressive, and mostly driven by the cancer storyline and how deftly they pulled it off.
> 
> 5th Season Request - Please don't put Sarah in a triangle! Sheesh. If they can get him, I would guess they might return to Seth as the endgame for Sarah.


I totally agree. It was a great season. My son keeps asking if they had ANOTHER episode where they are going for an Emmy. I think there were definitely episodes this year that were Emmy worthy.

While it did feel like a series ender, there's definitely enough story lines to keep this going. Crosby and Jasmine's baby for one.

The one thing that irks me is the COMPLETE turnaround by Victor again. He went from a brooding kid, then learned baseball and was happy, then became brooding and nasty, then quickly back to a nice kid. Is he bi-polar?


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Robin said:


> Agreed to both of those. Kudos to the writers for not going with standard soap opera trope.
> 
> When Hank was having his "big talk" with Sarah I was 50/50 on whether he was going to move away or propose.


As soon as Hank said he was going to Minnesota when they were in the shop, I knew what was going to happen. I did fully expect Sarah to go running back to Mark (as this seems to be her personality) and Mark "moving on" with another woman.


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## dbranco (Nov 20, 2003)

I agree about the Victor storyline. It seemed incredibly rushed, over just a few episodes. I think we're supposed to believe that when Julie told him that they were going to finalize the adoption, that was enough to make him completely turn around.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Robin said:


> Was there one after amber 's accident?


I'm pretty sure that was over two seasons, but I could be wrong


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

jsmeeker said:


> At the end, when they showed hank in the snow in front of the new house, the camera panned across what appeared to be a car covered in a lot of snow. I half expected a car door to open see Sarah step out.


Yep thought the same thing. I think if the writers knew for sure that this was it for the series, you'd have seen that. It's actually a good time for Sarah to move to Minnesota. Drew is off to college, granted close by, but he can always stay at the Braverman compound, and Amber has her life together finally (why did it take them until the end to get Amber's hair JUST perfect. She looked amazing the last two episodes in my opinion...finally got rid of the boy hair).


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

I watched this a bit after seeing a bits and pieces of the Parenthood movie on one of the HBOs. It REALLY is so different than the TV show that really, there's no link.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

The movie is totally different. They are the Buckmans, while the tv show is the Bravermans!


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

But seriously, all they did was keep the basic structure.

Grandparents
Son #1 - married, kid with possible learning disability
Daughter #1 - single mom with two kids
Daughter #2 - married, one kid, succesful and goal oriented
Son #2 - single, f*up, recently discovered kid


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## scooterboy (Mar 27, 2001)

If they do another season, I hope Sarah DOES move to Minnesota. That would remove a major annoyance from the show.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

scooterboy said:


> If they do another season, I hope Sarah DOES move to Minnesota. That would remove a major annoyance from the show.


I was thinking the same thing. Of course I was hoping they'd "kill" off Kristina because I could never stand the character or the actress, but I thought the whole cancer thing was done very well, and I've since changed my mind.


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## RGM1138 (Oct 6, 1999)

This did feel like a series finale. I guess I would be fine if they left it there. And, it is odd that a network drama has the season finale in January.


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## scooterboy (Mar 27, 2001)

I'm picturing a class in the Lauren Graham School of Acting:

Lauren Graham: _Class, I find that what works for me is to recite each of my lines as rapidly as possible, in a very frantic manner. That's it! Class dismissed! Pick up your diplomas on the way out!_


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Steveknj said:


> I'm pretty sure that was over two seasons, but I could be wrong


Don't think so. Think it was the next week. She was still hurting at the end of the season but alive.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

dbranco said:


> I agree about the Victor storyline. It seemed incredibly rushed, over just a few episodes. I think we're supposed to believe that when Julie told him that they were going to finalize the adoption, that was enough to make him completely turn around.


I bought it. Time did go by but the big thing was that he thought he was returnable and pulled away. Once it was forever, he got it.

They almost bashed that over our heads in the finale.


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## nirisahn (Nov 19, 2005)

scooterboy said:


> I'm picturing a class in the Lauren Graham School of Acting:
> 
> Lauren Graham: _Class, I find that what works for me is to recite each of my lines as rapidly as possible, in a very frantic manner. That's it! Class dismissed! Pick up your diplomas on the way out!_


I've seen her being interviewed. She talks that fast all the time, giggles too much, and doesn't sound very bright. At least that's the impression she gives. I really wanted to love her because I was such a huge Gilmore Girls fan.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

nirisahn said:


> I've seen her being interviewed. She talks that fast all the time, giggles too much, and doesn't sound very bright. At least that's the impression she gives. I really wanted to love her because I was such a huge Gilmore Girls fan.


She is one of my favorite characters on the show.


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## nirisahn (Nov 19, 2005)

TonyD79 said:


> She is one of my favorite characters on the show.


I like her on Parenthood too. She just didn't impress me much when she's not working from a script. I wanted to be as impressed with her the person as I was with her the character. Didn't happen.


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## DougF (Mar 18, 2003)

I really like the show, but I still want something big to happen. As I previously mentioned, I wish Kristina would have died during the cancer arc. Or, having Joel and Julia split up over the adoption conflict. They could have done way more with Drew's near-fatherhood. As much as I enjoy it, I just think there are a lot of missed opportunities.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

These have to be the most whiny moany angsty over nothing group of tv characters I have ever watched.

I never would have adopted that kid I woulda kicked his butt to the curb.

Ritter's BF character - if someone came to my door and said all that and left I would get a restraining order.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

My biggest issue with the Victor arc is they never really sat him down and talked to him about his real mom or why they can't go visit his old 'hood. He was rightfully very frustrated, and "not the momma" was just being a whining, pouty *****. "he doesn't love me...", please...


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I agree with you not to mention they ended before Christmas with him having success at school and with the baseball team and then came back and had him throwing things through windows. Not very well written.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Cainebj said:


> These have to be the most whiny moany angsty over nothing group of tv characters I have ever watched.
> 
> I never would have adopted that kid I woulda kicked his butt to the curb.
> 
> Ritter's BF character - if someone came to my door and said all that and left I would get a restraining order.


Wow. You are bad ass.

Really. Dump the kid. Nice. And a restraining order? Wow.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Cainebj said:


> I agree with you not to mention they ended before Christmas with him having success at school and with the baseball team and then came back and had him throwing things through windows. Not very well written.


Yeah cause kids are so consistent.

I had no problem with it.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

I think Joel and Julia were trying not to disparage his birth mother and foster homes. 

I agree that they needed to be more open with him, but they were walking a fine line and erred in the side of too much caution.


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## sushikitten (Jan 28, 2005)

In the last two weeks I finished all seven eps. I cried a bunch. :/ 

The scene that hit me the most? Adam watching Kristina's goodbye videos to the kids. Gah. Just thinking about it now has me in tears.

One question: after Drew's girlfriend got the abortion and he showed up on his mom's step crying and the ep ended with them hugging... Do we know if he told her? It was never brought up as far as I saw and I thought it odd they would gloss over it if he did tell her, so I'm guessing he didn't? With the type of parent she's shown herself to be, I also can't imagine she'd let it drop? 

And I'm glad Victor turned it around at the end there because I wanted him to GO AWAY.

And Jasmine really needs to stand up to her mother.


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## KenDC (Jun 18, 2001)

I just finished the whole series to date and I really enjoy it and hope there will be a season 5.


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## scooterboy (Mar 27, 2001)

sushikitten said:


> One question: after Drew's girlfriend got the abortion and he showed up on his mom's step crying and the ep ended with them hugging... Do we know if he told her? It was never brought up as far as I saw and I thought it odd they would gloss over it if he did tell her, so I'm guessing he didn't? With the type of parent she's shown herself to be, I also can't imagine she'd let it drop?


They really dropped the ball on that one. It was never mentioned again.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

KenDC said:


> I just finished the whole series to date and I really enjoy it and hope there will be a season 5.


With the tank job that NBC's schedule has done this spring, it's nearly 100 percent guaranteed.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

billypritchard said:


> With the tank job that NBC's schedule has done this spring, it's nearly 100 percent guaranteed.


Conjecture or you have something to base that on? I hope you're right, but they sure did write the season finale a lot like a series finale.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Steveknj said:


> Conjecture or you have something to base that on? I hope you're right, but they sure did write the season finale a lot like a series finale.


Going on various prediction type websites. Of course the show wrote it as a finale, cause even they couldn't have predicted how bad NBC would go south.

Parenthood was getting 5M viewers, 2.0 in the demo. 
Smash came in and got 2.5M viewers, 1.0 in the demo.

Case closed.


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## max99 (May 23, 2004)

Renewed for 22 episodes.


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## sushikitten (Jan 28, 2005)

Awesome!


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

awesome!!


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## Neenahboy (Apr 8, 2004)

It got a back nine order? Am I dreaming?

Thank you for shooting yourself in the foot this season, Smash.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

On a side note, happy to see "Chicago Fire" got renewed. I like that show. I enjoy it more than "Revolution". It makes a hell of a lot more sense.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

billypritchard said:


> With the tank job that NBC's schedule has done this spring, it's nearly 100 percent guaranteed.


He shoots, he scores!

:up:


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## zyzzx (Jan 22, 2002)

billypritchard said:


> He shoots, he scores!
> 
> :up:


Good call.

I've never been happier that no one watches NBC. Super-happy that Parenthood is back for a full season.


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## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

Yay! Love Parenthood.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Very good.


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## super dave (Oct 1, 2002)

jsmeeker said:


> On a side note, happy to see "Chicago Fire" got renewed. I like that show. I enjoy it more than "Revolution". It makes a hell of a lot more sense.


I agree, Revolution won't make it a 2nd season in our house.


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