Five Reasons You Should Watch the Premiere of ‘Parenthood’ Tonight

The Olympics are over. Jay Leno is hosting The Tonight Show again. NBC is a mess. And the network has done nothing, NOTHING to earn our trust, respect or love over the last five years outside of renewing Law & Order and 30 Rock. And yet…and yet their new show Parenthood, which premieres tonight at 10, moves me to give them another chance.

Here are five reasons why you should watch the premiere of Parenthood tonight:

5. If it’s good enough for Joss Whedon, it’s good enough for you.



As many of you may already know, Parenthood is based on a 1989 Ron Howard film of the same name, and that this film has been adapted for television once before (back in 1990 to be precise). What you might not know is that the first Parenthood TV series that you never heard of featured plenty—and I mean PLENTY—of people that you have! Leonardo DiCaprio, Thora Birch, and David Arquette all starred! And you wouldn’t just recognize the faces in front of the camera. Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon and Buffy writing alum David Tyron King both received series writing credits for their work on the show. So, if adapting this Academy Award-nominated film is good enough for the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Joss Whedon, it’s good enough for us.

4. Because if a show gets canceled once and then 20 years later gets picked up again by the same network, you must acquit watch!



Unfortunately, the aforementioned 1990 television adaptation of Parenthood fits into that “brilliant but canceled” or “canceled before its time” moniker that bloggers love to attach to shows 10 years after they’ve gone off the air. It lasted for one 12-episode season before NBC pulled the plug due to low ratings despite its high critical acclaim (imagine if that had been said about 30 Rock!—NEVERMIND!!! DON’T DO IT!!! DON’T IMAGINE IT!!!). So, what happened in the last 20 years that made executive producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer AND NBC want to give this gig another shot? I have absolutely no idea. But I really, really want to find out.

3. Because we earned the 10 o’clock hour back and we should enjoy it.

The last five months saw a major decrease in the amount of available primetime real estate when NBC decided to give Jay Leno an hour-long show five nights a week at 10pm. The television industry called bullshit, The Jay Leno Show was canceled (oh, what’s in a name?), and now we’ve got our five hours back! TV needed these fives hours, and I will tell you why: come pilot season, if one of the four major networks is looking at taking on five hours LESS of television—and not just any television, but 10pm not-for-kids television—than prospective pilots are in the kind of trouble that could mean a brilliant series not getting picked up or a veteran favorite not getting renewed to make room for more pick-ups. All because the network is only playing with ten hours of primetime instead of fifteen. It’s bad enough real shows have to compete with cheaper-to-produce reality and game shows. So, victory is ours! And Parenthood is our first chance to show NBC that we love real television and that we are loyal to quality. Make it happen, people! Make. It. Happen.

2. Ron Howard + Brian Grazer Always = Amazing

Inventing the Abbotts. Apollo 13. Felicity. Arrested Development. A Beautiful Mind. Need I say more? I have never once doubted anything that has both the names Ron Howard and Brian Grazer on it. Never.

1. Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham has been missing from our televisions since Gilmore Girls ended in 2007. She’s been in a handful of movies since then including Evan Almighty and Flash of Genius, which is really great because she is a wonderful, talented actress. But movies are not the same as weekly appearances on a beloved, hilarious, dramatic television series. I am beyond pumped to have Lauren Graham back in my life. And I cannot believe that starts tonight.

BONUS: Lauren gave Parenthood her own seal of approval. During her last visit to The Ellen DeGeneres Show last October, Lauren discussed her excitement over her new role on Parenthood, saying, “I guess it’s been two and a half years since Gilmore Girls. I mean, it feels really like it went by quickly. But this is the first thing I read that I just loved and I really wanted to do.”


In short, Parenthood is going to be full of awesome. There is no doubt about that. Where the doubt comes in is whether or not NBC will renew the show. And you know that I, of all people, do not want to get attached to a new NBC show only to have them burn me for the umpteenth time and cancel it. But they need us and because of that I feel really good about our chances.

Parenthood premieres tonight at 10 on NBC. Watch it. For the children.


*Images: NBC, Forbes*