The End of Parenthood

I thought NBC’s Parenthood would be lame, a remake of the old movie by the same name but then March 3rd came here they all were: Craig T Nelson, so perfect as patriarch Zeke (even though I’m not 100% convinced that a vet from our earliest years in Vietnam would actually BE proficient in acoustic guitar.) And Bonnie Bedelia, who shows me my own future with her ringlets and her angel sleeves and her dangly earrings. She dresses as if it’s the 70s again and why not? Viva empowerment!  The Blond Kristina is sure in her own boat: "I was a teenage girl once! You never were!” she yells to her husband, played by Peter Krause. Still, I'll admit she's pretty sweet in that scene where she disappears into her closet in search of an outfit for the big  job interview and comes out in such a giantly shoulder-padded jacket her two sisters-in-law hoot with derisive laughter. (“Who are you, Cybil Shepherd”?!)Dax Shepard is in it too. He's  the rangy big-eyed dude above  you know him: he who played  Tina Poehler’s  partner-in-deception in “Baby Mama”. I like that his name is Crosby in the show. I keep looking around for family members named Stills, Nash and Young.Plus even the kids are great, especially the older ones. That mild boy-teen trying to get a foothold in the new school. And pretty-girl Sarah Ramos. And Mae Whitman with the sad eyes and the slumped shoulders.But my favorite character?  Hands down it's Lauren Graham as the merry-eyed slightly screwed- up daughter who has to move home with her kids and then begins thinking she should move back again and stop causing everyone so much trouble. Her daughter’s English teacher falls in love with  her for her funny vulnerable way.  That's what did it for me too. Take a peek from the promo clip to see what I mean:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUIK17oJuRA]