Parenthood is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jason Katims and based on the 1989 film of the same title that revolves around the large, colourful and imperfect Braverman family, which has expanded to three generations.
Sarah Braverman (Lauren Graham), a financially strapped single mother, is packing up her Fresno apartment and uprooting her two inconvenienced kids, Amber (Mae Whitman) and Drew (Miles Heizer), to make a big move back home to Berkeley to be closer to her family.
On the home front, Sarah is greeted by her larger-than-life, headstrong father, Zeek (Craig T. Nelson), and pillar-of-strength mother, Camille (Bonnie Bedelia), who are privately dealing with their own marital issues.
Meanwhile, Sarah's sister and complete antithesis, Julia (Erika Christensen) is a successful corporate attorney trying to juggle work and motherhood, alongside her stay-at-home husband, Joel (Sam Jaeger).
Commitment-phobe Crosby (Dax Shepard), Sarah's younger brother, must suddenly contend with accepting adult responsibility when an old flame Jasmine (Joy Bryant) shows up unexpectedly and he must re-evaluate his priorities.
However, it's Adam (Peter Krause), the oldest Braverman sibling, who must relinquish his preconceived expectations about what constitutes a "normal" family when he, his wife Kristina (Monica Potter) and teenage daughter, Haddie (Sarah Ramos), learn that their eccentric son and Haddie's little brother, Max (Max Burkholder), is diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.
Although each sibling and family has its own share of life to grapple with, perhaps this reunion is the push they need to help each other pick up the pieces and focus on the everyday challenges that families face while raising children and starting over.
Serving as executive producers are Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, Jason Katims – who wrote the pilot episode - and David Nevins. Thomas Schlamme is the director and executive producer of the pilot.
Broadcast Notes
The show moved from M-Net Series to M-Net Series Showcase (simulcast in HD for the first time) for Seasons 4 and 5, when the former channel became defunct in 2013. The latter itself became defunct in 2014 and first-run rights moved to Vuzu for Season 6.
The first two seasons did not air on M-Net Series Zone.