I took a break from supporting epson printers and dealing with grouchy clients today to tell my coworker about the cute new show Perfect Couples on NBC. It’s a really funny show about three different couples that are all drastically different. There’s the hot headed couple that love to fight with each other; the couple that is quirky but fairly normal; and the over the top mushy oober cheesy couple. They’re all friends and their antics are hilarious.

I love the start of every episode, where it shows each couple dealing with the same situation but of course handling it very differently. I hope this show makes it to season 2 because it’s really cute and always good for a laugh, especially among my married friends.

Haddie’s grandma Camille finally tells Haddie it’s time for her to go home. They have a nice talk and it seems to sink in to Haddie. Adam and Sarah talk about Haddie and how she’s doing and Adam says how much he misses her. Later on in the show, Haddie does come home, and the look on her mom’s face is so beautiful. They are just so happy to have her home, and Christina holds back tears as she tells Haddie to come eat.

Later Haddie “casually” runs into Alex while out with Amber and Max. Max comes home and spills the beans to his parents because he wants to play basketball again with Alex. You know Alex is the type of guy that has a lot of sport trophies. The guy as Max puts it, “is really really good at basketball. He’s a way better teacher than you dad.” I feel sorry for Adam because you can tell it hurts his feelings that his son rather learn sports from someone else.

Christina and Adam sit down with Haddie and have an adult discussion about her seeing Alex and agree that it is ok with some ground rules. I was proud of the Bravermans for having a real conversation and not doing that loud overtalk of each other that they always do. Haddie is thrilled and almost knocks her parents over with hugging them. Then later in the episode Christina, Adam, Max and Haddie head to the park and meet Alex. I love that instead of Adam struggling against Alex he decides to embrace his basketball skills and they all play a game. It was such a beautiful scene, and I could tell Alex was touched by the gesture.

Meanwhile there’s a different kind of homecoming going on with Drew and Amber. Their deadbeat druggie dad Seth is back. He meets Drew for lunch and Drew you can tell adores his dad. Amber gets in a fight with Drew about him seeing Seth and tells him about all of the horrible stuff that Seth did. My heart breaks for Amber because I can identify only too well with a deadbeat dad who wasn’t around much. Amber ends up taking Drew to see one of Seth’s shows. Seth sings a song about his children that of course seems to melt Amber’s heart. But after the show when they talk it is very strained and she ends up taking Drew home early. I liked that scene because it’s real. An absent dad can’t just sing a song and make it all better, it takes time.

I wonder if Seth will be a reoccurring character and if Zeek’s suspicions are true that Sarah does still have feelings for him. There wasn’t much happening with Julia this episode, they only had a brief cameo in this week’s episode. Crosby and Jasmine had a big story and one that I definitely didn’t like. Jasmine has become over the top controlling, changing everything about the wedding, and not allowing Crosby to make any decisions. Then they go to pre-marriage counseling as required by the church, and Crosby isn’t really getting a word in. You can see that Crosby is starting to get cold feet and I’m really sad to see it. At the same time, Jasmine could loosen up a little bit. Adam gives great advice to Crosby: “Marriage changes you. Deal with it.” He also points out that Jasmine grounds Crosby, and he is loosens her up, and that they are good for each other. Unfortunately Crosby seems to think that Jasmine grounds him to the point of stifling him. He gets in a fight with Jasmine and ends up sleeping on his house boat, surrounded by take out and beer bottles.

The previews for next week make me think there may not be a wedding. Damnit Crosby, it’s time to grow up!

I just have to say that I think it’s ridiculous that Adam and Cristina have allowed Haddie to move in with her grandparents just because she’s mad that they won’t let her see Alex. Unacceptable! They should be standing firm and parenting their kid.

Meanwhile, Adam’s boss is a total nut. It cracks me up that Adam’s boss gets him high with a sucker. But I love that even though he was high, he was still Super Dad and calmed his son down on his camping trip with Zeek.

Haddie does the right thing and apologizes to her parents for saying she chooses Alex over them. Cristina finally confesses to Adam that her mom ran away with her dad when she was only 16, and she’s afraid that Haddie will make the same mistake. She still hasn’t moved home yet and I’m worried she won’t go back.

The previews for next week have me intrigued. Aidan from Sex and the City is the druggie ex of Sarah! Now that is one yummy ex. I can’t wait to see what is in store.

I have been in Haddie’s shoes. I have had those same type of fights with my parents, where they were telling me I couldn’t date a boy and I had that all consuming teen angst have to date this boy attitude. I’ve wanted to run away, I’ve so been there. I think that’s one reason I love Parenthood. They nail those moments that we experience growing up. Now that I’m an adult, I’m seeing it from the parents perspective and it is incredibly eye opening.

Adam and Christina are struggling because they realize that Haddie’s boyfriend is a good guy. He’s  honest, he’s respectful and he’s mature. But that’s the problem. Haddie is 16, and they want her to be 16, not 16 going on 30. I remember being in a hurry to grow up, but it’s so true what Adam said. “She’s going to spend her whole life being grown up and having to make grown up decisions.” They just want her to enjoy being a teenager for as long as she can.

Still, it would break my heart to have to say no to my child when it comes to dating because I know what that feels like. I think they’re doing the right thing by not allowing her to date Alex, but they’re also pushing her towards lying and sneaking.

I’m curious to see how next week’s episode will go, and whether Camille will do the right thing and call Haddie’s parents. Will Camille take Haddie’s side and let her stay with them or will she back up her parents, as any rational grandparent should?

In the other storylines, I wasn’t that interested in Sarah’s storyline with her kid. He’s a slacker, and her dad shouldn’t have bailed him out, period. As for Crosby, go Cros for standing up to Jasmine and being a good parent. Kids shouldn’t be allowed to just quit when things are hard and I love that he encouraged Jabar to stick it out with the play. He is just too cute for words!

Poor Adam! His new boss Cory is worse than his last. This new boss looks like an overgrown teenager and uses the word dude multiple times in a sentence. He wants to use video games as bi tools. Adam should really be running that company. He brings home the video game Cory was telling him about, and as he’s complaining to Kristina, she starts playing the game. It cracked me up because she got really into the game and Adam said, “I’m in hell. I’m in frickin’ hell.”

Then there’s the whole story with Haddie not being able to see her new boyfriend. I really don’t blame them for not wanting her to date a 19 year old emancipated recovering alcoholic. I remember what it’s like to be in Haddie’s shoes though, and I can really empathize with her heartache. I think having to tell your kid they can’t date someone they like would be a really hard part of being a parent. I would totally be Kristina, making guilt pancakes and trying to bride my child into liking me again.

Sarah is trying to connect with her daughter Amber and listen to her play her song for a talent show at school. I love Amber’s voice! It’s always hard to listen to people practice though because no matter what advice you give, you’re bound to get some resistance. Poor Sarah tries to give Amber advice and it backfires, making Amber nervous.

Haddie ends up sneaking behind her parent’s back to go on a real date with her forbidden boyfriend Alex. She gets Amber’s help and Amber agrees. You can sense some worry from Amber when she finds out that Haddie’s guy is a recovering alcoholic that has only been sober 6 months.

The date Alex takes her on is pretty amazing I have to admit. Rooftop movie with a view of the city, watching Sixteen Candles. How romantical!

The scene where Sarah tells Amber she is amazing and that she can fly brought tears to my eyes. It was such a beautiful mother daughter moment. I love how musical their family is.  My family is really musical too so that montage where everyone is singing and playing music together really pulled at my heart strings and made me miss my home and my family so much. This show always knows how to get to me and make me weepy. I hope it survives the chopping block because it’s a incredible show.

I really liked this show first season. I still like it, but sometimes the arguments between the characters and the talking over each other gets kind of irritating. Poor Joel has to put up with Zeek and his do it yourself shoddy repair work. Joel you can tell is feeling good about being needed and I know he’s going to want to go back to work when he can. Of course now Julia wants another baby and you can see that’s frightening Joel. Also, their little one is asking all sorts of questions about the birds and the bees. You can see they’re both horrified and already thinking their little girl is almost ready for body wash for acne and out of control hormones.
Crosby’s storyline makes me sad and I wish his girlfriend and son would just come back and be with him. I hate that she’s taken their son so far away and deprived Crosby of time with him.
I’m glad Adam stepped up for Lauren and gave her an internship. Kristina’s driving lessons were horrifyingly similar to my experiences with my mom and made me laugh out loud. My mom was a terrible driving instructor. I’m sure I’ll be exactly the same.
Even with the crazy dialog I will keep watching Parenthood. Hopefully they survive the dreaded sophomore year curse!

I was watching Parenthood while taking a break from work and I have to say, I really do love this show. I hope it makes it past the tremulous first season trial period. Hopefully those producers over at NBC will take into account everyone who watches streaming video of last night’s episode. I can’t stay up past ten anymore. When I do, I have to make sure I have the best eye cream for wrinkles because I get bags like you wouldn’t believe! Anyways, back to the show.

This week’s episode touched on a couple of things that I’ve noticed with today’s parenting techniques. Now I’m not a parent, so I know I really have no room to talk, but I do have some ideas about how I want to raise my kids. I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in recent years that I’ve nicknamed “phoofy” parenting. It’s all about the kids and being comfortable with who they are, and letting the kids basically have free rein. I’m all for kids being comfortable, but breaking out of that comfort bubble is ok too.

In the beginning of the episode, Julia stops by the YMCA to watch her daughter and husband in swim class. This is the phoofy parenting part. Joel says they’re just getting Sydney acclimated to the water, so even though she’s been in swim lessons for weeks, all she can do is blow bubbles in the water. I think Julia has ever right to be frustrated with this “technique”. She comes back to the pool the next week and tries to teach Sydney how to swim. She tells Sydney to swim to her, and Sydney gets scared and starts sinking, but she does kick to the surface and swims for the first time. Julia tells her how good she did but Sydney is freaking out because she wasn’t in her comfort zone. All the other moms look at Julia like she’s just tried to kill her child.

I think this is just RIDICULOUS. I mean, Julia did nothing wrong. Phoofy parenting on the rest of the group’s part in my opinion. I plan on raising my kids old fashioned style, and I think they could use a little more tough love than what I’ve seen out there in the world lately.

There was of course a lot more to the episode but that’s what resonated with me the most. I also hate this Raquel person who is getting way too familiar with Julia’s husband Joel. I want to bitch slap her! This show is just so great and real and exactly what we need in programming today. I hope everyone tunes in to watch!

I’ve taken way too long to blog about The Office’s milestone episode two weeks ago, The Delivery. I guess it’s because I was really frustrated with the entire episode. For once it wasn’t Michael being annoying and over the top, it was Pam. Pam had taken her prenatal vitamins, she’d done her research on childbirth. She was ready. No, she was actually incredibly scared and completely unreasonable. She flat out refuses to go to the hospital because she’s scared of giving birth. I can sympathize because giving birth scares the crap out of me. But be reasonable Pam! The writers have really turned Pam and Jim from this adorable and loving couple into complete jerkfaces. I said it. The beloved PJ are now turd sandwiches. Hopefully the writers get it together and make them back into the love-able couple we rooted for from day 1.

There were a few sweet moments, like this one of Pam, Jim, and their little girl. I hated the way it was revealed that they were having a girl, how Pam just blurts it out. It should have been special, but it wasn’t. Again, writers dropping the ball on great moments. Pam didn’t turn into a sweetheart after the birth either, like I was hoping she would. She was still crabby. About the only time I laughed during their story was when she accidentally nursed another baby. AWKWARD!!!

I loved Dwight and Angela’s side story about deciding to have a baby and coming up with a contract. I love how Dwight insists that they will have a boy because he put it in writing. I do hope Dwight and his monkey get back together. Angela is just too douchy without him. But the whole scene showing Dwight ripping apart the Halpert’s kitchen was over the top insane and ridiculous. I am hoping the season shapes up because right now I’m not impressed.

I’ve been looking forward to NBC’s Parenthood since last summer when I first saw a promo for the show created by Ron Howard. It’s a drama-edy with moments of laughter mixed with real life issues and I have to say I loved it. This show has a lot of potential to be great, provided viewers give it the chance. I feel that today’s viewers are all about reality tv and mindless drivel versus shows that really make you think and feel.

The cast is full of familiar faces which really helps a fledgling show get viewers. We’ve got Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls, Craig T. Nelson from Coach, and even Sam Jaege from the sadly canceled Eli Stone. There are even more, but those are the few that really stood out for me.

The show is about the Braverman Family and their adult children who have started their own families. There’s the single mother Sarah and her two kids who have just moved home. Sarah is having money problems and has a dead beat ex husband. She’s getting back into the dating world and trying to be a good parent to her wild kids. Then there’s her sister Julia, who is a powerful attorney and mother, who is finding that not being home with her little girl is having it’s drawbacks. Her daughter seems to prefer daddy to mommy and you can see it’s breaking Julia’s heart. I can really identify with that character. Her’s a woman who is successful and trying to have it all, and she’s missing out on her time as a mom. I hope that never happens to me!

Younger brother Crosby (played by Dax Shepard in a semi-serious role for the first time, yay!) is a commitment phobe, who is dating a 30 something woman who is ready for a family. He seems more concerned with sculpting his guns on his dip machine than settling down. I feel so sorry for her when it’s painfully obvious that Crosby is not the one for her. He makes this weak attempt to keep her by saying, “give me three years”. What is THAT? At the end of the episode, he discovers that he is already a dad. I’m curious to see how that’s going to go over with his strung along girlfriend.

Adam, the oldest Braverman sibling has his world shattered when he and his wife learn that their son Max has Asperger’s Syndrome. I’m excited that the show is portraying a kid with this disorder. Different types of autism are so prevalent in today’s society, and it’s great to see a drama taking it on.

I think this new show has a good blend of drama and humor, keeping it from being a depressing outlook on life. It feels more like a real family, with real issues and also happy moments. I’m looking forward to the next episode!

I can’t believe this is considered an Olympic Sport. Ice dancing in general seems like the pathetic little brother of figure skating. Makes you wonder if the figure skaters ever bully the ice dancers. If you’ve never tuned into ice dancing, it’s basically couples figure skating without any of the cool moves. I’ve seen it a few times and always thought it was a bit silly, but last night took the cake when Russian champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin skated their controversial Aboriginal dance. It seemed pretty offensive to Aborigine culture, but also just plain ridiculous. I mean…look at this picture! Does this look like they’re taking the sport even remotely seriously? At least it was good for a laugh. D and I were cracking UP watching it.