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 wait for the new season of my favorite shows. It feels like it’s taking forever! Don’t get me wrong, I love my summers. But why does the programming have to be so terrible? On the weeknights after a long day of work, I like to come home and unwind for an hour or two with a little TV. Sadly in the summertime, it’s nothing but reruns or bad reality shows, like Tool Academy. Do these idiots really need their own television show??
So here’s a list of all the shows I can’t wait to see, as well as some new ones that look interesting.

• How I Met Your Mother
• The Office
• 30 Rock
• Parks and Recreation
• Better off  Ted (if those jerks at ABC renew it!)
• Grey’s Anatomy
• Brothers & Sisters
• Desperate Housewives
• Private Practice
• Mad Men
• Family Guy

And for the new shows out, these look like they have potential:

• Cougar Town



• Community

• Parenthood



• Accidentally on Purpose

New shows are always hard to like, because networks are so quick to cancel them. So hopefully if any of these new shows are good, the networks will recognize that, and stop playing back to back episodes of So You Think You Can Dance.  Also, thank you to all the networks for putting TV Shows online. If they didn’t, there’s no way I’d be able to keep up with all these shows.