Why I Love Parenthood and the Bravermans

A few weeks ago Parenthood aired its very last show. I caught up on the season last week and have now seen them all. It ended well and the last few episodes were very touching. There are a few reasons why I love this show. My mom told me about it after she watched a couple of seasons. She kept telling me I would love it and I did.

This is why I loved the show so much and why I am sad it had to end. I am going to try not to give away any real spoilers but I do want to talk a little bit about certain things on the show.

For those that don’t know, Parenthood is about the Bravermans. Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia play Zeek and Camille. The parents of the four grown children and the grandparents of all of their children. Adam is the oldest son played by Peter Krause. He is married to Kristina, played by Monica Porter. Sarah is the next daughter and she is played by Lauren Graham. Dax Shepard plays Crosby the younger son and Erika Christensen plays Julia, the youngest of the four.

1) Max- Max is the son of Adam and Kristina. When the show starts he is about 8 years old and is diagnosed with Asperger’s. When I started watching the show our son was not diagnosed and we just started thinking something was going on with him. I would sit and watch Max and think, “Man, he is so much like Drew.” Once Drew was diagnosed, it was nice to watch what Max was going through and watch how the his whole family dealt with things. Since Max is a few years older than our son, I felt like he was a way to see into our future. There were times when Adam or Kristina would say something about his Asperger’s and I could totally relate. I will miss seeing Max get older and watch the challenges that he will have to go through.

2) California– The show takes place in Berkeley, California. While I am not from there I lived in the Bay Area for a while and I like watching shows that take place near where I have lived. It makes me a little home sick in some ways but it is a good thing. 

3) Lorelai Gilmore, I mean Sarah– I am a HUGE fan of Gilmore Girls so watching a show with Lauren Graham would happen no matter what. Sarah is different from Lorelai. She has a different type of relationship with her daughter than she did with Rory. I love seeing her in this different role.

4) Family- This show is all about family. Since they all live close to one another, they see each other all the time. Some of them even work together. They rely on each other in ways I simply can’t do with my own family because of the distance between us. I hope that in the future I can have this kind of closeness with my own family.

5) Real stories- The stories feel real to me. They go through divorce, cancer, money issues, PTSD, you name it and they probably had a story about it. While it is TV, it feels more real than other shows. The emotions are more real and I can relate to some of the issues I have dealt with myself.

I always feel sad when a good show gets cancelled too early. This is one of them. Hopefully they will have a reunion sometime in the future.

Are you a fan of Parenthood?