Executive producers Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Jason Katims have created comic magic with Parenthood, a one-hour, dramatic re-imagining of the 1989 film. In fact, Parenthood is a primetime hit that has begun its third season high in the Top Ten. Refreshingly original and genuinely funny, Parenthood showcases the trials, tribulations and triumphs of family life in a unique, hilarious and heartbreaking way.
Featuring an all-star ensemble cast, including Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), Dax Shepard (Idiocracy), Craig T. Nelson (My Name is Earl), Bonnie Bedelia (Big Love), and Erika Christensen (Swimfan), Parenthood follows four grown siblings of the far-from-perfect Braverman clan as they try to balance kids and careers, dreams and commitments, and romance or lack thereof.
GlobalTV.com spoke with Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Jason Katims and cast members Peter Krause and Craig T. Nelson about their primetime success.
Being a 1989 movie hit, how did the idea come about to make Parenthood a primetime show?
JASON KATIMS: It is was a movie that I always loved and, you know, thought it was great. And when I was thinking about potentially doing a show, the idea came to me, and I looked at the movie again. And I just thought this it held up so well, and it felt so contemporary to me. And I felt like this was just a great jumping-off point for me. The more I worked on the pilot, the more it became much more than a jumping-off point. I really wanted to honor the movie and sort of use a lot of the structure and the set of the movie to do it.
RON HOWARD: Well, Jason did a spectacular job on Friday Night Lights, a movie that we were very proud of, and came to Brian Grazer and I and wanted to, talk about Parenthood. And in our little pre-conversation we were sort of scratching our heads. And Parenthood is a project that I really cherish. It's a great memory. It was a great creative experience. To this day, it's probably the most personal film that I've ever really been involved with or story that I've been involved with. And so it's something that I hold near and dear. We had tried once to do sort of a sitcom version of it. That was misguided. Didn't work, didn't live up to, in my mind, the potential of all the stories that were -- and the characters as they existed in the movie. And the first question that we asked of Jason was, "Well, why do you need Parenthood? I mean, you're a great writer. You can develop your own family." And he made an argument for why the foundation of that family worked. Ultimately, it's about, the unbelievable ups and downs of parenting, the absurdity of it, the pain of it, and also, significantly to me, the nobility of it. But it's also just about being responsible and being in a family. And that always creates great suspense and great drama, and that was a thing that Jason started talking about.
Parenthood is very honest and realistic but still funny and light. Is that what you intended for the show?
JASON KATIMS: I think the newer version of the show does play lighter. Some of the stuff that we decided to do, we did very purposefully some of that was to lighten the tone, some of it was simply storytelling, making things clearer. It was a rare opportunity for somebody in my shoes to go back and say, "Well, this is great. I love what it is, but I have a second shot here. What could I change?" So, I took that opportunity.
Jason, can you talk a little bit about what sort of research you've done into parents of kids with Asperger's Syndrome. That's a very tricky condition to depict, especially on a show with this many characters, how you are making that work?
JASON KATIMS: Yes. Well, I have been researching it steadily for the past 13 years because I have a son with Asperger's. I think that what we have done, though -- and because that is very important for me to depict that as realistically as possible and not only meaning to depict Max and Max's performance, but also the parents and how the parents are dealing with it and what they go through. We've had consultants on the show. We have somebody who I know really well and respect greatly, a behavioral therapist, who reads every script and will give feedback to me and anybody else that he feels is necessary.
Craig and Peter, how did either one of you guys talk about your approach to the father-son relationship? One of the best scenes came when you had to be told your son was sick. As actors, do you talk about what you want to do with a particular scene, or do you just go in and do it?
CRAIG T. NELSON: Well, that was an extremely difficult night because, there was a death on the set the night we shot it. Peter and I were getting ready to do the scene, we were going over the scene and talking about it, and then, somebody was endangered down on this basketball court, and it just cast this pall over everything. For me as a parent, it was really interesting to work with another actor and have that deep relationship instantaneously appear because, really, that was the first major scene that we had together, and it was just very moving.
But then, when we did the read-through of this script, it was extremely apparent to me that this was not only going to be important, but that the people that were involved were so good and had so much to bring to this project.
PETER KRAUSE: It's been a difficult journey getting to where we are now, but it is a terrific cast. Craig is talking about Nora O'Brien, who is a good friend of mine. I received two phone calls at the same time. One was from Tommy Schlamme, and one was from Nora O'Brien about Jason Katims' script for Parenthood. And I worked with Ron and Brian before on a project called Sports Night. So Tommy, Ron, and Brian and I were all very familiar with each other. And Jason I found to be a fantastic writer, and I've made all of my TV decisions based upon the script and the writer. Losing Nora was very difficult, but at the same time, she was a large part of the reason why I took the job, along with Tommy and Jason's script.
And that was definitely a turning point on this show about life, about family, about things that you go through. Even though that was difficult, the show has gone on to be quite funny. I was wrestling around with a possum not too long ago on the show. It reminded me of the day my son saw a bobcat up by the grill and asked me if he could go pet it. (laughs) You know, this show is about the lives that we lead and the relationships that we do have and the comedy and the drama that we find in life, and I am repeatedly drawn to just that.
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By: Earl Dittman
Parenthood airs Tuesdays at 10.00 et/pt.