We only recently began watching parenthood on Amazon Prime never having watched it while on network TV. Parenthood is the best quality program we have ever watched. Every character has depth, believability and charisma and each episodes storyline creates interest and drama on a level that makes sense to us having experienced parenthood on every level. Although youth deems itself eternal we are now grandparents. Our kids don't live so close that their lives intertwine with ours the way they do on parenthood and yet the stories are still very relatable. Parenthood is extremely well written and well acted in such a way that it feels real and yet a quality real not the trash that is dished out in some "reality" shows. They touch on subjects relevant to today's world that Leave it to Beaver would never have known but they don't resort to nudity or profanity as some other cable shows do to show how hip they are. You can enjoy this show with your wife, with your kids or with your own parents without worrying about a shock treatment.

This show was my absolute most favorite TV show of all time. Now that it has been cancelled :-(, it is so great to be able to go back and watch the entire series again from the very beginning. The excellent writers portrayed a very true-to-life family in the Braverman clan - the Dad and Mom, their 4 grown children, and each of their families. Over the years, the Bravermans have experienced so many things that the average person/family could relate to, all while maintaining the love and the extraordinarily close-knit family bonds that made this show so heartwarming. There would be fights and disagreements, but the deep binding love was always there. The show made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me happy, it made me angry, and it taught me things along the way. I will miss this TV family very much, but at least I can revisit them thru Amazon.

I ditched my TV a few years ago because the quality of programming didn't meet my needs: too much negativity and sensationalism, and not enough heart. As a child of the 80's and MTV, though, it's hard for me to give up this form of entertainment completely. That's where shows like Parenthood come in.

Parenthood is smart, funny, compassionate, and addictively entertaining. I only wish there were more seasons or episodes so I could watch it year-round whenever I have some downtime.

Season 1 of the show is solid from the start, incorporating great writing and actors that bring myriad stories to life. I've enjoyed Lauren Graham since Gilmore Girls, and Peter Krause since Sports Night. Dax Shepherd is a new favorite, along with Monica Potter. Casting Mae Whitman was a pretty ingenius move, too - she's been likeable to me since her very vanilla (but hilarious) role on Arrested Development.

I'm pretty much a fan of any TV shows Ron Howard has a hand in these days, so you can consider this review extremely biased!

I rate this at the top of TV programs! I didn't realize that this series had been on for a few years already and only started watching after seeing previews showing Ray Romano. I'm so glad that got me to watching because this is the most intelligent, best written series. I especially love Lauren Graham, Peter Krause and Monica Potter. They storyline with Max's Asperger's is wonderful. My adult son has autism which is much more severe than that of the Max character. As the parent of a child with autism I can tell you that the writers have done their homework and do a great job in writing for the character. The young man playing Max is a great actor and he should be proud of his work. Monica Potter's cancer storyline was absolutely brilliant as well. I was so happy to watch the first season and can't wait to watch season's 2 and 3. Let's hope they bring this show back for many more seasons!

I LOVE this show! There are not enough words to express my delight in this sitcom. My 15 y.o. son & I have watched Parenthood since the pilot episode & we can't get enough. I had to buy the dvd's as soon as it came out to relive the Braverman story whenever I wished. Almost every episode in Season 1 had me in tears. The drama is filled with real to life situations that ANY family can relate to no matter your background, upbringing, nationality, or status. The actors make the characters "real" & relatable. There's nothing cheesy or overdramatic about the storyline. My only complaint was when I received the set the first disc had a deep scratch in it right out of the box. I have no idea how that happened but it didn't effect the playback quality. A must see for all families!

Sappy & more unbelievable than I thought it would be. Are any families that tight? Not mine for sure. But Parenthood worked because of the excellent actors. I never watched it on NBC. I crash watched the entire Seasons 1-5 on Amazon Prime in one week. I was kind of OMG give me a break! The way they just popped over at each other's houses & phoned to ask stupid questions or advice on things they could figure out themselves, I still liked it & it made me cry sometimes. The only actress I couldn't stomach was Joy Bryant. She didn't know what the hell she wanted half the time & was bossy & controlling.

I picked this up thinking I'd have the episodes to watch over the next few months on evenings when I just needed a break, but I ended up watching the entire thing in four consecutive nights. The first night I watched the first three episodes and I thought decent story, I'm interested enough to watch another episode and then I just got hooked.

My first impressions were not that great because I thought the acting in the pilot episode was kind of stilted and not realistic, but once I got to know the characters better it seemed more realistic (although still some problems in that area) and not stilted. There are glaring gaps in the spectrum of characters I would expect to see in Berkeley California (no one is gay?, no one is Asian?) but I guess you can't have all groups represented.

Really brief summary: four kids live in Berkeley near their parents (one kid lives with the parents). All the kids have children. One family is almost perfect; there one "flaw" is their autistic son, but that's not really a flaw just one more place they can eventually excel. One mother is divorced from a drug addict, rock band father and her two kids are a bit disturbed (but not too much and the daughter is really wise). One daughter is married to a stay at home dad and they have one child also "flawed", she is gifted. And, the last son is the "wild one" who still brings his laundry home to mom but is finally settling down with the five year old son he just found out he has. All the families have little conflicts within the family (all the women hit on the stay at home dad; the perfect family's wife wants to start working; the divorced mom can't meet a guy unless its the teacher her daughter has a crush on; and the wild son's newly found son is moving to NY. Those are just some of the plot devices that carry the story forward.

I'll list my problems with the series first. This is the kind of series where you can't look too closely. What do the Dad and Mom do (not speak to each other, wash the kids laundry?)? If the show has said, I haven't caught it. They seem to sit around waiting for their kids to show up? How do people manage to get to each other's houses several times a day in the horrible east bay traffic? Could a kid really show up to a new school and the principle just come tell her, sorry we've decided to hold you back you and not even notify the parents? Do all those moms at the school really have nothing to do but hang out and torment and judge the one mom who works? Stuff like that.

Not too important but sometimes when those thoughts pop into my mind I get distracted from enjoying the show. The good stuff is the dilemmas the family faces and their connection with one another in attempting to solve their problems. I found this fascinating. I don't know if it's realistic but every problem was approached as a family. The four adult children have some minor problems getting along but they always go to one another (I don't think they have any friends? Isn't that strange). There are also some really funny and poignant scenes. And, the parents aren't perfect (although the one dad is close to perfect). I think ultimately what makes it work is that it is not realistic but it's fun and engaging and provides some moments of escape from real life with family and parenting.

Parenthood is a beautiful little show. It's not shooting for the stars, but does a nice job capturing day-to-day moments in a close-knit, slightly manic family. While it has some uneven moments, as the show tries to find its footing during a short (13 episode) first season, each episode manages to have moments that ring true and are moving. Plus, each episode has a way of leaving the viewer feeling better for watching.

Some highlights:

* Peter Krause and Monica Potter play a loving, close husband and wife who have each other's backs, are each other's support system and enjoy each other's company. Not quite as epic as FNL's Taylors, but still a refreshing change from so many other TV couples. And with the stories laid out in the first season, combined with these skilled actors, there is lots of potential for upside in this positive portrayal of married life.

* Dax Shepard and Tyree Brown are really enjoyable as Crosby and his newly discovered son. Together, they have real charm and chemistry and are fun to watch.

* Mae Whitman is fantastic as teenaged Amber; even though her storyline swings toward melodrama, her performance never does. Actually, in general, all the younger Bravermens are interesting characters in their own right, with their own quirks and styles and all well played. There's not a bad child actor in the bunch.

* Wonderful music selection throughout the episodes

The show's not perfect: the naturalistic, improv friendly shooting style sometimes brings out really wonderful scenes, but other times feels like the writers didn't give enough structure to support a scene. And in a related issue, the noisy, boisterous, everybody-talking-at-once style, while true-to-life, sometimes distracts from the scenes.

The pace and tone of the show can be uneven, swerving from quieter, more thoughtful moments, to manic conflict, to comedic scenes very quickly, and some of the "comedic" elements seem a bit forced.

Also, with so many characters, there's a *lot* of story, some of it played out too fast, or with not enough depth. And some characters disappear for large chunks of time (ie Bonnie Bedelia's Camille and Miles Heizer's Drew) even when they could have some interesting things going on. I'd seen a review of the show that summarizes it well. To paraphrase: This is a strong, character-rich, well-acted show that should be character driven, but seems to be written as a plot-driven show, with serial elements sometimes overwhelming the characters or making things feel rushed.

Overall, the show is definitely worth checking out. There's a lot to entertain and to be appreciated. Plus there is a lot of promise for future seasons. Just relax and enjoy it: don't expect perfection, but expect to be genuinely moved a couple of times an episode.

My biggest complaint with the Season 1 DVD's is the lack of special features. They are below what would be expected for a show like this. There is only one episode commentary, a handful of deleted scenes and one featurette. No cast commentary, writer commentary on only one episode and only from the creator. No outtakes. It just feels like not a lot of effort went into making the DVD release something special.