“Gilmore Girls” star Lauren Graham is a single mother once more.
The comedic actress wrangles with two moody teenagers as Sarah Braverman in NBC’s new dramedy “Parenthood,” premiering Tuesday at 10 on WHDH (Ch. 7).
“This character just continues to feel like (a failure), as opposed to Lorelai Gilmore, who has a sunny outlook on things,” Graham said during a recent conference call with reporters.
Unlike quirky Lorelai, Sarah has no nurturing, idyllic community to come to her rescue when she falls on tough times.
Instead, Sarah must uproot her kids and move back in with her parents (played by Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia).
“It is different for me to be playing someone who has a lot of baggage. Living in your parents’ house at 38, it’s looking at life through the eyes of disappointment,” she said.
The comedic actress replaced Hyde Park’s Maura Tierney (“ER”), who was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer.
Show writer Jason Katims (“Friday Night Lights”) tweaked the character when Graham was cast.
“I love Maura and I love the work that she does, but right now she is doing what she needs to do to get healthy,” Katims said.
This is the second time “Parenthood,” a 1989 film by Ron Howard about the joys and trials of family life, has been brought to the small screen.
“We tried a TV series a couple years after (the film was released), and it couldn’t capture the scope. We toyed with a sequel, but another two hours would not allow the characters to develop,” said Howard, who serves as an executive producer on the show.
What will make this adaptation work? A lot is riding on Katims’ vision.
“The reason why I wanted to do this show is it allows you to come at it from so many points of view. We have points of view from a 4-year-old boy to a grandparent in their 60s,” Katims said.
“It allows us to see through people at any period of their life. It is interesting what parents are talking about behind closed doors.”
Source: news.bostonherald.com
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