Inside a cavernous soundstage sits a small bedroom. Cameras surround actors Lauren Graham and Mae Whitman, who play a single mother and her witty daughter on Parenthood, NBC’s modern-day ode to thirtysomething-style family dramas dipped in comedy.

Graham: “I love taramosalata.”

Whitman: “I’m not sure what that is. Is that like tiramisu, but smaller?”

Graham: “No. It’s fish eggs, not an Italian dessert.”

Whitman: “Oh. So it’s like the exact opposite of what I thought.”

Graham: “Duh.”

It’s funny dialogue — except the cameramen are off duty. As are the actors. The fact that this personal exchange about confusing food names sounds as if it’s ripped from a Parenthood script speaks volumes how the actors create the family vibe that distinguishes this series.

“The show doesn’t strain or sensationalize,” says Ron Howard, who produces the dramedy along with his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer. Imagine was behind the 1989 Steve Martin movie of the same name, which served as a loose framework for series creator Jason Katims. “Parenthood doesn’t play for shock value,” Howard says.

“It’s about the meaning of life,” Grazer adds.

Which could be why the show continues to fight for an audience — averaging just under 7 million viewers — as it waits for the network’s decision in May about a third season (though its return on equally challenged NBC is likely).

Helping the cause: Richard Dreyfuss, who tonight (10 ET/PT) begins a four-episode arc as a theater producer and war buddy of patriarch Zeke Braverman, played by Craig T. Nelson. Dreyfuss says he was lured to this small-screen project by the cast (“I’ve known a bunch of them a long time”) and the show’s air of openness (“The first thing I did was change the way my character dressed, and they said fine”).

Also in Parenthood’s corner: Despite struggling in its time slot against CBS’ The Good Wife, the show recently saw a 37% bump among younger viewers who recorded the program and watched within seven days.

“People may not watch us live as much, but it’s clear they become deeply invested in the characters and check back,” says executive producer Katims. He’s also the man behind Friday Night Lights, another more-admired-than-watched drama that has survived thanks only to a partnership with DirecTV, which airs episodes well before NBC.

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