<p>I like the show too. I would not allow the relationship. However, I laid out rules in advance. One was that my D couldn’t date anyone more than one grade ahead of her when she was in high school. (She was young for her grade.) </p>
<p>Anyone who wasn’t still in school would have been out of bounds too. </p>
<p>I think the WAY they’ve done this is unfair. I would have been meaner, I guess. Alex would not have been invited to dinner. The things the parents have against Alex weren’t going to change based on that meeting. By inviting him to come to dinner, Adam and Christina set both Haddie and Alex up. They felt that if he passed “inspection,” A& C would allow it. </p>
<p>My response would have been 19 is too old. I don’t care if he’s the nicest guy in the world. </p>
<p>I enjoy the show…but I admit that knowing Lauren Graham and Peter Krause are an “item” sort of makes it hard for me to view them as sister and brother!</p>
<p>Both H and I liked it the first month or so, but we’re getting alittle bored with the cliche storylines and it feels like they dropped the more interesting storylines like the parents and the property the father has, their marital struggles…they dropped the Baldwin character and I thought the whole storyline about a struggling business was more interesting and topical than what is happening now. I’m glad the drama teen thing is done.</p>
<p>I feel like the mom’s role (I forget her name even – the mom of the four grown kids) is a very underdeveloped character. I did like it when we saw some of the marital problems last season. Christina has bothered me since day one. There is something brittle and high-strung about her that I find hard to watch after a while. Haddie often seems much more together and mature than her mother.</p>
<p>Yep, to me the explanation for Max is simple. Christina is on the asperger’s spectrum too. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to insult any parents of Aspies on this board. I think the show does a good job of portrarying the diifficulties of rasing an Aspie. But, sometimes Christina really comes across as if she has social communication issues too. The teaching Haddie how to drive show is what made me feel that way.</p>
<p>Obviously, Sarah’s ex is joining the cast. That should give them LOTS of story lines.</p>
<p>Seriously? Christina is controlling, no question. But she is compensating for her rotten childhood (last scene of the show). And just like we see parents who say 16 and 19 are fine and others who say absolutely not, this show is examining a parenting choice not a diagnostic one;</p>
<p>Michael B. Jordan (Alex) also played Wallace in The Wire, the best show on TV.</p>
<p>Isn’t anyone else annoyed by the “ad-lib” style of dialogue on Parenthood, though? I can’t stand it when the characters talk on top of one another. I guess it’s supposed to seem realistic but to me it seems forced and fake.</p>
<p>Peter Krause was great in last night’s episode – he really does funny well!</p>
<p>I watch too, as does older D. Also first started because of Lauren Graham. I still catch her in Lorelei moments!
Since about the Halloween episode, when she went out and tried to control the whole neighborhood, I have not been able to stomach Christina.<br>
I too would probably let my daughter and the young man meet frequently in my house. The show makes it easy for me to say that, though, because Alex is so exemplary.
Doesn’t the fact that Grandma has known him since he was nine, as she said in one episode, count for anything?</p>
<p>I watch the show and find it sometimes it gets a bit slow, but Adam (Peter Krause) and the edibles was spot on funny. </p>
<p>I live in the East Bay, so I also enjoy when they make references to Berkeley/Oakland/SF and the occasional scene shot in the area. In the most recent episode they discussed that the shoe business started in a single store on University (University Ave in Berkeley)</p>
<p>By the way, re Adam/Christina, I was greatly bothered when Christina acted so crazed while teaching Haddie to drive. Haddie then asked her dad to take over and he refused telling her that it was important to her mom, etc. I feel like Haddie is expected to take care of her mother emotionally too much. Dad should have stepped in and taken over the driving lessons. Same thing with her election campaign. She “had” to make her mom feel important and needed.</p>
<p>That’s interesting. I don’t remember those episodes at all. Maybe because I have boys and so the boy stuff resonates more with me. I guess I chalk those episodes up to the whole mother-daughter struggle, which I don’t have to go through with my kids (thank goodness!)</p>
<p>The mother daughter teaching to drive was a parallel to the upcoming Alex/Haddie problem. Yes, the mother kept saying, "Be careful! Turn this way. And you can’t leave the parking lot (house) until I feel you are ready.</p>
<p>You don’t have to love Christine. In fact it is a tribute to the actor and the writers that Christine is a complex character. Just like in life, it is helpful if you understand her and why she is doing what she is doing. She had to leave her childhood far too early because of an abusive father…she wants her daughter safe. Christine wants to make her daughter safe. There is no malice, just control issues and not dealing with her own demons.</p>
<p>And, I understand what Christine did for her son to make his Halloween successful. Would I have resented it if a neighbor did that to us? Probably yes. Would I understand? I hope so. But remember Max conquered his fears. </p>
<p>And, I suspect many a parent has been there and done, perhaps with different issues, the same thing. Christine wants her children’s childhood to be “perfect” or have the illusion of perfection. And that os unattainable.</p>
<p>The mother daughter teaching to drive was a parallel to the upcoming Alex/Haddie problem. Yes, the mother kept saying, "Be careful! Turn this way. And you can’t leave the parking lot (house) until I feel you are ready.</p>
<p>You don’t have to love Christine. In fact it is a tribute to the actor and the writers that Christine is a complex character. Just like in life, it is helpful if you understand her and why she is doing what she is doing. She had to leave her childhood far too early because of an abusive father…she wants her daughter safe. Christine wants to make her daughter safe. There is no malice, just control issues and not dealing with her own demons.</p>
<p>And, I understand what Christine did for her son to make his Halloween successful. Would I have resented it if a neighbor did that to us? Probably yes. Would I understand? I hope so. But remember Max conquered his fears. </p>
<p>And, I suspect many a parent has been there and done, perhaps with different issues, the same thing. Christine wants her children’s childhood to be “perfect” or have the illusion of perfection. And that os unattainable.</p>
<p>Christina appears very high-strung to me. I find the relationship between Adam and Christina very interesting - he supports her all the way, but does question her in private when he doesn’t agree with something she’s doing.</p>
<p>I find this Haddie situation very troubling. I understand her feelings with mom/dad, but what good can come about if a 16 yr old leaves the house and then bargains to get what she wants before she comes back? It’s a different ball game if she was being ill-treated or abused in this household - but here, that’s not the case.</p>
<p>Love the show, though I don’t have time to watch it regularly.</p>
<p>I love Amber’s character and think the actress is very talented (even when the focus isn’t on her she manages to grab your attention), and I love her growing relationship with Haddie. Seems very realistic and well-done to me.</p>
<p>Adam and Christina remind me a lot of my own parents (high-strung mother, kind but fairly workaholic father, generally fairly conservative and worried about what people will think of them), so I try not to pass too much judgement on them. I did think taking Haddie’s door away was pretty unnecessary, though.</p>
<p>I also really like Crosby and Jasmine’s relationship and the way they’re learning to work as a team in their parenting.</p>
<p>I really like this show too. Did you all know that Maura Tierney (played Abby Lockhart on ER for many, many years) was originally cast to be Sarah, the Laura Graham character, but the she was diagnosed with breast cancer and Graham replaced her? She is cured now, and is working again, which is great. I wonder what “Parenthood” would have been like with her playing this part instead. I somehow don’t think she would have played it quite as ditsy, or as much as if she were scrambling to find herself, which is part of the appeal of this character at this point.</p>
<p>I have loved this show since the beginning! I knew that Maura Tierney was cast as Sarah and I agree with franglish that she wouldn’t have played the part as ditsy. I so love the way the Lauren Graham plays her and I love Amber too. T_C is right about Amber always stealing the scenes! It should be interesting next week, when Sarah’s husband comes on. I wonder how the family is going to react to him.</p>
<p>What a great show. What a wonderful cast. Such great story potential! I watch eagerly each week, noting how the show evolves and deepens. I agree that the Bonnie Bedelia/Craig T. Nelson story line was cooled and sidelined before it was given a chance to truly develop. I hope they change that. I’m looking forward to the return of the “prodigal father”, and how it will play out in the future. I’d bet anything that Sarah’s son will “come out” in a future episode.</p>
<p>Christina has my sympathy. Sure, she’s high strung and a bit neurotic, but that’s owing to her upbringing, and I think it’s from this place that she’ll realize great growth as a character. I understand Adam’s and Christina’s fear concerning Alex and Hattie. Of course, like a lot of people, I think they’re handling it the wrong way. I agree they should not forbid Hattie from seeing Alex. They should allow them to see each other under very limited and supervised circumstances, until Hattie is older, and/or they have reason to trust these two young people to behave responsibly. But, I completely “get” the parental fear. We love your children more than life itself. We’d do anything to keep them safe, and to ensure their happiness and success. That’s what parenthood is all about.</p>