Could it be that Sarah Braverman is a better TV character than Lorelai Gilmore? To even type that question seems sacrilegious, but I will say this: When I watch Lauren Graham as Sarah on “Parenthood” (9 p.m. Central Tuesdays on NBC), I don’t think of Lorelai. That might be because I don’t get a weekly reminder of how great “Gilmore Girls” is anymore, but it’s also because Graham and the writers have made Sarah into a completely fresh character.
This is despite the fact that Sarah, like Lorelai, is:
- a single mom with a teenage daughter whom she gets along with,
- financially dependent on her parents, and
- still in love with the father of her offspring.
That last point has provided the drama of recent episodes. Sarah’s ex, recently sober musician Seth (John Corbett), comes back into town and wins over his son, Drew (Miles Heizer), who desperately craves a father figure, but not his daughter, Amber (Mae Whitman), who still hates him.
With Corbett’s trademark soft voice, Seth gives tearjerky apologetic monologues about how Amber has every right to rip into him. After he departs again, Amber apologizes to Drew for driving him off, but Drew says, “If he was a real dad, nothing you did could’ve made him leave. I know it’s not your fault.” Then Amber says, “We’ll always have Mom,” they laugh, and then she adds, “And we’ll always have each other.” And then we see that Seth isn’t totally worthless: Amber plays a song on his guitar, and Sarah picks up a pen and starts writing again, freshly inspired.
Now granted, one could claim that some storylines are manipulative, including the one I was just gushing about. And certainly, other “Parenthood” storylines are the height of cliché: Crosby (Dax Shepard) and his fiancée take a break and he quickly sleeps with his nephew’s behavioral aide, Gaby (Minka Kelly). When Jasmine (Joy Bryant) finds out, she — of course — tells him it’s the worst thing he’s ever done while slapping at him as he tries to reason with her.
For three reasons, I don’t blame Crosby: 1, He was right, the bowls don’t get clean on the top shelf of the dishwasher, 2, Jasmine is indeed controlling, and 3, Gaby looks like Minka Kelly.
As Crosby tells an irate Adam (Peter Krause) in one of those “everybody’s shouting” scenes that “Parenthood” does so well, he didn’t come out of this unscathed: He may have lost his fiancée and his son. Adam and Kristina (Monica Potter), meanwhile, have lost an aide who was doing wonders for their Asperger’s-afflicted son, Max (Max Burkholder).
And that leads to the next bit of drama: Max is listening from the stairs, and he asks his parents, “I have Asperger’s? What is Asperger’s?,” thus setting up next week’s episode.
Many a TV drama through the years has promised “very special episodes,” often pulling out that description for an hour about a relationship, a drug problem or a surprise death. But the upcoming “telling your kid he has Asperger’s” ep seems fresh, truly an issue for 2011, since the social malady has only recently gotten mainstream recognition.
So while the whole Sarah-and-Seth thing might make me feel guilty for loving “Parenthood,” the Max arc makes me proud to argue that this show is TV’s best drama at the moment. And I haven’t even mentioned my favorite character, Sarah Ramos’ Haddie.
Whether timeless or fresh, the storylines on “Parenthood” seem real — or at least as real as TV gets. I love “Gilmore Girls,” but I admit it was idealized. Lorelai opened a small-town inn and was quickly successful; Sarah tends bar, has an internship at a shoe company only because Adam works there, lives with her parents and doesn’t have enough money to support her kids. And even after seven years, I never understood why it didn’t work out between Lorelai and Christopher, but I understand Sarah and Seth’s travails after less than seven episodes.
In many ways, Sarah is no Lorelai, and it would be a simple matter for me to pop in an episode — any episode — of “Gilmore Girls,” be assailed by the quips and cuteness and be reminded of why I love her.
But in another way, Lorelai Gilmore is no Sarah Braverman, and that’s why “Parenthood” has pulled off the trick of giving Graham her second once-in-a-lifetime role.