Having never watched the show Parenthood before ...

I never jumped on the Parenthood bandwagon. UNTIL about 2 weeks ago. I have slowly started watching. I like it and wonder why we never watched it. Well, I know why, I have a DH that channel surfs and it just doesn't work to find a series that I want to really get into watching.

Anyway, we had seen the movie years ago and I wanted to see how close the characters on the show matched to the movie characters. I have to say I am now sucked in and want to watch it all. I think they did a good carry over job on it. Oh and I never watched The Office either, so I can't do the comparison.

It was a bit like that for me in the beginning too but stick with it if you can - it will be worth it.

I loved the Office and Parenthood but no, they're not alike at all in my opinion.

The spectrum is wide.  Very, very wide.  If you've met one child with Autism, you've met one child with Autism.  We were not a fan when the ASD of Autism/Asperger's was merged.  DS is very high functioning and mostly meets the social aspect of the definition.  He said he felt like a fraud saying he had Autism and at 19, refuses to use the term.  He still says Asperger's.

I loved that show.  Loved it.  As for Max, I think the Braverman's showed that when you have a child with special needs, other kids can get pushed to the wayside and you make a ton of excuses for the special need kid.  DS wasn't diagnosed until he was 12; I really think that was a good thing because we always pushed him to act appropriately and didn't make excuses for him.  I'm pretty sure I would have been that mom, making a ton of excuses for my poorly behaved child.

I won't say more because I don't want to ruin some of the plot points for those who have not seen the entire season.  But wow.  So powerful.

All three of us ~ me, DH and 30 year old DS, LOVED that show. From the beginning. Loved it as in were heartbroken when it ended. I always said I would have loved to be a Braverman. Did they fight, argue and talk over each other. Yep. But they were a family who came together in crisis.

I was not a fan of the parenting at times either. I think I shouted more than a few times; discipline the kid! I was okay with Max because he reminds me of my nephew. He's like Dustin Hoffman in Rainman.

This is my daughter too!

A book that drove me bat shit crazy was House Rules by Jodi Picoult. The way she portrayed this teen who had Autism bothered me immensely; it was like he was robotic.

Anyway, it took me a while to get the show because the scenes are chaotic. Characters talking over one another, noise in the background... It is like real life!

I liked House Rules, but heard Jodi Picolt speak about the book the day after it was released.  So I was a bit biased, as she gave a wonderful talk.  But it really shows how diverse the spectrum is.  But it did make me talk to DS (12 ish at the time and very newly diagnosed) about appropriate touching and respect for girls/women.

Same for me. But I come from a family of five kids and our mom is one of five. So we get and understand the talking over each other and some of the loudness that bothered others. We also fight and argue but come together in the end. 

I tried many times and never really liked it. I found it really annoying.

Her character IS much the same, but her parents' characters are completely different.  And SHE seems like the Gilmore Girl, but grown up a bit, or in the process of growing up.  Dd and I watched both, liked both, but Parenthood is less of a comedy and more of a real life light(?) drama.  Things happen.  They deal.  They yell and fight, but they have each others' backs.

I wasn't sure I would make it through the first episode when it first aired, but for whatever reason, i decided to give it more time, and I wound up loving the show.

At some point, I think I may have hated, or at least really disliked pretty much every character on the show. And yet at some point I also loved almost every character on the show. And ultimately, I think that's why I liked the show so much. The reality of characters who you both care about and want to throttle depending on the episode or the scene.

And I cried. Because it was like Parenthood's job to make people cry as many weeks as possible.

I loved it. Did not watch it when it was on regular season. I binge watched it on Netflix. I am another one who wanted to be a Braverman. I longed for the closeness of the adult children. I never had that kind of relationship with my parents or sibling.

Ugh it's like Deadwood. I want to like it but it's killing me....