'Parenthood' launches its second season

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — NBC's "Parenthood" (9 p.m., Ch. 5) debuted in March, bringing some much-needed drama back to NBC's 9 p.m. time slot after "The Jay Leno Show" debacle. The series definitely found its legs in those first 13 episodes and an audience of viewers who used to regularly flock to NBC's upscale, quality series. But ratings were only so-so and the network wants "Parenthood's" ratings to grow up.

But it doesn't sound like producers have any intention of goosing ratings with stunts that stray from the show's template as established in season one. "Parenthood" will remain a large ensemble about the assorted strands of the Braverman family, including grandparents Zeek (Craig T. Nelson) and Camille (Bonnie Bedelia) and the families of their children, Adam (Peter Krause), Sarah (Lauren Graham, who is dating Krause in real life), Julia (Erika Christensen) and Crosby (Dax Shepard).

"We try as much as possible to challenge ourselves as writers to write toward everyone, and then we also ask patience from the actors," said "Parenthood" executive producer Jason Katims, who previously dealt with a large ensemble cast on NBC's "Friday Night Lights." "There's a natural ebb and flow where there will be a few episodes where you'll have a big storyline and then have to wait around for a couple of episodes until that happens again."

Katims acknowledged that, like most TV series, "Parenthood" improved throughout its first season as the show's writers got a better handle on the characters and their relationships.

"There's a certain point around the middle of the season last year where I felt everybody, everything just like kicked into another gear," he said. "I felt like all the actors were really comfortable in their own skin and knew the voices of their characters. The writers were figuring out better how to write it, and I think we just found a really nice tone. To me, (this second season is) not about changing anything. It's about hopefully continuing to allow these characters to evolve, putting the ball in the hands of these amazing actors, giving them meaty stuff to play together and letting them run with it."

As season one ended, Crosby learned that Jasmine (Joy Bryant), the mother of his son, Jabar (Tyree Brown), was moving to New York for a job.

"What we want to explore in the second season is what happens with that, and the challenges of a long-distance relationship and what goes from there. What's exciting, to me, is the writers have been (working) for a couple of months and are really into how everything is evolving for all of the characters."