PARENTHOOD - PAGE 8

Parenthood is a one-hour drama inspired by the box office hit of the same name. This re-imagined and updated Universal Media Studios/Imagine Television production follows the trials and tribulations of the very large, very colorful and imperfect Braverman family.

Sarah Braverman (Lauren Graham, "Gilmore Girls") is a financially strapped single mother trying to raise two teenaged kids, the bright but rebellious Amber (Mae Whitman, "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"), and sullen and sensitive Drew (Miles Heizer, "ER").

On the home front, Sarah and her kids live with Sarah's larger-than-life, headstrong father, Zeek (Craig T. Nelson, "Family Stone," "Coach"), and pillar-of-strength mother Camille (Bonnie Bedelia, "Heart Like a Wheel"), who are dealing with their own marital issues.

Meanwhile, Sarah's sister and complete antithesis, Julia (Erika Christensen, "Traffic") is a successful corporate attorney trying to juggle work and motherhood, alongside her loving but increasingly restless stay-at-home husband, Joel (Sam Jaeger, "Eli Stone").

Commitment-phobe Crosby (Dax Shepard, "Baby Mama"), Sarah's younger brother, is helping raise a five-year-old son he had out of wedlock with former flame Jasmine (Joy Bryant "Antwone Fisher").

However, it's Adam (Peter Krause, "Six Feet Under"), the oldest Braverman sibling, who has had to relinquish his expectations about what constitutes a "normal" family, as he, his quietly forceful wife Kristina (Monica Potter, "Trust Me") and independent-minded teenage daughter Haddie (Sarah Ramos, "American Dreams"), struggle to cope with their eccentric son and Haddie's little brother Max (Max Burkholder, "Brother and Sisters"), who has Asperger's Syndrome.

Although each sibling and family has its own share of everyday challenges to grapple with, they still manage to be there for each other in their hours of need.

Serving as executive producers are Oscar winners Ron Howard and Brian Grazer ("A Beautiful Mind," "Frost/Nixon"); Jason Katims ("Friday Night Lights"), who wrote the pilot episode; and David Nevins ("Friday Night Lights," "Arrested Development").