Parenthood: Mixed Reviews, Cancel or Keep It?

After endless commercials during the Olympics and lots of print ads, NBC’s Parenthood has debuted. The show has experienced several bumps on its journey to primetime but now it’s finally here and NBC has high hopes for the series. Will it be a hit?

Parenthood revolves around the extended and very colorful Braverman family of Northern California. The large cast includes Lauren Graham, Peter Krause, Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, Mae Whitman, Miles Heizer, Erika Christensen, Sam Jaeger, Dax Shepard, Joy Bryant, Monica Potter, Sarah Ramos, and Max Burkholder.

Last night’s premiere debuted to an average of 8.1 million viewers with a 3.1 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic. That put Parenthood in second place in total viewers (behind The Good Wife) but in first place in the demo. There was also very little erosion of the audience during the course of the episode.

While it’s positive that Parenthood won its timeslot in the demo, the numbers are surely not as good as NBC was hoping for, especially considering all of the promotion. Still, considering the state of the rest on NBC’s schedule, this should be considered a victory for the ailing peacock network.

As per usual, we’ll have to see how many viewers return week after week to know if Parenthood has a real chance at survival. For now, things look positive.

What do you think? Is Parenthood worth watching or are you changing the channel? Cancel or keep it?