1990: NBC Presents its First 'Parenthood' Spinoff
August 20, 2020
| By TV WW
On this day in 1990, NBC introduced the series, Parenthood, a spinoff of the 1989 feature film of the same name. Executive produced by the film's director, Ron Howard, the show launched at a time when other film-turned-TV series launched, fizzled and died, including remakes of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Working Girl, Uncle Buck, Bagdad Cafe and Look Who's Talking.
Despite being well-received by critics, the series lasted just 12 episodes. It starred Ed Begley Jr., Jayne Atkinson and future stars David Arquette, Leonardo DiCaprio and Thora Birch. Behind the scenes, future TV phenom Joss Whedon served on the writing staff.
In 2010, Howard's Imagine Television teamed with Friday Night Lights' executive producer Jason Katims to produce a second incarnation of Parenthood. The show, which starred Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Dax Shepard, Erica Christensen and Monica Potter ended in 2015.