Previews for Parenthood had me interested in the show before its March debut, mainly due to the involvement of producer Ron Howard.  And once I saw the pilot, I was mighty hopeful: Peter Krause led the cast with energy and believability, Lauren Graham played a pretty good Gilmore Girl, and in general the whole Braverman clan seemed to fit snugly together as a new TV family.

By the end of the season, though, things had changed.  What was my least favorite plot thread in the pilot — Dax Shepard’s discovery that he had a son — had become the stand-out relationship in the show, while the rest of the family’s problems sank deeper and deeper into melodrama.

In the pilot, Crosby (Dax Shepard) played the typical goof-off irresponsible brother who suddenly found himself confronted with parental responsibility.  It was easily the most predictable element of the show, starting off, but Dax Shepard really put his heart into it, creating both the funniest and most appealing member of the Braverman family as a result.  The writers kept it interesting by focusing on both his relationship with his son Jabbar and mother Jasmine, and wisely writing Crosby’s girlfriend Katie out of the show early.

Parenthood managed to balance lighthearted moments with serious “raising kids is tough” drama throughout the first half of the season, but inter-family drama just made the show less fun to watch as it went on.  Of course, “fun” isn’t a requirement for television drama: The Wire certainly never held back from brutalizing its characters.  But Parenthood is hardly The Wire.  At its heart it’s a feel-good show, about people overcoming their problems and living happily ever after, or at least happily until next season.  And I’m completely okay with that.  I may have snickered when my high school government/economics teacher took two class periods to show us Remember the Titans because it was a feel-good movie, but it does make you feel good, dammit.

Problem was, Parenthood got bogged down in entirely too much family melodrama to be fun or especially believable.  A teenage love-triangle can go a long way towards killing a show, and the resulting family in-fighting buried some of the more interesting relationships, such as Adam’s (Peter Krause) attempts to bond with his nephew.  In the end, Parenthood resolved most everything with a pretty little bow on its head, so maybe it will come back stronger next season with more interesting plot threads and less teenagers crying and squabbling.  But if I tune in, it’ll mostly be to see where Crosby’s going, and I’ll have my fingers crossed that his character can continue to surprise and improve through season two.

It begins with a family archetype you may recognize: responsible brother, crazy father, slacker younger sibling.  This new family unit of NBC’s “Parenthood” bears a superficial resemblance to the screwball Bluths of “Arrested Development,” the Emmy-award winning comedy “Parenthood’s” producers collaborated on from 2003-2006.  But there are no sitcom antics to be found here—even “Parenthood’s” silliest characters have both feet firmly planted on the ground.

NBC may have missed the mark advertising their new series, touting the involvement of producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, who also worked on the far more outlandish “Arrested Development.”  Though the commercials practically bent over backwards to highlight “Parenthood’s” comedic moments, a comedy it is not—this is family drama, through and through.

The show effortlessly pans across the daily lives of the Bravermans with an inviting openness that has left me eager for more insight into these characters each week.

So far “Parenthood” seems to be resting its weight on the sturdy shoulders of Adam Braverman, analogue to Michael Bluth, the only sane member of “Arrested Development’s” screwball family.  Adam, played by Peter Krause (“Six Feet Under”) with a confident and subtle depth, at first seems to be pegged for the role of family problem-solver.  But his character quickly evolves into the most attractive and watchable of the Bravermans as a father faced with the one problem he can’t fix: a son diagnosed with Asperger’s.

As the show pivots around Adam, it tackles a variety of plotlines featuring mid-life crisis sister Sarah (Lauren Graham of “Gilmore Girls” fame) and her two teenage kids, slacker brother Crosby (Dax Shepard) and workaholic sister Julia (Erika Christensen).  And when the show does make the occasional turn into comedic territory, it’s largely thanks to family patriarch Zeek (Craig T. Nelson), whose grandfatherly proclivities range from sarcastic interjections to toughening up his grandson with the occasional bloody nose.

Unfortunately, “Parenthood” seems to be the kind of television show NBC has found itself utterly unable to carry in recent years: a thoughtful and well-written drama.  A quick look at the past two years of NBC cancellations doesn’t bode well for “Parenthood’s” future.  Dramas such as “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “The Black Donnellys,” “Kings” and “Southland” all failed to garner substantial ratings on the network.

But who’s to blame if “Parenthood” fails?  NBC, for misadvertising the series, or the viewers who seem to have little interest in a drama without the gaudy sensationalism of “reality” television?

Parenthood may well be destined for cancellation, much like the short-lived series of the same name from 1990.  Both series are inspired by the 1989 Ron Howard and Brian Grazer film “Parenthood” starring Steve Martin; perhaps the slice of life family focus is simply too sentimental to work in the modern era of television.

But with every new episode, “Parenthood” delivers ample depth for each character, gradually building up the family into a tight unit without a weak link to be found.  Crosby’s plotline, a cliché “accidental father” scenario, gains traction as the show goes along.  And Julia, torn between her long hours as a lawyer and the challenge of bonding with her five year-old daughter, stands to sneakily become one of the show’s most compelling characters.

“Parenthood” kicked off with a strong pilot and promises to become a wonderful ensemble drama… if it gets the chance.  NBC recently coughed up a cool $45 million to kick Conan O’Brien out of the “Late Night” chair and hand it back to Jay Leno—surely it can afford to keep Parenthood on the air for a few months and give it a chance to build an audience.  Hopefully America won’t be too busy watching “Dancing With the Stars” to notice.

Get out of town. Now, right now, or you’ll be shot on sight. Not fair? Not legal? Well, maybe not. But 100 years ago in the old west, lawmen practiced their own brand of frontier justice, and banishment wasn’t such a bad rap. It beat a bullet in the gut.

Marshall Raylan Givens should have been born a cowboy with pistols slung low on his hips and spurs on his boots. He is a man born a century too late, a man who reacts with confusion when he gets in trouble for shooting the armed criminal he ordered out of town. The criminal drew first, after all. Raylan was justified.

Unfortunately for Raylan, Miami in 2010 doesn’t appreciate his brand of justice. FX’s new drama “Justified” opens with a cute visual pun, giving us a few seconds to key in on Raylan’s white cowboy hat before revealing the palm trees of a lush Florida resort. After the shooting (justified, of course) Raylan finds himself shipped off to his home state of Kentucky to stay out of trouble. His first step is to get into a whole heap of it.

“Justified” is a smart police drama with tinges of black comedy thanks to the unusual combination of clever dialogue and good old country accents. Timothy Olyphant plays US Marshall Givens with a devilish gleam in his eye and an easy saunter in his step, drawing inspiration from his role as lawman Seth Bullock in the HBO western “Deadwood.” But though Bullock struggled with his position of leadership and responsibility in “Deadwood,” Raylan Givens is quite happy in his work.

The story flies along at a brisk pace thanks to Olyphant’s excellent performance, but he’s nearly shown up by Walton Goggins, who plays Boyd Crowder, a wild neo-Nazi who was a childhood friend of Marshall Raylan. Separately, the two characters drive the plot, but once they’re united the snappy dialogue really hits its stride.

“Justified” is adapted from a short story by prolific novelist Elmore Leonard (“3:10 to Yuma”), and the strength of the source material shows. The motif of a lawman born a century too late runs central to the show’s plot, but doesn’t completely define it: Raylan’s character clearly has an abundance of depth to be explored in later episodes.

The big question is how well the show can build on the foundation of Leonard’s writing. As entertaining as the intense western-style showdowns are, the star attraction is the dialogue. Between Olyphant’s casual, sarcastic delivery and Goggins’ excitable ravings,“Justified” certainly has a bright future ahead of it, assuming the writing remains sharp.

If the pilot is any indication, “Justified” may succeed where its main character fails: finding itself in the right place and time as a welcome alternative to the more traditional police dramas on television.