i agree with meghan that in the film, "things are taken less seriously." it seemed a little counter-intuitive to me that the TV show is more dramatic and explores some darker themes at deeper levels. then again, maybe it's in keeping with our discussion about the development of this new kind of drama on TV–that which uses the length of a season to develop a more complex plot thread, or series of threads, across all of the episodes; you know, shows like lost, heroes, trueblood. in that sense, you can go deeper with a TV show because you have much more time in which to explore concepts than you do with a 2 hour film. in fact, you don't even just have the season to work in–you can have a number of seasons to work out a plot in. you can do anything with such a time frame, so why not use the time to explore to the minutest nuance every aspect of the human struggle? just don't make mohinder turn into an evil scientist and inject himself with the virus that gives you superpowers, because that was personally upsetting.
linda hutcheon talks about an adaptation as "always framed in a context–a time and a place, a society and a culture; it does not exist in a vacuum" (142). these two version of parenthood are a perfect example of that, not only in the concepts explored in each, but in the modes of exploration. the 1989 film seems retroactively quaint in its (for all the scandals it contends with) idealistic upper-middle class suburbia world with problems that are all solved in two hours and nine minutes. the modern TV show, and the modern audience, seem to expect more–more grit, more drama, more challenge to find resolution. example: the child with asperger's instead of the child who is just "upset." with every pun intended against original television, modern TV, even while operating in its own (albeit more sophisticated) conventions, is not so black and white.
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