NBC’s Parenthood Season Premiere Screens Early at Five Acres Thursday

Season five of NBC’s popular drama Parenthood screened nearly two hours early for supporters and guests at a special event for Five Acres, a leading child and family services agency on Thursday, Sept. 26. The evening was designed to call attention to the nonprofit’s mission and vision to provide a safe, loving and permanent family for every child.

The premiere event was envisioned largely by actor Sam Jaeger, who plays the loyal husband, and adoptive, stay-at-home dad, “Joel Graham,” on the show.

“I’ve been shopping for a sense of purpose,” Jaeger shared with the guests. “My basic understanding is that I matter because my son matters. Each child matters. That applies to the work of Five Acres, and to each of us.” Of his vision for the event, he said, “I wanted to show how important this organization is to me. Five Acres is all about permanency – providing a safe, loving and permanent home for a child.”

Jaeger served as emcee for the event, introduced the cast and the season five premiere episode of Parenthood. Other cast members who joined Jaeger were Erika Christensen, Dax Shepard, Monica Potter, Mae Whitman, Max Burkholder, Miles Heizer, Savannah Rae, Tyree Brown and Xolo Mariduena. The private invitation only event for the cast of Parenthood and Five Acres supporters was a special evening premiere held in San Marino on the beautiful grounds of Chantal and Steve Bennett’s estate.

“Each child deserves a safe, loving, and permanent family – whether it be a family a child was born into or a family that Five Acres helps them to create,” said Five Acres CEO Chanel Boutakidis. “We have a critical problem here in Los Angeles County, with many more children needing families, than there are people willing to open their hearts and their homes. We are extremely grateful that Parenthood is helping to inspire action toward this vital cause.”

Guests in attendance included actor Matthew Lillard (seen most recently on FX’s series The Bridge), Matt Nix (Burn Notice Show Runner), Kristen Bell (NBC’s Parks and Recreation, the Showtime series House of Lies, and films Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Veronica Mars); Five Acres board chair Andrew Crowell and Past Chair Tom Haralambos, among many others.

Celebrating 125 years of service, Five Acres provides innovative solutions that ensure safety, well-being and permanent family homes for children and families throughout Southern California. Each year, services are provided to more than 6,500 children and families and include adoptions, residential and foster care, therapeutic education, mental health services in homes and schools, as well as domestic violence prevention.

Parenthood is a one-hour drama, airing Thursdays at 10pm on NBC, inspired by the box office hit of the same name. This re-imagined and updated Universal Television/Imagine Television production follows the trials and tribulations of the very large, very colorful and imperfect Braverman family.

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”); Emmy winner Jason Katims (“Friday Night Lights”) and Lawrence Trilling (“Alias”).

Five Acres is a pioneer in providing successful solutions that ensure safety, well-being and permanency for children and their families. Founded in 1888 as one of Los Angeles County’s first orphanages, today Five Acres provides vital programs and services to 6,500 children and families in crisis each year. For more information, visit www.fiveacres.org or call (626) 798-6793.