Providence

I lost my mother in 1997 and this program shows what my family has gone through. From the loss, to the first date of the widowed father. It is entertaining, touching and an excellent portrayal of the different reactions of family to the loss of a loved one.

I believe that the strength of the tv show Providence is that it demonstrates real "family values" and not the traditional "family values". The "family values" i refer to are that members of the family accept one another no matter what they do "wrong" (one is a schemer and gets into trouble, another is a goody goody with excessive pride, and another is a klutz who also has a child out of wedlock... also the Dr. hires a worker who is a klutz and is accepting and nurturing of her - how symbolic that maybe the central theme of the show is the prototypical country veterinarian, taking in wounded animals and nurturing them to health), and they love one another no less when the day is through. They meet their challenges with seriousness and humor, when the situations can allow, and almost always kindness.

The show does not moralize so much as it shows people dealing with real situations (already, 2 major characters have perished)and they are lead by the strong but extremely gentle and understanding character that Mike Farrell portrays, "Dr. James Hansen". He provides an almost unnoticed moral center, strong but gentle.

One daughter forgoes a successful career in los angeles as a plastic surgeon to go home and live with her family and work in a charitable clinic. The other daughter forgoes a fortune if she had gone to Japan and promoted her accidentally invented recipe, to take care of her baby and be with her family. She nurtures a mentally ill man who happened to be the ideal employee for her, and helps him escape when the authorities are after him, the morality being that she cannot harbor him, but she cannot let him be incarcerated either. The son gets into trouble, but works on being good.

We see progressive ideas shown in a viable light. The show accepts gays, it loves people who make mistakes, have accidents, they take in runaways, work at a clinic, find the good in mobsters, mentally ill, take in stray animals, have no negative judgments on ethnic groups. There is very little against a single mother, other than she needs to take responsibilty. And so on... what will be next ? These are all strengths in my opinion, and i think the country and society in general has been waiting for something to show them about this, what i believe to be, inherent unconditional love that exists in all of us, but somehow gets lost at times within the scope of the hustle and bustle of society.

Of note, I also believe that while some people say providence is not really about providence, i believe that it does capture different elements of the area. I think it more pulls together the strengths of the community than focussing on a particular group, providing an amalgam of local people. The parents are suspiciously like my grandparents (who are real life providence lifetime natives), even their bedroom is almost exactly like the television set bedroom. Also, personally i had lived in los angeles [originally went there to be in medical / grad school], working as an actor, and returned to rhode island because a family member was on deaths door.

I love the fact that dad, Mike Farrell (MASH) has his clinic in the basement. All those dogs coming in and out is really cute. The younger sister, Joanie, Paula Kyle reminds me of my own baby sister. A little babyish but lovable! The brother Robbie is a nice guy. Hopefully, he will not get addicted to gambling. Dr. Sydney Hansen, played by Melina Kanakaredes, is a beautiful and exotic woman. It is nice to see a woman in such a role. It is also nice to see Leslie Silva playing Dr. Helen Reynolds, breaking some stereotypes there. The mother Linda, Concetta Tomei (China Beach) always showing up in the same outfit is hysterical! I hope the series remains a family type of show. We are enjoying watching it! We loved that show where Joanie ends up using beast milk for her clam chowder recipe.

Providence is a great television drama. It has elements of drama, comedy and romance in each episode, and revolves around the close-knit Hansen family and their fathers vet clinic.

Some parts of it are Ally McBeal-esque, particularly the dream sequences that almost always begin each episode with Sydney Hansens mother and some crazy thing happening to Syd.

After watching just a few episodes you really care about the characters and what happens to them and want to keep watching them.

Some of the parts in the hospital and clinic are a bit like ER but the show is more relationship based.

This is one of my favourite American TV dramas of all time!

I love watching Providence on Friday nights. It's a good way to unwind and feel good. After the wedding of Sydney Hansen, the show will be off the air. NBC is cancelling another awesome show, and in the middle of the season. I used to like NBC but now it seems they are cancelling all these good shows. I will miss Providence and all the characters. I wish the show would at least last through May, 2003.