The Gilmore Girls--Season I

I’ve never been into TV and my television viewing is limited to occasionally popping in a DVD after the kids go to bed at night. After reading a lot of online buzz about The Gilmore Girls, I bought a used copy of the first season to watch. Last night, after months of catching an episode here and there, I finally finished watching the first season.

For those not in the know, the sitcom revolves around the lives of Lorelei and Rory Gilmore, a mother and daughter duo who are often mistaken for sisters. Lorelei, the only child of wealthy, old-money parents, scandalized her family and social circle when she became pregnant and gave birth to Rory at the tender age of 16. Years later, despite her success as a single mother, the past often comes back to kick her in the ass.

I’ve found The Gilmore Girls to be an enjoyable and original show but one I can’t quite relate to. It’s not quite a drama, not quite a comedy, and it operates in an alternate world. The story is set in Stars Hollow, a quirky community peopled by predictably eccentric characters. Amid all the neurotic borderline nutcases stands Rory, the 16-year-old Harvard-bound supergirl who is so wise, responsible, and kind that she’s a freak in her own right--in a good kind of way.

Lorelei, her fast-talking, miniskirt wearing, coffee-addicted mother, is like a 7^th-grader on speed. Impulsive, loud, and, at the age of 32, still caught in an adolescent rebellion against her conservative parents. Her rapid-fire delivery of rambling monologues is supposed to be funny, but I only find it mildly entertaining. Mostly it’s distracting, as if the scriptwriters are showing off how clever they can be. It makes Lorelei an annoying character.

The dynamic between Rory and Lorelei is like that of girlfriends. They share clothes, paint each other’s toenails, watch movies together, take turns making the coffee, eat nothing but junkfood, and have all the same friends. They even attend town meetings together. It’s a fun concept, but I admit I can’t always suspend my disbelief and swing with the breezy relationship. Of course, that explains why Stars Hollow is presented as a fantasy of a small town—Lorelei and Rory couldn’t exist anywhere else.

My favorite character is Emily Gilmore, Lorelei’s mother. She’s a bitch with a heart of gold. A typical upper-crust New England matron, she’s still confused and scandalized by Lorelei’s behavior, her abandonment of the life she was born to lead, the opportunities she squandered, and most of all, her refusal to be part of her parents’ lives until the cost of Rory’s education demanded she borrow money from them. Emily can be harsh and manipulative in her relationship with Lorelei. In contrast to Lorelei’s relationship with Rory, Emily and Lorelei’s exchanges are tense and peppered with sighs and eye-rolling. But above all, Emily loves Lorelei and while wounded by her rejection, she  is taking small steps to better understand and accept her daughter and her choices.

I like watching how conflicted Emily is as she explores Lorelei's different values and standards, and the realistic way she often takes one step forward and then two steps back in her relationship with her daughter and granddaughter. The actress playing Emily manages to convey the characters rigidity, strength, and vulnerability.

The first few episodes were uneven and a bit over the top. It’s been interesting to see the characters settle into their roles and the writers respond with scripts and storylines that play off the chemistry among the cast. The show gets better as it goes along, which means that even though I didn’t LOVE it, I’ll be watching Season 2 on DVD when I need to unwind before bedtime.

September 6, 2006

Comments

[wordgirl]

Mmmm. This is where you and I part ways, V-Grrrl. I came to GG very late (this summer, in fact). I find it to be a huge escapist mode for me. I want a friend like Sookie or even one like Lorelei. A roll in the hay with Luke. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. I have no daughters and I don't think of myself as a girlie girl, yet I was stunned by how easily I was drawn into this fantasy of a show. I've ordered the sixth season on dvd and I will have about 9 days to watch it before the new season comes on. I think I can do it.

[V-Grrrl]

I'd roll Luke too because 1) he reminds me of Bruce Springsteen, and 2) he can cook!

I think the appeal of a grouchy guy with a heart of gold is that it makes all our PMS moments make sense to us, and there's no pressure to be NICE.

[Lisa]

This is one show I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in watching. No clue why. I tried an episode or two but was so distracted and disinterested I didn't make it through the whole thing. It's weird since I adored Sex and the City, 24, Heimat (old German prime-time soap), Band of Brothers, and am now enjoying The L Word*. But no love for the Gilmore Girls. Go figure.

*love the constantly changing dynamic between women + women and women vs. themselves, but could do without so many of the gratuitous secks scenes - which were interesting in their own right at first but now make me feel like I'm being hijacked and are an excuse to run to the kitchen for a snack or take a bathroom break

[Elisabeth]

I have never watched this show which, I am aware, got very nice reviews. Maybe I should try renting its first season on DVD. For the record, I tried this with Sex and the City (watching it on DVD) and absolutely hated it, I quit after 5 episodes or so. I am still trying to finish the first season of Desperate Housewives on DVD before the new season starts (I missed the first season, but watched the entire second one on TV.)

I don't watch tons of TV - the shows that I watch regularly are Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, 24 and, most of the time, Commander-in-Chief.

[Dan]

The first couple years of the Gilmore Girls were okay, but I eventually tired of the series. They made changes in the series, but the old charactes had the same routines.

[Father B]

Just to set the record straight...the daughter, Rory, attends that superior bastion of learning known as Yale University -- not Harvard. I guess she couldn't pass the physical to go to The Citadel or VMI.

[V-Grrrl]

Hey, I've only seen the first season. You mean she doesn't go to Harvard??? That was her first choice in the first season. You Yale guys are such spoilers.

[amber]

I watch GG. I love it, because it is silly and mostly light fun. Also, i watch to see what Lorelei is wearing, so I can try to copy, and not look like such a stuffy dork. LOL. Mostly, I can't pull if off, though...because I do this eating thing. Sucks.

Anyway, I think you should keep watching. It gets better and richer as seasons go on. And I like the stupid town. I wish I could live there! And Emily get even better, IMO, as time goes on. If you like that dynamic, I think they do well with her, and give her more to act with...

If you are looking for American shows to rent, though, I think you should try Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Now I know that sounds horrible and campy, but it really was a great show. It WAS campy and full of fantasy, but as the seasons went on, it had so many layers and great, funny and dramatic writing. Really not what people who didn't watch it might have thought. Kory and I wanted to KILL someone when it stopped. But it went on for something like eight years, and had a huge cult following. The later years are best, but you must start from the start to get all the story.


:)